1 Samuel 12

tho eastern kings: under which government they chose to put themselves. Or whom have J defrauded? whom have I oppressed?. If they knew of no open violence, he bids them mention any fraud or circumvention, of which he had been guilty. Or of whose hands have I received any bribes to blind mine eyes? and I ivill restore it you.] He challenges them to prove so much as the receiving any gift, in any cause that came before him; and he would make full satisfaction. rain; that you may perceive and see tliat your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.] By this he shewed hew he could in an instant deprive them of all the comforts of life; as they deserved, for their rejecting him and his prophet: who was so powerful, as by his prayers to produce such wonders.

1 Samuel 12:4

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded, nor oppressed n$, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand. They acknowledged him to be perfectly an. upright judge: who could not be charged to have done any thing amiss.. •

1 Samuel 12:5

And he said unto them, The Lord is ivitness against you, and his anointed is tvitness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. Of his innocence; and that they had no reason to complain of his government. Ver. G. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced 3foses and Aaron, and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.] D. Kimchi refers this to the foregoing words; as if he had said, the Lord that did such wonders by Moses and Aaron is ivitness, Sec.

1 Samuel 12:7

Now therefore stand still. The Jews observe, that they were wont to stand, when they heard the word of God. Though those w r ords, Exod. xx. 18. are but a slender proof of it. Tliat I.may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.] He would not dismiss them, till, having obtained this honourable testimony from them, he had represented to them the great benefits they had received from God, and their ingratitude to him. * •

1 Samuel 12:8

When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fatfters cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.] Any one may easily discern/this is but a compendious narrative of what God did for them, from their first coming • out of Egypt, till they were settled in Canaan; no more than that their fathers cried unto the Lord, when Jacob came into Egypt, and the Lord sent these two persons to deliver them. For many things intervened between both theso; till at last God settled them in their rest, in the good land he.promised to give them.

1 Samuel 12:9

And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand oftheking ofMoab; and they fought against them.] This is a short history of the calamities which befel them, for their idolatry, after they came there: some few of which he only mentions; without observing exactly the order in which they came upon them: but these were the peoplewho longest oppressed them.

1 Samuel 12:10

And they cried untotte Lord, and said, We have sinned, became we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and ive will serve thee.] This they did very often. (Judg. iii. D. 13. iv. 3. vi. 7.- especially x. 10. 15, &c.)

1 Samuel 12:11

And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Sedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwell safely. This is perfectly agreeable to the history of tho book of Judges; which acquaints us, that as often as they repented, and besought his pardon, &c. he raised up deliverers unto them: the latest of which he only mentions. In which account there is -no difficulty, but only about Bedan: of whom we no where read. But see my notes upon Judg. x. 4. unto which may be added, that the Chaldce paraphrase here hath it, he sent Gideon and Samson, &c. whom most take to be the person here meant, and called Ben-Dan (the son of Dan), because he was of that tribe: and by contraction called Bedan; just as instead of Saulmeel (asked of God),* they called him who writes this book Samuel, for shortness* sake. Who mentions himself as one of their deliverers; because the signal overthrow he gave the Philistines, which drove them out of their country, was fresh in their memory.

1 Samuel 12:12

And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children ofAmmon, came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord your God was your king. They would not stay till God raised them up -a deliverer, or commanded Samuel, who was their judge, to fight with him: but would have a king like other nations, always at hand to fight their battles. (See upon viii. 5.) The word nay seems to signify that Samuel told them, that God would be with them to deliver them; or that he offered himself to be their leader under God: but they refused his offer, and continued to demand a king.

1 Samuel 12:13

Now therefore behold the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have desired/. He could not upbraid them too often with this, that they would not be content with the government of God, which was peculiar to them; but chose to be like other people.- And, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you.] Though they chose to have a king like other nations, and be governed by God no longer; yet he still puts them in mind they could not make one, but he was set over them by God; as I have before observed.

1 Samuel 12:14

If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord. According to the covenant they lately made with him: (xi. 15.) all virtue springs from the fear of God. Then shall both ye, and your king that reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God.] That is, be defended by him; and continue a happy people: notwithstanding they had thus rejected him. This appears to be the meaning, by what is opposed to it in the following verse.

1 Samuel 12:15

But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against yourfa- titers.* He would sufFer their enemies to oppress them, as they did in the days of the Judges: or send other plagues upon them.

1 Samuel 12:16

Noiv therefore stand and see the great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. For a visible demonstration of the truth of all that Samuel had said. •

1 Samuel 12:17

Is it not tcheat-harvest to-day?. A very clear day, and in no disposition to rain. Which was not wont to fall in harvest-time; but in the autumn, and in the spring: called the later and the former rain. I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and

1 Samuel 12:18

So Samuel called upon the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. A very horrible tempest, accompanied, it is likely, with lightning; when all was serene, and no sign appeared of it. And all the people feared the Lord and Samuel.] This struck such a terror into them, that they were afraid God would destroy them, as he did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and that Samuel would not intercede for them.

1 Samuel 12:19

And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants nnto the Lord, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. Till now they seem not to have been sensible of their sin, in desiring an alteration in the form of their government: therefore it was a miraculous storm, full of horror, which extorted this confession from them; not only of this, but all their former sins.

1 Samuel 12:20

And Samuel said unto the people. Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve hint with all your heart. He would not have them despair of recovering God’s favour; and directs them the best way to it: by continuing so sensible of their wickedness, as to be moved to true repentance and steadfast obedience.

1 Samuel 12:21

And turn ye not aside:for then shall ye go after vain things, which cannot profit. He warns them above all things against worshipping other gods, whom he calls vain things which cannot profit; by a scheme of speech in the Hebrew language, signifying, they do a great deal of mischief. Thus in Prov. xx. 23. the wise man saith, a false balance Isaiah 7\ot good; that is, is very bad and hateful to God; as it goes before, of divers weights. And thus heathen writers speak, particularly Homer, Odyss. £. ver. 85. Oh yap a^irXta tpya Oiol fiaKaptg <jti(ov<ri. The blessed gods do not love wicked actions; i. e. they hate and detest them. Nor deliver, for they are vain.] He presses them to persist in the worship of God alone; whom if they forsook and went after other gods, in vain did they expect help and deliverance from them, for they were void of all power.

1 Samuel 12:22

For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake; because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. The steadfastness of God in his affection to them, notwithstanding their provocations, was a mighty motive to faithful obedience.

1 Samuel 12:23

Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord iri ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Not only pray for them, but teach and instruct them: which were the two great offices of a prophet. They had highly disobliged him; but he imitated God, who pardoned them, and so did he.

1 Samuel 12:24

Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. All his prayers and instructions would not do the business, without their serious considerations. And what more worthy their constant thoughts than the great benefits they had received from God: particularly his tender mercy in not casting them off when they shaked off his government.

1 Samuel 12:25

But if you will still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both you and your king. As it proved, not only ifl this, but in several future reigns. •