Crying for our Nation
“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments.” … 1 Samuel 15:11.”
King Saul had been commanded to destroy Amalek because of what that sinful people did to the children of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. God saw what had happened and now it was time for payback. But Saul and the people had not carried out the specific commands of the Lord. Saul had given the Lord partial obedience which in reality is disobedience.
Later on, in the book of Esther, the Jews faced extinction through the exploits of Haman, who was a direct descendant of Amalek. How often when we do not deal with sin in our lives does it come back to haunt us?
God was angry at Saul’s sin and told Samuel it made Him really sad that He had made Him king. Remember that the people kept asking for a king and the Lord agreed to their wishes. So be careful what you wish for.
God had not made a mistake in placing Saul on the throne of Israel; the actions of Saul had made God very sad. Just imagine if he had totally obeyed the Lord. Saul had caused God great sorrow, because of his disobedience and it took a great toll on Samuel. Samuel’s heart was so grieved and moved by the words of God that he cried all night to God.
I wonder how often we do that?. Does what goes on in our countries make us cry to God all night? We watch the TV news and see the bills passed to promote all kinds of evil. Does it ever move us?
Samuel didn’t just pray, he also confronted Saul and then he dealt with King Agag. I always thought Samuel was quite old but when he saw Agag, he saw sin and evil. Therefore, he reacted like any believer does when he/she is faced with sin; they go all out to kill it, before it kills them.
Now is the time to speak out in loving rebuke. It is time to get on our knees in repentance and to confront and deal with sin in our own camp.
Samuel was zealous for the sake of the Lord in the midst of the people. Are we prepared to do the same and be zealous for our God? Are you prepared to cry out in prayer all night to God for your nation, like Samuel did?
God bless you, Keith