When the children of Israel requested a king to reign over them, Samuel had been in service to the Lord nearly his entire life. His mother Hannah had brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh when he was only a small child, and he had spent decades serving the Lord and judging Israel.
Imagine how he would have felt. I can almost see him saying, “But what have I done wrong? I’ve served God and you faithfully.” We know this bothered him because scripture says But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD (1 Samuel 8:6 KJV). Then God tells him they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me (1 Samuel 8:7 KJV).
Let’s fast-forward to When God rejects Saul as king. We read in 1 Samuel 15:11 (KJV) It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
God is done with Saul being king, but Samuel does something interesting, he grieves and cries all night. Later we read that Samuel mourned for Saul (1 Samuel 15:35 KJV).
Why did these two instances hit Samuel so hard? He was upset that they wanted a king, then he was upset that God rejected Saul. I think it lies in what Samuel invested. Samuel poured himself into serving God and the people. He poured himself into supporting Saul, he anointed Saul. What we see here is a man that devoted his life to ministry. He invested in people and may have seen years wasted when they wanted a king. It could have looked to Samuel like years of investment had produced nothing.
Did he question every sacrifice that he had made? The sleepless nights. The prayers that he prayed. The people he counseled. All his invested time and energy. Did he wonder if he had wasted his life helping people? Did he think, “what’s the point?”
After all he had what seemed like a failed ministry. He served as prophet and judge and the people asked for a replacement. So he sets up the replacement and points him in the right direction and then he fails. This had to be hard on Samuel. What if he decided, “that’s it, I’m not investing in anybody else?”
God had more for him to do. His disappointment didn’t cancel his calling. He calls him out of his mourning to do something. He says, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go: I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons (1 Samuel 16:1 KJV). Samuel still had something to pour out. God essentially says, Samuel, you still have oil. Go pour again.
If he had given up then he likely wouldn’t have met David, he wouldn’t have anointed him. He wouldn’t have had the greatest success of his ministry, if he had given up. I mean let’s not forget that it’s not called the book of David, it’s First and second Samuel.
Have you invested in people that seemed to go the opposite way that they should have? Have you poured yourself out for others and saw nothing? Have you wondered “is it worth it?” “Should I just give up?” Not that you want to walk away from God, but ministry. You want to just settle in and just be a good church member. You want to come to church and serve God, but ministry seems like a waste of time. That seems unproductive at times. I mean after all if we were planting a garden year after year and getting nothing wouldn’t we hang up the towel and quit gardening?
Can I tell you we aren’t working in the natural, but the spiritual. We aren’t planting earthly things that are temporary, but eternal things that we may not totally see the results of until we reach heaven. As it says in Romans 8:25 (NET) But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. Press on, wait with endurance. Your labor is not in vain. God sees what we are doing, don’t give up because it looks like nothing is happening. Who knows who will cross your path. You might minister to the next Peter, Paul, John, Timothy, etc. Don’t give up now, don’t stop pouring into people. Fill thine horn with oil, and go… (1 Samuel 16:1 KJV).
1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (KJV)
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
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