Daily Devotions

1 Sam 12:1-7 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. 3 Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. 5 And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. 6 And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

Samuel was the last judge in Israel and was perhaps the greatest judge in Israel. He may not have defeated the Philistines as Samson did, or led an army in battle as Gideon did, but he did have the testimony of walking before the people in integrity and he was a just man. We also see the wisdom of Samuel in these verses. As he addresses the people and begins to reason with them he turn the attention away from himself and directs it to the Lord. (Verse 7) No matter the situation or circumstance, it is the Lord that people need to see, it is the Lord that people need to hear about, it is the Lord that people need to reason with. There is always a fault that can be found in a man, even Samuel, but never the Lord. The reason the people demanded a king, at least one reason, was that the sons of Samuel were not honest men, Samuel failed as a father. But Jesus never fails. As we deal with people today it is important that we have a good testimony, but it is more important that we show them Jesus Christ. Samuel was a great judge in Israel, but it was the Lord that the people needed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 at 6:03 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.