The way forward after a sinful choice (1 Sam 12:19-25)

Who of us doesn’t wonder about certain forks in the road where we chose a path that led to regrettable consequences? It is particularly sad if we had given in to sin whether it was lack of trust in the Lord and taking matters into our own hands, or temptation to do something that God had forbidden. It may feel like we have utterly failed and there is no road back so that we might as well give up. However, the Bible is full of people who have stumbled and even fallen, and yet God did not abandon them. Abraham and Sarah pre-empted God’s blessing by orchestrating the conception of a child according to their understanding and created one big headache of a rival heir in Ishmael. Jacob was promised God’s blessing, but he cheated to get it and had to endure exile and being cheated himself. David abused his power by committing adultery and the consequence was rape and murder within his own family, civil war and the temporary loss of his throne. In all these cases, what has been done could not be undone, yet God has made a way forward.

In our reading the people of God are in this position having made a sinful choice, yet Scripture teaches us how such a situation may be redeemed. First, we have seen in my last post (read it here) how Israel needed to have a correct vision, a clear understanding of the seriousness of their sin. In today’s passage their response makes it obvious that Samuel’s message has sunk in. They acknowledge that they have sinned (the meaning of repentance), that what they had done was evil and worthy of death (1 Sam 12:19). Secondly, as their plea for intercession reveals (v.19), they do not presume on God’s grace. This is a hard balance to strike in our thinking because Satan would love us either to fall into despair that our case was hopeless (how could God forgive such a sin as this?) or convince us that once we repented God jolly well has to forgive us. The truth is that God graciously responds to genuine repentance, but we should never take that grace for granted.

Having dealt with their sin, Samuel’s response exhorts Israel to obedience (1 Sam 12:20-21). The temptation after falling into sin is to think that we have sunk too low in God’s eyes and therefore there is no point in trying to live differently. Especially when we already have a relationship with the Lord, the thought of our sins may drag us down since we feel we should have known better. The Lord’s response to Israel, as to us, however, is a renewed call to serve Him and not to rely on futile things that can neither benefit nor save us. While the passage ends on a stern warning of judgment if Israel persists in wickedness (1 Sam 12:25), God’s patience was considerably longer than we might give Him credit for. Israel split into two after Solomon and the northern kingdom had only wicked kings, yet they were only swept away in judgment some 300 years after Saul. Judah (the southern kingdom) had some godly kings and survived another 130 or so years before they were taken into Babylonian exile. There the people repented (Zechariah, a prophet after the exile, reminds the people of this – Zech 1:6) and God brought them back into their own land. As long as there was hope for renewal, God persevered with them. Neither will He abandon us. He has made us, and we belong to Him (1 Sam 12:22; Ps 100:3).[1]

Finally, our reading highlights two essential aspects necessary for serving God: prayer and instruction (1 Sam 12:23). Prayer reminds us that we are only able to obey the Lord when we rely on His help. Often, we treat prayer as a last resort, but in reality, it is our most powerful weapon because when we pray, we acknowledge our weakness and seek God’s strength and equipping. We also need to keep immersing ourselves in Scripture because it reveals God’s will and allows us to re-centre our lives on Him.

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[1] Saul ruled from about 1032 BC (± 10 years; there is uncertainty about the exact dates, but it does not affect my point). Israel went into Assyrian captivity in 722 BC and Judah into Babylonian exile in 587 BC.

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