February 26...

I Samuel 12-13

Samuel passed the torch of leadership and gave a farewell speech similar to the speeches given by Moses and Joshua right before they died. He retold their story – from Egypt to the present day, where they had been given a king.

Then Samuel stated the command for the Israelites and their new king: If you (1) fear the LORD, (2) serve Him faithfully with all your heart, (3) obey Him, (4) do not rebel against Him, and (5) follow Him … the results would be good. BUT if you (1) do not obey, (2) rebel against Him, and (3) do evil … His hand will be against you and you and your king will be swept away. It was pretty straight forward.

Yesterday we read in chapter 10 verse 8 a list of commands which Saul was to follow which ended with going ahead of Samuel to Gilgal and waiting for him to come and sacrifice the offerings and give Saul further instruction.

Time was running out. The men started scattering, and Saul became afraid. He panicked and moved ahead of God, and when Samuel arrived, he told Saul that he had acted foolishly.

The result? Saul’s kingdom would not endure. It comes down to a very basic fact. God’s servants must trust Him enough that they will obey Him – even when it seems that everything is going wrong … even when it seems that time is running out … even when it seems that God isn’t showing up.

Do you trust that God will show up?
Do you panic when it seems time is running out?
Do you move ahead of God?

Waiting on God is one of the most difficult spiritual disciplines to learn, but we must learn to be patient in Him. Try it this week. It’s amazing. He does show up.


think about it...
what kind of power does a king have?
why is samuel so upset at the israelites?
is he upset they've rejected him as their leader or God?
what is the israelites track record? what does samuel say about that?
how does israel respond to samuel calling them out? repentant or unaffected?
why is samuel upset at saul?
what are the consequences for saul?
why is it hard to wait and do things God's way, instead of doing things God's way?