1 Samuel 12
DOYLY1 Samuel 12:21
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— vain things,] False gods or idols.
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— God forbid that I should sin — in ceasing to pray for you: Samuel counted it a sin to cease to pray, even for those who had entreated him ill. His love and zeal for them were not diminished, but increased, by their ingratitude. He saw it the more necessary to “teach them the good and right way,” because they had forsaken it, and to offer up his prayers for them, because they had offended God and done wickedly. Christian parents and masters, as well as Christian priests and divines, should study and practise this excellent pattern. They should reprove, if it be necessary, those under their care, with sharpness and authority; but at the same time, in the spirit of the good Samuel, should never cease to instruct them and to pray for them. Wogan.
Chap. XIII. ver. 1. Saul reigned one year: Interpreters are much divided in their interpretation of this passage. The sense seems to be this: that Saul had reigned one year when that happened which is related in the foregoing chapter; namely, Samuel’s convening the people, and reproving them. Then the history proceeds to relate what afterwards passed; namely, that when he had reigned two years, he “chose three thousand men &c.” Wogan.