Day 1 · Samuel’s Farewell Address
1 Samuel 12:1–15
1Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king. 2Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.” 4“You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.” 5Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied. 6Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers. 8When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9But they forgot the LORD their God, and 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. 10Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’ 11So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. 12But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. 13Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you. 14If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well. 15But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.
Berean Standard Bible
Observe
In verses 14–15, what single condition determines whether things will go well or poorly for both Israel and their new king?
Apply
When human leaders or circumstances change around you this week, how can you practice trusting God as your ultimate leader?
In the app, each day also opens the words in the original language, what the passage meant to its first readers, pastors teaching it, a place to write, and a time to pray.