We will skip the conquest of Canaan and move to the Israelites asking for a king. I love this passage because it is so full of gospel before the gospel. We saw the gospel in the exodus, that the salvation of a rebellious people was rooted not in their worth, but in God’s worth. And here we’re going to see it again. The people have asked to have a king like the nations, and Samuel’s not happy about that, and God’s angry about that. So what happens?
And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. (1 Sam. 12:19-20)
I don’t remember how many years ago it was, but there was a point where I read this and I thought, that is a very strange connection. The connection between “fear not” and “you have done all this evil” is really weird. It should be, “Fear! You have done all this evil! Fear!” But it says, “Fear not, you have done all this evil.” That’s gospel. That’s what I mean by gospel. This is undeserved grace, undeserved mercy. Why? What’s the basis of it?
Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake… (1 Sam. 12:20-22)
So in the Exodus the people were delivered and not shown wrath because God was jealous for his name in Egypt. Here the people have committed treason and impeached God and said, “We want another kind of king. We want to be like the nations. We don’t like this theocracy business. We want another king.” Later they called it sin, when Samuel preached to them and then said “don’t be afraid.” Samuel could have said “Don’t be afraid because God is merciful, God is gracious, God keeps covenant love.” He could have said all these things and they would be true, but what he said was “the Lord will not cast away his people for his great name’s sake.” How do you pray in response to that?