A couple of weeks ago, I had this idea. I'm going to walk from Lake Hodges here in Escondido all the way over to the coast in Del Mar, around 29th Street where the San Diego River empties out into the Pacific Ocean part of that's the Costa Crest Trail if if you know it and so I mapped out the route it was going to be a 17 mile hike and This was the first indicator that this was a dumb decision. I I initially was going to do the hike by myself So that was that was clue number one that this is probably not a good decision Clue number two. I should say three my county. It's hot and It's not really the best time to be doing something like that. And third indicator that this was going to be a dumb decision is I have not hiked that far since I was about 14 years old. So to make a long story short, about eight things started to go wrong. First eight miles were great. We got an early start. There was cloud cover. We're cruising. And then at about mile eight, the sun comes out. We go through two pairs of switchbacks. And we got a little lost. And I was the one navigating. So I got us a little lost. We got off the trail. We ended up having to kind of scramble up a steep mountainside to try to find the trail. And about halfway up that mountainside, I overheated, I was dizzy, I felt sick, and I just laid down in a pile of brush and closed my eyes. And I was just laying there thinking, I don't want to die right now. And there was one other thought running through my mind, and that was, I do not want to be that hiker in the news who had to get rescued. So I laid there for a while. My sons were amazing helps. They went and figured out, they went and scouted out a way for us to get back to the trail. So I summoned some strength and energy. We got back to the top of the mountain, back onto the trail. But like I said, I was the one navigating. And at this point, I'm still a little confused and I missed a turn and led us about a mile and a half to two miles in the wrong direction. And so we had to do some backtracking and then we pressed on. And to fast forward many miles and many hours later, despite all my dumb decisions, we made it to the ocean. And we ended up walking 21 miles, not 17 because of my little navigational errors. It took us seven hours and 45 minutes, but we made it. And we put our feet in the Pacific Ocean. And here's why I say that God continues to show mercy and grace despite my dumb decisions. I'm standing here. I didn't die and none of us got seriously injured. And here's why I tell this story. I guess one reason would be just to remind you that one of your pastors is a knucklehead. But the other reason is it reminds me of what God is doing in the book of 1 Samuel. What God is doing for his people Israel. We've been walking through these first 11 chapters of 1 Samuel and we've seen that Israel makes some really dumb decisions. And not just dumb decisions, they're bad decisions, sinful decisions. And the worst one being they've rejected God as their king. I mean, it really doesn't get any dumber than that. And yet, we have seen time and again, God continues to extend mercy and grace to his dumb, sinful people. And that's true even here in chapter 12. So we're gonna look at chapter 12 today and real quickly before we walk through the chapter, let me just remind you what's going on. Israel has demanded a king. And so God tells Samuel to anoint Saul as king. And at the end of chapter 11, which Craig took us through a few weeks ago, Samuel gathers the nation at Gilgal. And there's a big ceremony. It's King Saul's public inauguration. It's also a covenant renewal ceremony. And chapter 11 just summarizes it. I think it's like two verses. Chapter 12 gives a little more detail. And it focuses specifically on a speech that Samuel makes to the people of Israel. And so that's where we're going to pick up the story today. And I want to walk through the chapter scene by scene with you, and then I'll draw out two applications. So I'm not going to read the whole chapter here at the beginning. I'll read the verses as we come to them. But as we come to God's Word, let's pray one more time. Our God and Father, we ask for your help this morning as we look at your Word. Lord, your Word is life, and we pray that you would pour life into us today, that you would help us to understand your marvelous grace and your mercy that comes to us even when we've been so foolish, so sinful. Lord, would you lead us to our Savior today, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. First Samuel chapter 12. Well, the heading in my Bible, and it probably says this in yours too, says, Samuel's Farewell Address. And that's partly accurate. This is the end of Samuel's ministry as a judge in Israel, but he continues to serve the nation for a number of years as a prophet. So this isn't so much a farewell speech. It's actually more of a courtroom scene. Samuel uses legal language throughout the passage, testify against me, the Lord is witness, and so forth. And Samuel puts Israel on trial. And he accuses Israel of breaking covenant with the Lord. Their demand for a king was not an innocent request. It was, as Samuel highlights, a rejection of Yahweh as their king. And so Samuel builds his case against Israel here in four parts. In part one, the opening five verses, Samuel begins on a personal note. Look at what he says, beginning in verse one. Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice in 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. So this beginning of this speech, Samuel says, look, you asked for a king. And it was a foolish request, but I gave you a king. And I'm an old man now, and I'm kind of taking a step back. And this king is going to lead you now. But before that happens, let's just do a little review of my ministry to you. From the time I was a child, I have served you. And did I ever wrong you? And so he asks, in verse 3, he asks this series of rhetorical questions, five questions. He says, testify against me. Did I take your ox? Did I take your donkey? And so on. And after he gets through his list, he's inviting the people to render judgment. Did I lead with integrity and righteousness or not? And as we saw in verses four and five, the people are unanimous. They affirm Samuel's innocence. You haven't wronged us at all. And we might be wondering as we read this, what is this all about? It could kind of sound like Samuel's gotten older, and they're kind of pushing him out of his leadership position. And maybe this is about his ego, and he's just trying to make himself look good in front of Israel before he steps off the platform. And you know how it is when someone doesn't give you the respect you think you deserve. And it's kind of like, what did I ever do to you? And it could sound like that. and and we saw earlier in the book right this Israel's demand for a king it stung I mean it got to Samuel a bit but but it's actually not about Samuel's ego here Samuel like a good lawyer he is setting them up for the indictment you know you think back to chapter 8 I know it's been several weeks but Back in chapter 8, Samuel warns Israel, you've asked for a king. Well, let me tell you what it's going to be like. Let me tell you about the ways of the king. And he said numerous times, he's going to take from you. He's going to take your sons. He's going to take your daughters. He's going to take your livestock, your land. He's going to take taxes from you. He's going to oppress you. And here he's saying, look, all those years where I led you as a judge, did I ever do anything like that? And clearly the answer is no. And so the implication is, why would you ask for a king? Why would you reject me from leading you? And so that's part one of the speech. Samuel has not wronged Israel. And in part two, neither has Yahweh. Yahweh hasn't done anything wrong to Israel. In part two, Samuel rehearses the history of God's dealings with Israel, beginning in verse six. And basically what he's saying is, look, you were wrong to reject me, but even more than that, you were wrong to reject the Lord. So let's pick it up in verse 6. 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 Ashtoreth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies that we may serve you. And the Lord sent Jeroboam, that's Gideon, 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 then verse 13, 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. So, well, what's the point of this history lesson? I know, you know, I loved history growing up, wanted to be a history teacher when I got older, and it was a great shock to me to find out later that many people find history to be incredibly boring. And so you might be wondering here, what's going on? Why is Samuel rehearsing all this history? And the point is really quite simple. The Lord has always been faithful to Israel. Always. And they had no reason to distrust him. And you see in the reading, Samuel describes a pattern in Israel's history. They're in trouble. And it began all the way back in Egypt. They're being oppressed. And by Pharaoh in Egypt, later in Canaan during the time of the judges, it's Sisera, it's the Philistines, the Moabites. Israel's in trouble. And they cry out to the Lord, and the Lord rescues them. And then some time goes on, they forget the Lord, they start worshiping idols, and they get themselves into trouble again, and then they realize, we can't get ourselves out of this, and they cry out to the Lord, and what happens? The Lord rescues them. He sends deliverers. And this happens over and over again in Israel's history. I mean, you read through the book of Judges, and it's just like every other chapter, this is happening. And God sends Moses and Aaron back in the days of the Exodus. He sends numerous judges, including Samuel himself. And what's the result? You look at the end of verse 11, Samuel says, look, you lived in safety. God had you. He took care of you. God was your king. The divine warrior fought for you. But then he fast-forwards to the present in verse 12, or the recent past in verse 12, and something was different. The pattern didn't hold. In verse 12 he talks about the king of the Ammonites, Nahash, came against Israel, and this time, you know, this is all described in chapter 11, this time Israel's in trouble, they're being oppressed, and this time they didn't cry out to the Lord. Instead, they say, Samuel, give us a king. Give us a human warrior who will go out and fight our battles for us and keep us safe. And you need to remember about their request. God always intended for Israel to be ruled by a human king, a king who would rule under God. But that's not what Israel wanted. See, Israel wanted a human king instead of God. And so, they wanted safety, they wanted to be secure without all the trouble of having to trust the Lord and follow the Lord and live by faith and all of that. And that's the problem with their request. That's the really dumb decision that Israel makes. They've broken the covenant. And so, what's God's response? You know, if you were unfamiliar with the way God deals with his people, you might think, well, he's probably had enough of them by now. I mean, how many decades can go by before he just says, enough already? And you'd expect judgment, but instead we hear in verses 13 and following a message of mercy, a message of grace. God says through Samuel, if both you and your king follow the Lord faithfully, it will be well. If you love Him and trust Him and obey Him, it will be well. God promises to bless His people. They made this really bad decision, but the Lord redeems their request. He incorporates kingship into the covenant, and He says, I'm still going to show you mercy, because that's the kind of God I am. Samuel also gives a warning. If you continue to rebel, there will be consequences, and that leads into part three of the speech where Samuel performs a sign to show that God means business. Okay, verses 16 to 18, we read, 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 and 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. Now, wheat harvest in ancient Israel took place late May, maybe into June, and it's the dry season. You know, a thunderstorm wasn't impossible, but it was really rare. It's sort of like our summers and fall, you know, we don't really get any rain. Maybe you remember a couple summers ago, we had that kind of freak monsoon that struck and we got all this lightning and thunder and, you know, we as Southern Californians are kind of like, what is this stuff falling from the sky? And, you know, it's on the front page of our newspapers. was news. The rest of the country is like, that's rain. And so this is not something you'd expect to happen, and this storm is clearly no coincidence. It's the Lord's doing. And not only that, heavy rainfall like that during the harvest season could destroy the crop, and people would starve. I mean, this would be a disaster if this storm continued. And so this storm is not just a display of power, it's a warning to Israel. That yes, the covenant God is a God who shows mercy, but he's also a God who has the power to curse those who continue to persist in their rebellion. And so Samuel's saying, look Israel, the Lord wants to show you mercy. The Lord is more than able to show you mercy, but he doesn't play games. And so we're probably maybe wondering at this point, what is Israel going to do? How are they going to respond? I mean, their track record's not so good, right? And we see their response beginning in verse 19, something remarkable happens. Wayward Israel repents. Verse 19, 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." It's amazing. 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 namesake, because it is 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." So finally, Israel comes to her senses and the people admit wrongdoing. They admit their fault and their error and they plead with Samuel, pray for us, intercede for us. And Samuel goes on to urge Israel, they're in a good position now, he urges Israel to renew their allegiance to the Lord, to give the Lord wholehearted trust and obedience and to follow him. And he also warns them again about their own hearts in verse 21. He tells them, you're gonna be tempted. to put your trust in idols. Yes, this is good. You've come to a place where you're now turning to Yahweh, looking to Yahweh, but your heart is going to gravitate toward these idols. And do you notice in verse 21 how he talks about the idols? He calls them empty things, useless things. He says they can't profit you, they can't rescue you. In other words, they are completely powerless to do the very things you hope that they will do. they're empty, they're worthless, they can't deliver, only the Lord can. And so he concludes the speech with a promise. He says that he'll continue serving Israel, not as a judge, so Samuel's role as judge has come to an end, but he'll exercise a ministry of prayer, a ministry of instruction, kind of a combination of priestly and prophetic roles. And so This is basically the end of the story of Samuel that we've been following now for 12 chapters. We'll hear from him a few more times in future chapters, but he sort of fades into the background now. And the focus of the story shifts to King Saul briefly, and then ultimately to King David. So what are we supposed to take away from this episode in ancient Israel's life? Now, I want to draw out two applications. The first is a warning, and the second is an assurance. First, the warning. Beware of useless idols. I mean, we hear Samuel's warning to Israel here about idolatry. Idolatry is what got God's people into this whole mess. And if you know Israel's history, you know this is a persistent problem for Israel. They worship the Lord for a time, and things begin to look like they're on the up and up, and then they just start gravitating towards these false gods and disaster. And the thing is, idolatry wasn't just ancient Israel's problem. It's a problem for us, too. And we might be sitting here thinking, is it really? I mean, we're 21st century Americans. We have all kinds of technology. We have all kinds of scientific knowledge that ancient peoples didn't have. By and large, most of us in here are not tempted to bow down to statues, maybe some. But most of us know, and we might think, idolatry? Come on, come on. But we do need this warning against idolatry. You see, according to the Bible, idolatry is about more than just worshiping a statue. It's about more than bowing down before a piece of wood or stone. Idolatry is about misplaced trust. It's about misplaced trust. You see, idolatry is when we look to people, when we look to things, when we look to intellectual systems to provide what only God can provide. You see, God is the author and the giver of life. Not just physical life. He is the giver of physical life, but he's the giver of true life. identity, and meaning, and purpose, and deep and lasting satisfaction, and all of that can only be found in Him. And He created us to look for those things and find those things in Him, in being rightly related to Him. And so, an idol is anything that's more important to you than God. It's the thing you can't live without. The thing that you, I have to have this or my life is meaningless. There's just no point to my existence if I don't have this thing. It's the thing you count on to tell you that you matter. That you have value. That you're approved. An idol is anything other than God that you build your identity on. That's what the Bible is talking about when it talks about idolatry. And it could be anything really, right? It doesn't have to be a statue of wood or stone. It could be a career. It could be making money. It could even be family. It could be health, physical appearance. None of those things are bad, right? I mean, those are all good things. They can be gifts from God to be enjoyed. But when they become the one thing, when they become the most important thing, when they become the thing we depend on to justify our existence, that's idolatry. And so, for example, you take something like career success, and it's good to work hard. The Bible commends hard work, provide for yourself, be generous, and so forth. It's good to want to excel and use the gifts and the talents and the abilities that the Lord has given you, but it can become an idol. And how can you tell when success has become an idol? Well, here's a good test. If success is an idol for you, what happens when you lose your job? What happens when you can't work anymore because of health, age, or some other reason? What happens? I mean, it's natural to be disappointed, right? If you get laid off from your job, it's disappointing. It's a little unsettling. What am I going to do with myself? But that's one thing. But does it destroy you? Does it feel like your whole identity has just caved in on itself? Some of you can remember the global financial crisis back in 2008 and 2009, where just around the world, you know, just it was a mess. And during that time, a number of wealthy CEOs, a number of very successful money managers died by suicide. So they believed, they counted on prosperity and success to satisfy that deep internal desire for happiness and meaning. And when the money was taken away, when the success disappeared, they became broken people. They didn't see a reason to live any longer. And maybe success isn't the issue for you. Maybe it's something like body image. And you don't want to just be fit and healthy. You want to be seen as beautiful. You want to be seen as desirable. And so your sense of worth and value, it all comes from your appearance. And then what happens when you get a little older and the metabolism slows down and you put on some weight? And it sends you into a depression. And you're filled with shame and a crippling sense of worthlessness. That's an indication that physical appearance has become an idol for you. Whatever we put our ultimate hope and trust in, whatever we look to for ultimate significance other than the God who created us, that's an idol. And here's the thing I love about Samuel's warning. So Samuel doesn't just say, hey, God's people, don't worship idols because that's wrong. Don't turn to idols. Don't you see how foolish it is? They can't do anything for you. You want them to provide safety and happiness and security and everything, and they can't do any of it. Don't give your hearts to idols because they're empty. The idols can't deliver, and that's the thing we need to understand about these idols of success and image and so forth. They make really big promises, right? If you could have this one thing, your whole life would be different. Your whole existence would be transformed if you just got this one thing. That's a big promise. The problem is, idols can never deliver. They can never deliver. I mean, an idol can give you a sugar high, right? It can get you, you start feeling good, but it only lasts so long. And then you crash afterwards, and you're in worse shape than before. Recently, I talked with a very successful physician. And this man has it all, at least in certain ways. He has a career. He has money. He has a beautiful family. He has a house. He has cars. He has it all. Everything success can give. But he told me there came a point in his life, about 10 to 15 years ago, where he looked at all he had accomplished so far in his career, and the vehicles in his driveway, and he told me, I'm still empty. It doesn't satisfy. I'm empty. None of those things could truly satisfy his heart. And that's what idols do. They leave you empty. Augustine, many of you know of him, in his spiritual autobiography, he says to God, he says, you have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you. God made us, created us to find happiness and meaning and purpose and identity in Him. But we look for it in all the wrong places. When the Bible says that we're sinners, it means not only we do wrong things, but our hearts, the core of who we are, are wrongly oriented. It's like a broken compass inside of us, and it points to everything but God as our true joy. And the beautiful thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is this. Jesus came to deal with the sin problem. Both the guilt of our sin, but also that broken compass that leads us astray. He came to remake us, to renew us. He came to give our hearts true rest. Do you remember what Jesus said? Come to me, all you who labor, all you who are burdened and weighed down, come to me and I will give you rest for your souls. You see, Jesus came to give real life. true and lasting satisfaction, an identity that can't be taken away, that can't be lost because the stock market tanked, that can't be lost because you're aging and people don't find you beautiful any longer. Jesus is the joy that satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart. That's what Augustine was getting at in that quote I read a moment ago. And so, the first application, a warning, beware of useless idols. But then that brings us to the second application, and the second application is really good news. It's an assurance that God never fails. The idols we turn to, the idols we put our hope and trust in, they fail us, they leave us empty, they leave us miserable. Our God in Jesus Christ never fails. So let's think about that for a moment, this assurance that God never fails. Again, Samuel's warning, don't turn to useless idols, put your hope in the Lord. But look at verse 22 again. He tells them why. He says, don't turn to useless idols, verse 22, because the Lord will not forsake his people. The Lord will not forsake his people. You know, the idols make all those promises they can't keep, but not God. He never fails. He never gives up on his people. He will not give up on you, Samuel says. And we need to hear it as well. Your idols, my idols, they will abandon us when we need help the most. The time we need rescue, we need deliverance, they will be nowhere to be found, but not God. The Lord will not forsake His people. And this is one of those promises, sort of like, do not fear. This is one of those promises that we just find all over the Bible, repeated again and again. I mean, Deuteronomy 31, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Isaiah 49, the Lord speaking, can a woman forget her nursing child? And the Lord says, even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. And the Lord keeps saying to us again and again in Scripture, listen, my son, my daughter, I will not forsake you. I'm not going to give up on you. I'm not going to let go of you. And we hear it and we're like, okay, that's kind of nice. And then trouble comes and we're like, Lord, where are you? You've forsaken me. We're so quick to doubt His promise, aren't we? And sometimes that's reasonable. I mean, many of you probably have had the experience of putting your trust in another person, making yourself vulnerable to them, and they just gave up on you. They broke that trust. you know, if Israel made dumb decisions, you've made terrible decisions, and you're just in too deep, and maybe God doesn't want anything to do with you any longer. Maybe he's gotten tired of you, and yet the Lord says to wayward, rebellious, unfaithful Israel, I'm not gonna forsake you. Yeah, you're a bunch of idiots, and you've made bad decisions, but I love you, and I'm not letting go. you're not beyond the reach of my grace." And notice the Lord doesn't just say, I'm not going to give up on you. I mean, we've had people say things like, we're always going to be friends, right? And then the pandemic comes and they don't want to talk to you anymore. We've had things like that in human relationships. But look at what the Lord says through Samuel, verse 22. The Lord will not forsake his people. Why? For his great namesake, because it is pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. So God's telling Israel, look, I wanted you for myself. I wanted you to be my people and I set my love on you and I've staked my reputation on being faithful to you. That's the same promise the Lord makes to us through Jesus Christ. You are my people. I have set my love on you in Christ, and I have staked my reputation on bringing you safely home to glory. I will not forsake you." And we know these are not just words, right? God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So God not only says, look, I'm not going to forsake you. He says, here's how you can know. Here's how you can know. I've given my son for you. And like Larry read from Romans 8 earlier, if God has given his son for us, how will he not also graciously give us all things? And so in the gospel, God promises life. He promises deep and lasting satisfaction in being rightly related to Him. He gives us a new identity in Christ, a new meaning full of purpose, full of real deep and lasting joy, and all that God promises to us in the Gospel and the resurrection of God's own Son, Jesus Christ. God says, that's how you can know. that I'm not going to forsake you. That's what you can count on. That's what you can put your hope and trust in. And so Grace Bible Church, you can trust this God. You can build your whole life on this covenant Lord who never forsakes His people. Because that's His promise. That's His guarantee to us in Jesus Christ. Let me pray for us. Our Father, you know how easy it is for us to doubt your goodness. You know how easy it is for us to forget your promises and your grace. And you know our hearts so easily drift from a simple, genuine trust and hope in you. We pray that you would bind us more and more to your steadfast loving heart. I pray that you would help us to find all of our hope, all that we could ever want or need in our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to see through the lies that our idols tell us. Help us to find your Son more thrilling, more desirable, more life-giving, and more secure than anything else we could ever have in this world. We ask in His name. Amen.