"When these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do," for God is with you (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 10:7).

God chose Saul to be king over Israel although he belonged to the smallest tribe and the most insignificant clan (1 Samuel 9:21). Even so, Saul's father was a man of wealth and standing (1 Samuel 9:1), and Saul himself looked impressive, for he stood "taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward" (1 Samuel 10:23). But the critical point of this narrative is neither the insignificance of the clan nor the impressiveness of Saul's stature. It is this: God had chosen Saul. Samuel prophesied a series of signs to confirm it, and the culmination was God's own presence with Saul to lead and empower him.

Friends, some have told me that they labor in prayer before God, seeking to know what He wants them to do. They do not want to miss God's specific will for them. Perhaps they have in mind this Scripture: "do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). But is that what the verse means?

Paul was not telling the Ephesians to search out something they did not know, but to understand what they already knew. Some in that world pushed for "secret" knowledge, but Paul spoke of mysteries that had already been revealed and a gospel truth they had already received. In fact, both he and the apostle John warned sternly against anyone — human or otherwise — who preached a message different from what they had heard.

Scripture never tells believers to hunt for a hidden will, as though God intentionally conceals it from His children. On the other hand, Scripture repeatedly calls believers to be faithful with what they know and what has been given them to do (1 Corinthians 4:2). Scripture is the revelation of what God intends for us, so that we may be "complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Believers are God's workmanship, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Ephesians 2:10).

Therefore, friends, rather than agonizing over God's undisclosed will, get busy obeying what you know, and serve Him in the opportunities He has already given you. God is not only with you, as He was with Saul; He is in you. As you humbly obey Him in what you know, He will guide and empower you for whatever else He has prepared for you to do.

If you are too anxious to discover God's specific will, you may, like Saul, be trying to get ahead of God. Like Saul, you may find yourself trading faithfulness for expediency. And God may set you aside from His service, as He set Saul aside.

Therefore, dear friends, do not be anxious about what God has not revealed to you. Trust that He has His reasons. Thank Him for choosing you to be His child, and faithfully obey Him in the opportunities He has given you now, in keeping with your calling and gifting: "do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you."

AI-Expanded Reflection

The freedom in Samuel's instruction is striking: after the signs, Saul was simply to act, because God was with him. That phrase — "do what your hand finds to do" — echoes Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might." Scripture's picture of guidance is less often a map of hidden directions than a call to walk in wisdom under God's presence.

Christians hold a range of views on how God leads believers today. Many, like the comment, emphasize that Scripture, wisdom, and circumstances are the ordinary means, and that anxiety about a hidden "specific will" can paralyze rather than help. Others hold that God may also prompt and direct inwardly, while agreeing that such promptings are always subject to Scripture (see #1964, #2069). Proverbs holds both in view: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... and he will make straight your paths" (3:5–6). Saul's later failures came not from missing a hidden plan but from disregarding clear instructions (1 Samuel 13:13; 15:22–23), which is exactly the comment's point.

Samuel said it would be a sin against the Lord "by ceasing to pray for you," and he would instruct them in the good and right way. They were only to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all their heart, considering what great things He had done for them; but if they still did wickedly, they and their king would be swept away (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 12:23–25).

Samuel declared that he would pray for the people of Israel whether they obeyed the Lord or not. He would do the same for King Saul, even after the Lord had rejected him. In fact, the Lord eventually had to tell Samuel to stop grieving over Saul, because God had rejected him (cf. 1 Samuel 16:1). Samuel was faithful to his calling. He understood that he was seeking the approval not of people but of God. Israel was God's people, and Saul was God's anointed king. Until Samuel was persuaded that God had finally rejected the king, he kept praying for Saul. Following Samuel's lead, David would treat Saul the same way. And Samuel prayed for the people of Israel until his death, for he knew God would never completely reject them because of His eternal promises to them.

Friends, we should all learn from Samuel's example. For instance, I know that many of you may feel that those who left our martial arts organization are "traitors," and would not consider giving them any more thought than to speak against them as enemies. But this is not right. It is one thing to acknowledge the wrong they did and resolve not to do the same; it is wrong for us to continually harbor ill will, since we too are constantly in need of grace, and it is God's right alone to condemn. Instead, we ought to pray for them. I don't mean simply praying that God would forgive them, but that He would help them think and act rightly again, for there is no forgiveness apart from repentance. This has been my practice. I continue to remember and pray for everyone I know who has left our organization, especially those who were leaders. And I will do so until I sense the Lord wants me to stop.

On the other side, when I have been the one to leave a group, I pray for those who remain. I left a church because I believed its leaders were taking it in a wrong and unbiblical direction. I continue to pray for the pastor, the elders and deacons, and other leaders. I pray that God will graciously set their minds straight, break through any stubbornness and unteachableness, and show them the error in their thinking and the danger of their present course for themselves and the congregation.

Friends, I am not claiming that one group is more righteous than another because one prays for the other while the other may not reciprocate. Prayer is not enough; it must be connected with truth — just as Paul taught that zeal is not enough, but must be connected with right knowledge (Romans 10:1–4).

Yet we must pray, for God is the final judge, not we ourselves. We must pray, because we recognize our frailty and ignorance and our need for His wisdom, discernment, and grace. We must pray, because true spiritual change is not produced by human persuasion but by the power of God. By prayer we declare our dependence on the Lord.

And along with prayer, we must be constantly and deeply in God's Word. Prayer must be joined with truth. In that sense, truth is greater than prayer, for prayer may fail, but God's Word never fails. Just as faith means nothing without a proper basis and object, so prayer is empty apart from the substance of God's truth.

So, friends, let us be daily and deeply in God's Word. And let us pray regularly for one another — even for those on a wrong path.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Samuel's words in 1 Samuel 12:23 are remarkable for their setting. The people had just rejected God's rule by demanding a king, and Samuel had been, in effect, set aside as their judge (8:7). His farewell speech was an honest rebuke — yet it ended not in bitterness but in a vow: to stop praying for them would be a sin against the Lord. Samuel saw intercession not as an optional kindness but as part of his calling. He also paired prayer with teaching: "I will instruct you in the good and the right way." Prayer and truth, as the comment says, belong together.

Scripture repeatedly shows God's servants praying for those who wronged or rejected them. Moses interceded for the people who wanted to stone him (Numbers 14:10–19). Job prayed for the friends who had misjudged him, and "the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10). Jesus commanded, "pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44), and prayed for His executioners from the cross (Luke 23:34). The comment's practice of praying for those who left the organization, and for the church leadership it left, is a costly and Christlike application of that command.

In the previous day's reading, the people clamor for a king, and Samuel warns them what a king will actually do — reigning over them, taking their sons for his chariots and armies, their daughters for his kitchens, the best of their fields and vineyards for his attendants, a tenth of their grain and flocks for his officials, until they themselves become his servants (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 8:10–17).

In his farewell speech, Samuel contrasts this with his own conduct as judge — he never took their animals, never cheated or oppressed them, never accepted a bribe, standing ready to make right anything he'd done wrong (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 12:2–3). Throughout his time as judge, Samuel was consistently fair and just, doing nothing deserving Israel's rejection. God Himself tells Samuel that the people are rejecting Him as their King, not Samuel as their judge (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 8:7).

During this farewell speech, Samuel reminds Israel of everything God has done for them, and the LORD sends thunder and rain as confirming evidence — prompting the people to ask Samuel to intercede for their sin. I love his response: telling them not to be afraid, that despite all their evil, they should still not turn from the LORD, but serve Him with all their heart, since He won't reject His people for the sake of His own great name, having been pleased to make them His own; Samuel himself commits to continuing to pray for them and teach them the good and right way, urging them simply to fear and serve the LORD faithfully, remembering all He's done — but warning that persisting in evil would still mean their ruin, king and people alike (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 12:20–25).

Even though his official role as judge has ended with the monarchy's start, Samuel commits to remaining and praying for Israel, continuing to teach them as priest and prophet. I find this genuinely noble, entirely consistent with the upright life he'd already lived. His final message as judge: fear the Lord, serve the Lord, remember the Lord, and don't persist in evil. We'd all do well to remember these same admonitions.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Samuel's specific commitment to keep praying, framing failure to do so as sin against God (1 Samuel 12:23), is worth naming as one of Scripture's clearest, most demanding standards for intercessory prayer in ministry. That's a genuinely high bar — not "I'll pray when I remember," but treating the ongoing discipline of praying for others as a moral obligation with real weight attached to neglecting it. Samuel's decades of proven integrity, which this comment rightly admires, may be part of why he could make that commitment with such confidence — a lifetime of consistent character behind him made the promise credible rather than merely aspirational.

Friends, today I was deeply moved once again by a verse describing Saul, Israel's first king. Israel had rejected God as their King, clamoring for one like the surrounding nations. God graciously and sovereignly granted their request, choosing a man befitting the greatest of kings in appearance, valor, and ability. While Saul's selection and early reign were both glorious and promising, we tend to judge him by his later deeds, especially compared to his successor David. Let's be clear — whatever pride, sin, and dishonor Saul would later display was entirely his own doing, but at the beginning, God gave Israel a truly great king, in character as well as appearance.

Saul's character shows clearly in how he treated the rebels who'd despised him and refused to bring gifts at his coronation (cf. 1 Samuel 10:27). After his great victory over King Nahash of the Ammonites — the very victory that convinced Israel they needed a king in the first place — the people called for these rebels' deaths. But Saul refused, declaring that no one would be put to death that day, since it was the day the LORD had accomplished salvation in Israel (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 11:13). Killing them would have brought sweet revenge and popular approval, but Saul didn't want bloodshed overshadowing the occasion — because, as he says, it was the LORD who accomplished this victory. Saul doesn't take credit for himself. In effect, he's saying: this isn't about my coronation, or my own revenge — it's about God receiving glory for delivering His people. What a remarkable early moment.

If I'd been among the people, my heart would have swelled with delight at such a king. Unfortunately, Saul's story doesn't end well, since he doesn't continue in humility and faith — he begins fearing men more than God, and lets his position and power rob him of genuine devotion.

As we'll later read in Ezekiel, what matters isn't how someone begins, but how they end (cf. Ezekiel 3:16–21; 18:21–29; 33:12–20). So, friends, let's keep stoking the flames of our own faith through constant meditation and diligent application of God's Word.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The contrast this comment traces so carefully — a genuinely gracious beginning giving way to fear-driven decline — pairs naturally with the specific Ezekiel passages it cites, since all three deal with exactly this same theme: a righteous person's earlier record providing no permanent guarantee if they later turn away (Ezekiel 18:24 makes this point most directly). Saul's early humility here is genuinely worth admiring on its own terms, this comment is right about that — but Ezekiel's own theology suggests Scripture never intended that early promise to be read as destiny. The same freedom that let Saul choose humility at the start remained his to exercise, or abandon, at every point afterward.

Samuel reminds Israel that it was the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought their ancestors out of Egypt, calling them to stand and hear the evidence of all the righteous acts He'd performed for them across generations (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 12:6–8).

Today's reading describes the beginning of Israel's monarchy. Whatever evil intention lay behind Israel's request, God graciously granted it, giving them an earthly king who turned out to be a man of both physical impressiveness and genuine humility. After his great victory over the Ammonites, Saul had a clear chance to avenge the insult of scoundrels who'd earlier despised his own coronation — but he graciously let it go, giving the credit for the victory entirely to God instead. They'd asked for a king like other nations, yet God gave them one who was humble and gracious. We often ask for things not aligned with His will, since we don't always know what we ought to pray for (a paraphrase of Romans 8:26) — yet He always hears and answers with grace regardless.

I noticed that every time the prophets, including Samuel, addressed Israel, they reminded them of their great deliverance from Egyptian oppression. As Christians, we must remember daily that we too were once objects of God's wrath, now made objects of His mercy through Christ's work of redemption — and we must teach the next generation this same redemptive story for the truly unworthy. God didn't come to save us because we were somehow worthy of His attention, or simply because we'd been ostracized by society. He isn't a loving Father merely because of some worthiness in us — He's the loving Father because He loves us despite having nothing lovable in ourselves. All humanity is genuinely deserving of judgment, and God is entirely just in doing so — yet He graciously chooses to save us anyway, without any merit on our part. Let's remember this amazing love daily, so we can humble ourselves and remain obedient to Him even to the point of death.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Saul's own restraint toward his coronation critics is worth adding directly from the text, since it sharpens exactly what this comment admires about him — he explicitly declares that no one will be put to death that day, since it's the day the LORD accomplished deliverance in Israel, refusing to let personal vengeance overshadow God receiving the credit for the victory (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 11:13). That's a genuinely striking early moment of humility from a king whose later story, covered elsewhere in this project, will show him gradually losing exactly this quality — making his own beginning all the more instructive as a picture of what he was originally capable of, before fear of men and love of position eventually eroded it.

Samuel tells Israel not to be afraid despite the evil they've done, but to keep serving the LORD wholeheartedly rather than turning to useless idols that can neither help nor rescue them. For the sake of His own great name, the LORD will not reject His people, since He was pleased to make them His own in the first place. Samuel commits himself to continue interceding for them, calling it a sin against the LORD to ever stop praying for them, and promises to keep teaching them the good and right way — while urging them, above all, to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully, remembering all the great things He has done for them (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 12:20–24).

I think Samuel could give me this message today, and it would be equally as relevant.

AI-Expanded Reflection

What makes Samuel's promise stand out is the specific way he frames failing to pray as sin — not indifference, not neglect, but an actual offense against God (1 Samuel 12:23). That's a striking standard for intercessory prayer, and it isn't left behind in the Old Testament: Paul later urges that petitions, prayers, and intercession be made for everyone, treating ongoing prayer for others as a basic mark of faithfulness rather than an optional extra (a paraphrase of 1 Timothy 2:1). Samuel's commitment to keep praying, even for a people who had just confessed doing "all this evil," reads less like ancient rhetoric and more like a job description for anyone in spiritual leadership, then or now.