Devotion Corner

1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should reign over them.

In the closing of the age of the Judges in the Old Testament, we read of how Samuel’s sons did not follow the Lord as Samuel had done so faithfully. Instead of seeking the Lord’s leading that He might provide them with another wise and Godly leader, as He had done for centuries, the people asked Samuel that they might have a king over them. 

One can only imagine the deep wound that such a request would’ve made to the heart of Samuel. He had devoted his life to serving the Lord and had led his nation faithfully in God’s name throughout, only for them now to turn their back on it all. Bitterness, confusion, anger and maybe even resentment may have bubbled in the blood of Samuel at this thankless request. 

However, God is kind to His faithful servants and assures Samuel that it is not him that the people have rejected, but God. God sought to lift the wounding from Samuel’s weak and mortal shoulders and took the heavy pain onto His own mighty, eternal shoulders. In doing so, the Lord healed Samuel’s wounds, restored his peace, and showed His incredible meekness and longsuffering nature to a nation who were turning away from Him.

When we face similar rejection from those around us, though we have served them faithfully in the name of God, we are to remember this gracious interaction between God and Samuel. We are to be humble and remember that the rejection is of God, not us, and so we should not take the blow that was aimed at God. When we do so, we admit our own human weaknesses and our need for the Lord to fight our battles for us. The glory being that when we rest in this truth, anger is put aside, wounds are healed, and clarity of mind and peace of heart is ours through the graciousness of Christ Jesus.