1 Samuel 12, the whole chapter, and I'll be reading it from beginning to end. This is just after Saul was made king, first by lots and acclamation of the people, and then he proved himself in battle, delivering the men of Jabesh-Gilead from the Ammonites, and then Samuel called them to come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom. And they made Saul king before the Lord there. And so we're going to pick up at the beginning of chapter 12. And Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now behold, The king walks before you, and I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you. They said, you have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand. And he said to them, the Lord is witness against you and his anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand. And they said, he is witness. And Samuel said to the people, the Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord. And the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies that we may serve you. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side. And you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us. When the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain, and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.' So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. 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 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, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray for God's blessing upon his word. Oh Lord, our God, we give thanks to you and we ask that you would teach us your word. We ask that you would guide the preaching of your word and that you would guide it right to our hearts, that we might inwardly digest them and that we would lay them up in our hearts and so practice them in our lives in true faith and repentance. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. What chapter 12 describes here most likely took place at Gilgal. That's why I titled the sermon, Covenant Renewal at Gilgal. I might not say that explicitly, but it does seem to follow from the previous chapter to pick up that setting or to assume it. We know at least that it's Samuel and a gathering of the people with the king in attendance as well. And there they had renewed the kingdom, made Saul king, but they also had offered sacrifices, offerings, and had feasted there. And was committing themselves not only to Saul as king, but to the Lord their God as king, even over Saul as the king of Israel. This speech in chapter 12 seems like a farewell speech. That's indeed what the heading on my Bible says, you know, Samuel's farewell address. I don't know, maybe yours says something similar. But it is not just a farewell address. And it was only a farewell address with regard to Samuel as judge. Samuel was not dying. Samuel was old and gray, but Samuel would continue to be a prophet to Israel, praying for them and teaching them. But like the farewell speeches of Moses and of Joshua, this was also a renewal of the covenant, the covenant between God and his people. Think of how Joshua, near the end of his life, chapter 24, at least the end of the book, gathers the people together and exhorts them to serve the Lord in sincerity. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Similarly with Moses. as he was about to have the transition to the promised land and to Joshua. We have the whole book of Deuteronomy, his farewell speeches, which were also a renewal, a reaffirmation of God's covenant with Israel. And so at these times of transition, it was important for the people to be recalled and recommitted to their covenant with their God. And in this case, the covenant was reaffirmed in the new situation where Israel had a human king. A human king, though, that had to be understood as an agent of God. That God himself was still the high king of Israel. It also resolved the breach introduced by their request for a king. This evil deed that they had done. that implicitly rejected God from being their king. This begins to heal that situation, to resolve that situation, to call them to repentance as they renewed their covenant. The first thing we find in this passage is the righteousness of Samuel the judge and God the king, which then establishes a basis in which to call the people to repentance. Because it had been no fault of Samuel and God that they had asked for a king, the evil of the people and their call to repentance is the middle part. And at the end, we find the repentant response of the people in words of comfort and exhortation. So let's first look at the first 11 verses, the righteousness of Samuel the judge and God the king. These, like I said, this testifies against Israel's request for a king to judge them when God was their king and Samuel was their judge, the judge whom God had appointed. God had been faithful for his part. The first five verses speak of Samuel. Samuel had been a faithful judge. He had walked before them from his youth. They knew him. He had served them, first as a prophet and then as a judge. While his sons were corrupt, Samuel was not. Samuel was not like his sons. His sons had indeed taken bribes and had become corrupt, but this is made very plain publicly that Samuel had not practiced such things. He had not taken bribes. He had not defrauded anyone. He had not used his position to steal from other people. He had not oppressed them. He had not abused his authority for personal gain. He had been faithful. And so he calls the people, speak now or forever hold your peace. They say, no, you have not done these things. We are witness. And then Samuel calls the Lord and the King to witness to the people's affirmation that they had found Samuel blameless in this regard. And so they accept that. God is witness that we have affirmed this. Then, in verses 6 through 11, we find that the Lord God has been faithful and righteous as their king. Samuel then, like a prosecutor here, he's making the case, he's to stand here while I plead with you concerning the righteous deeds of the Lord. Jacob first went into Egypt. Do you remember Jacob? Anne, do you remember Jacob? He's the one who went with his sons down into Egypt, and they grew and multiplied, but then the Egyptians oppressed them and made them slaves. And what did the people do there in Egypt? What did the people do? They cried out. Well, they worked, that's right. But they also began to cry out to the Lord, and the Lord heard their cry. And so he brought Jacob's descendants out of Egypt by the hand of Moses and Aaron and gave them this land, this promised land. But then what did they do there in the land? They forgot God. They turned aside from following him. And so Sisera and the Philistines and the Moabites fought against them. And what did they do again? They cried out to the Lord. They confessed their sins. They asked for deliverance. And why did they want to be delivered? So that they could serve the Lord. And so what did the Lord do? He delivered them from their enemies by sending judges like Jerubael and Barak and Jephthah. And who's the last one mentioned? Samuel. Samuel. Bring us right up to the present. And these judges gave them safety in the land, where they could dwell there. But then the pattern gets broken, and we'll get to that in our second point. When the Ammonites came against them, did they cry out to the Lord? No. But thus far, the Lord had been righteous in delivering his people. That's when they turned away from him, certainly there was affliction brought upon them. But when they cried out to him, he had delivered them. He had sent his servants to help them. He had saved them in his mercy. Though they had turned from him in the land, yet he had had compassion upon them and brought them to safety. So remember the righteous deeds of the Lord. Keep that in your minds as well. Do not grumble against him or neglect him. God has shown his steadfast love and mercy not only in days of old, In the Old Testament, he has shown his love most foremost in sending his only begotten son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to raise him to new life. And he has continued to be the steadfast saviour for all those who have called upon him, showing mercy to sinners. The Lord is righteous and faithful, and we can trust him. And his faithfulness, his mercy, should all the more convict us for our sins, especially when we turn aside from him. And that is how this was directed then to the people. In verses 12 through 18, we come to the second part of this passage, the evil of the people and the call to repentance. So even though God and his judges had been faithful, yet when Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against Israel, did they cry out to the Lord? No, no. What did they cry out? No, but we must have a king to reign over us. They did not ask Samuel to pray for them and lead them. Instead, they asked for a king to judge them when the Lord their God was their king, and he had given them a judge. And so the people act wrongly in asking for a king in this way, for this reason, at this time. But the Lord had not given up on them. He had not saying, well, they rejected me, so I'm out of here, goodbye. He could have done that. That would have been but right. They had rejected him after all. But he had set a king over them to deliver them, to restrain them. He had not abandoned them. And so Samuel calls them to repentance. First, they were called to turn to the Lord. Repentance both involves turning away and turning to. And so in verses 14 through 15, they're called to turn to the Lord. There were two paths forward. They could, verse 14, fear the Lord, serve him and obey his voice. You know, if they did this, you know, then it would be well, this is the path. This is where you should turn. You should listen to the Lord, your God. You should turn to God. Verse 15 describes the other alternative of rebellion against the Lord's voice and commandment. If you turn aside, turn away from God, then judgment, the hand of the Lord will be against you. But secondly, they were called to turn away from wickedness. So turn to the Lord. Don't turn away from Him. Turn to Him. Fear Him. Serve Him. But secondly, they were called to turn away from their wickedness. Particularly their wickedness. in rejecting God as their king. Just like in the New Testament, where Peter told the Israelites to repent, what was the main sin that they had in mind? You know, rejecting the Messiah. Turn away from that course, turn to the Lord and his offered salvation. Well here, they were called to turn away from their wickedness. God showed them that their request for a king was wicked by sending thunder and rain. Now, have you seen thunder and rain before? Yeah, so would it be weird to see thunder and rain? Not very, but this was during the wheat harvest. It was a particular time of year in that land where you didn't get thunder and rain. It was unexpected, but not only did it happen, but Samuel said it was going to happen, he prayed for it to happen, and then it happened that day as a sign that God indeed was, he regarded this as wickedness, showed his displeasure. And so the people feared the Lord, and Samuel, they realized their wickedness was great, that they had done wrong in the sight of the Lord, in asking for themselves a king. And so Israel was called to repentance, turn away from this sin, turn to the Lord and listen to his voice, and purpose and endeavor after new obedience. Israel was not being told to trust in their obedience for their salvation. They weren't being told, well, maybe if you do enough good deeds, God will start liking you again. Is that, was that the call? No. If they had to rely on their works, on being good enough, they were already doomed. But rather they were being called to repentance, to return to God, their savior, to follow him because he was full of mercy. And he had proved that through his righteous deeds. This is true for you, too. You are not called to trust in your obedience, but to turn from rebellion to God, to follow him as your Savior, fearing and serving him accordingly. That's what did Jesus say to his disciples, follow me. We are told to repent and turn from our rebellion unto God. While repentance is not an an instrument of our justification. It's a condition of salvation. It's a requirement of the covenant of grace. If you do not repent, you will likewise perish. You must repent from sin unto God and to purpose after new obedience. Repentance includes a confession of sin, that you have sinned, to have a sorrow for sin, a grief and hatred towards it. because you have a true sense of your sin, and you perceive the mercy of God in Christ. And so you, in grief and hatred for sin, turn from it, repudiate it, and turn from it to God. This true repentance is united with saving faith. We actually mentioned this in our Sunday school lesson earlier on, and I thought I wrote this down somewhere, it's here. True repentance is united with saving faith. Saving faith receives God's Word, embraces His grace, by which we receive a share in Christ. Sincere obedience to God is a fruit of both faith and repentance, and this is both part of our conversion from rebellion unto God. We trust Him, and therefore we turn from sin to Him. And this is something, like Paul would say, is to do now. Now is the day of salvation. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Be reconciled to God and hold fast to this course, stable and steadfast. The third thing we find is the repentance of the people in words of comfort and exhortation. What did the people do? Did the people say, no, we have not sinned, we have been right? No. Fortunately, the people were humbled. The people realized their guilt. They confessed their sin. It says in verse 19, 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. Notice that they confessed that they had done other sins, too. That they were sinners and they had added to those sins this evil in asking for a king. Therefore, pray for us, Samuel, to the Lord so that we might not die. Because we would deserve death, but we don't want to die. We want to live. We ask for God's mercy that we might be spared. This is what they had done rightly in chapter seven. When the enemy had come upon them, they asked Samuel to do what? To pray for them, right. They asked Samuel here to pray for mercy and forgiveness that they might not die. And so what did Samuel then tell them? He gave them words of comfort and exhortation. Comfort, do not be afraid. Now, Samuel told them to fear God, and he also told them not to be afraid. So what does he mean by that? He, don't be afraid. In other words, you're not going to die. To those who repent and turn to the Lord, you don't need to expect judgment, this fearful expectation of judgment. Don't be afraid. God is merciful and forgiving. This is a word of assurance and comfort. While they were to fear the Lord with reverence and an attitude of respect and awe, they were not to be filled with an expectation of judgment of all those who had humbled themselves before the Lord in this way. Although they had done this evil, it would be well with them if they continued to hold fast to the Lord. hope held out for them. While idols were a vain hope, idols were empty things, unable to deliver, yet the Lord would not forsake his people. He was one who would save them, and not because of their own merit's sake, not because they were a big people, or a smart people, or a good people, but because of his own namesake. because he had chosen to make them his people, and out of his grace and mercy would save those who held fast to him. Their salvation rested upon his grace. It had pleased the Lord to make them a people for himself. The great things he had done for them were reassuring. Remember the great things he has done for you. And Samuel also would not forsake them. He would continue to pray for them and teach them. And then he had exhortation. Now, if their repentance was fake, if they continued to do wickedly, then they would be swept aside. If they turned after empty idols and trusted in them, then they would not be delivered. And so press on in this course that you have now committed yourself to. Follow the Lord, fear the Lord, Serve him with all your heart, that is sincerely him and no other gods. Don't turn aside. And so this is a message for you as well. Have you repented? Have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Then continue stable and steadfast in that faith. Do not turn aside from the living God. And receive the words of comfort that belong to those who have turned to the Lord. Having confessed your sins and turned to God's mercy in Christ, rest in the grace of God. He will not forsake you. He is a compassionate God full of mercy. Remember the great things he has done for his people and for you. rest in the intercession of the great prophet. Not just Samuel, we have the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and was raised and who is even interceding for us at his father's right hand. He teaches us as well the way to go. And continue in the faith, stable and steadfast. Continue to believe and repent. Follow through on it, seeking to continue to turn from sin unto God. Fear the Lord. Worship him sincerely. Follow him faithfully. And when you go astray, turn back to him. Continue to repent. When Jesus said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he intended the whole life of the believer to be one of repentance. Let us pray. Dear Lord, our God, we call upon you and claim you as ours through Jesus Christ, for we have received him as our Savior. We ask that you would save us and continue to build us up in this faith. We pray for each one of us that you would work this salvation in us, that you would deliver us from the power of sin, and that you would build us up to a more vigorous exercise of faith and repentance that we might follow after you sincerely, faithfully, to remember your good deeds and great mercy. We pray that you would renew your people in a devotion to you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.