July 3, 2025
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in 1 Samuel and Mark? Here’s today’s reading:
1 Samuel 12 (NIV)
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand.…..Continue Reading
1 Samuel 12
Samuel gives the people a brief history lesson to show God’s faithfulness to them, but their unfaithfulness to Him. And shows them that their choosing a king is in line with those poor choices that their ancestors made to defy God. Samuel then has God do a miracle to wake them up to just Who it is that they are dealing with. But Samuel’s point is an important point for all of us to learn. It is not so important to regret the past in poor choices that we have made, but to make sure we follow God in the present and the future. And now that they have chosen a king and they have one, it is important for him and the people to follow God and heed His will for their lives.
1 Samuel 12
Just like children, the Israelites seem to learn hard lessons from their own mistakes! They hear Samuel’s retelling of their history (like a parent saying “been there, done that”) and they think we won’t make the same bad choices when we are in that situation. Samuel reminds them of all the generations that thought that way and still sinned against God to the point when they were broken beyond repair and God had to step in and fix things. Here the people are telling Samuel this time it will be different and we see our sin. But is it different? They are still stuck with a king God told them they did not need and unsure how to handle that. Samuel does not minimize Israel’s sin instead he tells them not to dwell on the sin of the past, but to now walk with the Lord and break that pattern. Good advice for all of us!
1 Samuel 11 & 12
An example to us that even when we sin, we move on in obedience. I think of people that struggle with sin and fall and then just give up (like the parable of the sowers thorns and weeds choking out the word). Even when we are stuck in the consequences, God wants us to repent and persevere in faith. His forgiveness is always available to those who believe.
1 Samuel 12