1 Samuel 12:16 - Meaning and Application

Samuel is aiming at two things here. First, he wants to convince the people of their sin in asking for a king. They were now rejoicing before God with their king (1 Samuel 11:15) and offering sacrifices of praise, which may have made them feel that their request had been harmless or even right. So Samuel tells them plainly that their asking for a king was wicked, and very wicked in the Lord’s sight.

We should learn from this that success in a sinful path does not make the sin less serious. The people had a king, and if they lived well, that king could still become a great blessing to them. Yet Samuel still wanted them to see that asking for a king was a great wrong. We must never approve of what God condemns in his law, even if his providence seems to allow it for a time.

Samuel then shows God’s displeasure with a striking sign. At Samuel’s word, God sent thunder and rain, and he did it at wheat harvest, a time when such a storm was most unusual in that land (1 Samuel 12:16-18). Thunder and rain have natural causes, and they can have serious effects. But Samuel made it clear that this was a special act of God, meant to show them how evil their request had been.

This was miraculous not only because it came at an unusual time, on a clear day in harvest, but also because Samuel announced it beforehand. If thunder and rain had simply happened while he was speaking, he could have used the event to awaken them. But here God gave the sign in advance, so there could be no doubt that it matched Samuel’s warning.

Samuel first spoke about the sign, saying, “Stand still and see this great thing” (1 Samuel 12:16, 1 Samuel 12:17). Earlier he had told them to stand and hear (1 Samuel 12:7), but now he tells them to stand and see, because his reasoning had not reached their hearts. If his gentle words did not move them, then they would hear God speak in thunder and see his power in the rain.

Samuel also prayed for the sign. He called on the Lord, and while he was still praying, the Lord sent thunder and rain. This showed both God’s power over the earth and Samuel’s close standing with God in prayer. God could bring this storm out of his storehouses (Psalm 135:7) even when there were no natural signs of it, and he would answer a man in the hidden place of thunder (Psalm 81:7). Samuel, a man known for prayer, was still proving the power of prayer.

This thunder and rain also recalled an earlier event, when the Lord had used a great thunderstorm to defeat the Philistines at Samuel’s prayer (1 Samuel 7:10). Now, when Israel had rebelled and grieved God’s Holy Spirit, he turned against them and used the same kind of weapon against his own people (Isaiah 63:10). He showed them how foolish it was to trust a king to save them instead of trusting God and the prayers of his servant. Could their king thunder like God (Job 40:9)? Could their prince command such power as the prophet could through prayer?

God also taught them that their present calm and prosperity could change at once. Their condition seemed as peaceful as weather in wheat harvest, but if God wished, he could quickly darken their sky and pursue them with his storm, as the psalmist says.

The people were deeply shaken by this. First, they greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Since they had been ready to think only of their king, God showed them that he and his prophets must also be feared. He had given them joy with their king, but now he taught them to rejoice with trembling.

Second, they openly admitted their sin and folly. They said, “We have added to all our sins this evil” (1 Samuel 12:19). Some people will not admit their sin unless God uses stronger means than gentle warnings. Samuel did not force this confession until the matter was settled and the king confirmed, so no one could say he was using repentance to strengthen his own rule. Once their pride was exposed, they saw how hateful their guilt really was (Psalm 36:2).

Third, they urgently asked Samuel to pray for them (1 Samuel 12:19). They feared the wrath of God and did not think they could pray well for themselves, so they asked Samuel to do it. In this way, they now wanted help from the very man they had recently slighted. Many people who refuse Christ’s rule still want his intercession, because they want God’s wrath turned away. And often those who once mocked praying people later value their prayers and want to share in them. “Pray to the Lord your God,” they said, meaning, “We do not yet dare to call him ours, but if you have any standing with him, use it for us.”

Samuel’s second aim is to strengthen the people in true religion and keep them close to the Lord. His purpose is much the same as Joshua’s in Joshua 23:1 and Joshua 24:1. He does not want the fear of the Lord to drive them away from God, because it is meant to draw them back to him (1 Samuel 12:20). “Do not be afraid,” he says. Even though they had done this great evil and God was angry, they must not abandon his service or stop following him.

His meaning is that they should not despair. The storm will pass, and the weather will clear. Though God may frown on his people, he will not leave them (1 Samuel 12:22) for the sake of his great name. So they must not leave him. Every breach of covenant grieves the Lord, but it does not always cast his people out of covenant. God’s stern rebukes should not drive us away from hope in his mercy.

God’s choice is fixed because it is free. We may trust that he will not forsake his people, because it pleased him to make them his people.

If God had chosen them because they deserved it, then people might fear he would also cast them off when they failed. But he chose them for his own name’s sake, and for his own name’s sake he will not abandon them.

He also warns them against idolatry: “Do not turn away from God and from worshiping him” (1 Samuel 12:20, 1 Samuel 12:21). If they turn from God, whatever else they turn to will prove empty. It can never meet their hopes, and it will surely fail those who trust it. Idols cannot help people in need or rescue them in trouble, because they are worthless and are not what they claim to be. An idol is nothing in the world (1 Corinthians 8:4).

He then comforts them by promising to keep caring for them. They had asked him to pray for them (1 Samuel 12:19). He could have said, “Go to Saul, the king you put in my place, and ask him to pray for you.” Instead, he does not rebuke them for their disrespect. He promises far more than they asked for.

They asked him for prayer as a kindness, but he treated it as a duty and was shocked at the thought of neglecting it. “Pray for you?” he says, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord by not doing it.” It is a sin against God not to pray for God’s people, especially for those under our care. Good people are rightly afraid of sins of neglect.

They asked him to pray only for that moment and that occasion, but he promised to keep praying for them as long as he lived. We are told to pray without ceasing. We sin when we stop praying in general, and especially when we stop praying for the church.

They asked him only to pray, but he promised to do more. He would not only pray for them, he would teach them too. Even though they were not willing to keep him as their ruler, he would not refuse to remain their prophet, their God-appointed messenger. He would teach them only what was good and right, and the right way is always the good way. The way of duty is the way of peace and gain.

He closes with a strong call to practical religion and sincere godliness, faith that shows itself in daily life (1 Samuel 12:24, 1 Samuel 12:25). The main duty he presses is to fear the Lord. Earlier he said, “Do not be afraid” with a slave-like fear (1 Samuel 12:20), but here he means a childlike fear, a reverent respect for God. That fear should show itself in serving him through worship and in a godly life, in truth and sincerity, not in outward show only. They must serve him with their heart, with all their heart, not pretending and not dividing their loyalty.

He gives two reasons. First, they owe God gratitude, because he has done great things for them and should have their lasting service. Second, they should think about their own safety, because if they keep doing evil, God will bring judgment on them. They and their king, the one they are so proud of and expect so much from, will be destroyed. That king will be a blessing only if they remain faithful to God.

So, as a faithful watchman, he gave them warning and cleared his own conscience.