1 Samuel 12:1-11

¹ Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³ Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

“We agree,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your ancestors.

⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak Jephthah and Samuel and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

Questions to consider:

• Who does Samuel ask about his service to the people of Israel?
• Do they look upon Samuel as a good leader?
• What story does he tell them?

Possibilities for prayer:

Samuel lived a long life in service of the people of Israel and of God. This man, who was the product of the fervent prayers of a barren woman, has led a nation and kept it, in large part, safe. We can learn from the example that Samuel has set of what it looks like to be a servant of God. This example began way back in his childhood, when Samuel first heard God's call on his life.

Today let's ask that we would become good servants of God and live lives that we could reflect upon, and that God could reflect upon, and be pleased.