New Days Pt 6 - Here is the King you’ve Chosen
This sermon was preached at Immanuel Fellowship Church in Ellisville Missouri as part of our "New Days" series within 1 Samuel, exploring Israel's transition from tribal confederation to monarchy and what it teaches us about God's movement in our own lives and world toward his good future. For more resources on faith and Christian living, visit our website or connect with our community. You can email us at hello@ifcstl.com or call/text us at 636-431-4708
Introduction: The Universal Longing for Renewal
Okay, let's jump into it. We're continuing our time in First Samuel today, and today is kind of a transitional text. We're ending out our short series called New Days and next week we're starting a new series within First Samuel called Earthly Kings.
This whole section of First Samuel is really interesting—and it's kind of a strange bit of text to work through. We've been reading this bit by bit on Sundays, and we even had a break in the middle of it. But if you sat down in your Bible reading plan and read this whole chunk of First Samuel that we've been going through (chapters 8 through 12), it would seem weirdly repetitive.
Over and over and over, what you see in this section is some version of: Man, Israel really needs a king. Wanting a king is sinful. Don't worry, God's providing a king named Saul. Everyone has to commit to him. And it's going to be hard to do that.
It just plays out on repeat.
The reason for that is simple: This is a dramatic cultural movement for Israel. They are transitioning from being a loosely connected confederation of tribes to being a unified nation under a single monarchy. That's a messy transition that took a long time. These several chapters take place over several years, with a lot of repetition and coming back to the same ideas over and over.
As I considered what God might have for our church in this series of texts, I saw this theme repeating: a universal human desire for renewal.
We All Want a New Day
I think there's this reality that every single one of us lives our lives in this broken and cursed world. And whether we've had it happen or it's currently happening, the reality of the curse leaves all of us—at least sometimes—longing for a reset.
Looking at your circumstances, looking at what's around you, looking at what you're facing and just going, "Man, I just need a new thing. I need a new day, a new opportunity. I need a blank slate."
We all end up wanting renewal of something in our lives. We want a new day. And oftentimes we want it on a big scale in our lives. Things seem like they're just moving out of our control.
I would say, to encourage you: that's really normal. It's normal in a sinful world affected by the curse—seeing and experiencing all sorts of brokenness and hurt and wrong—to long for renewal.
Here's the beauty, beloved, that I think we've seen play out in this text: Our God is a God of renewal. Our God is a God of new days. The Gospel—the thing we preach all the time—is a work of renewal in our hearts and in this world.
We are all of us Israelites wanting our lives, our world, our people, our future to be better. We've all experienced hardship and famine. We all want God to lead us into a new thing.
The problem is that oftentimes the new days that we actually seek—the renewal that we actually put our energy and life and soul into—is simply less than God's best and the actual renewal He has for us.
Main Point: The Only Renewal That Matters Is Renewal in Christ
As we close out this section of First Samuel, my main point today is this: The only renewal that matters in your life is renewal in Christ.
The only one that really matters, that really lasts, that really brings you what you're longing for is renewal in Christ.
I think the problem is as simple as this: We just forget that that's true.
When you sit in church, when you're digging in Scripture, when you're actively considering the gospel, we have these moments where we go, "Yeah, of course. Of course God is God. He's in charge of everything. The gospel is beautiful and impacts every facet of my life. Of course, if I want renewal, if I want restoration, if I want to be brought forward to what's better and good for my life, of course that'll be in Christ."
And then you leave small group or discipleship or church and you go back to your real life. And how quickly do we just forget that?
You're living your life out in the world and you have bills and deadlines and whiny kids and broken relationships and all the different things going on in the news and on social media, and we just forget the truth. We forget easily.
A Personal Story About Forgetting
I've told this story before, but on my 29th birthday, I forgot it was my 29th birthday and I was convinced it was my 30th birthday. I woke up and left and went to work and spent the entire morning having an existential crisis in my head going, "I'm 30 and this is what my life looks like? This is all I've accomplished?"
At the time, I was going through a church planting assessment and working multiple part-time jobs. We didn't have any money. We were in a house we didn't own with this little kid, and all this different stuff.
I called Kim with this sorrowful, wailing voicemail: "Oh, Kim, what have I done with my life? What's going on, man? I really didn't think this birthday would be that hard."
She calls me back a few minutes later and just goes, "Hey, you're an idiot. You're not 30, you're 29."
I felt so much relief. By God's grace, by the time my actual 30th birthday came, it was so easy. I'd done all the mourning ahead of time.
That's silly. But I share that because forgetting is way too easy. We forget important things. We forget big things all the time. We forget all the times that Christ has given us the renewal we need. And when we're facing today's challenge, we just assume we need a different, a better, a new earthly way to resolve our problem.
And so each of us turns to idols. We turn to the idols of this world to seek the renewal that only Christ can give us.
Let's pray before we jump into the text.
Jesus, we just need You this morning. We need You to be our discipler. We need You to remind us of the truths we've forgotten. We need You to challenge us with new truths of Your gospel. We need You to be the conviction and the healing balm in our hearts. Lord, I pray that each and every one of us this morning would hear Your word in the way our hearts need and that we would leave this space today having met with You in a way that's real, in a way that impacts us. We love You, Jesus. We pray these things in Your name. Amen.
Part 1: Samuel's Integrity (1 Samuel 12:1-5)
Let's read together from 1 Samuel 12, starting in verse 1:
Then Samuel said to all Israel, "I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you. Now you can see the king is leading you. As for me, I'm old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now. Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Who have I wronged or mistreated? From whom have I taken a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you."
"You haven't wronged us, you haven't mistreated us, and you haven't taken anything from anyone," they responded.
And he said to them, "The Lord is a witness against you, and his anointed is a witness today that you haven't found anything in my hand."
"He is a witness," they said.
If you weren't with us last week, here's what's going on: Israel has asked for a king. Samuel has been their judge—a spiritual leader, but also kind of a political leader. They've asked for a king. They've been told it's a sin. And God has worked through Samuel to anoint this king, Saul.
It was kind of a messy experience. They made Saul king, but Saul didn't really want to be king. Not everyone was united behind this. All this stuff was going on.
But last week, we saw the moment where it clicked. There was an existential military threat against Israel. The Holy Spirit moved through Saul, and the people united behind him as king. He rose up an army and overthrew the Ammonites. It worked. Yay, we had a king. We were in trouble. God used our king to raise up the army and to free us. Praise God.
So at that point, Samuel says, "Okay,now that you're all actually following him as king, let's kind of make him king again." Because they've already done this, but let's do it again now that you're all actually behind him.
So they get everyone together at Gilgal, they anoint Saul king again. And now Samuel has handed off the reins, and he's giving this last closing public address to the leaders of Israel.
A Messenger Must Be as Reliable as the Message
What's so interesting about this is that Samuel begins this final speech by talking about his own integrity. It's kind of a weird place to start, right? That might feel weird for us, but I think the reality is he's handing off the reins of power and wants to have a clear conscience. I haven't defrauded anyone. Integrity matters, and it matters to Samuel.
Here's the thing: I think Samuel just knows that a messenger must be as reliable as the message. He knows that even though his political leadership in Israel is ending, his ministry to Israel is not actually over. And I think he knows he's about to challenge Israel on some difficult stuff.
So even though he has some difficult things to say, he wants them to be able to listen to him. He starts with, "Do you have any reason to distrust me? Have I done anything to any of you? Anything to make you think I'm a bad leader, not worthy to be up here?"
And everyone's like, "No, no, no, you're great, man. You're great."
He goes, "Cool. Buckle up then, because I got some words before we're done."
Part 2: Israel's Testimony of God's Faithfulness (1 Samuel 12:6-12)
Read on with me starting at verse 6:
Then Samuel said to the people, "The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness. Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts he has done for you and for your ancestors.
"When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, so he handed them over to Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. Those enemies fought against them.
"Then they cried out to the Lord and said, 'We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord to worship the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.' And so the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely.
"But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, 'No, we must have a king reign over us'—even though the Lord your God is your king."
Woof.
Your Testimony Will Confront You
Now we see that Samuel wanted to secure his integrity in the eyes of the leaders here so that he could speak a hard word to them. He's challenging them. He doesn't want anyone to say that his challenge is because he's dishonest or because he's disappointed or upset that Saul is taking over some of his authority.
So he puts the authority of God behind what he's doing, and he simply recounts Israel's collective testimony.
It's really worth noting here that Samuel in this moment believes doing nothing besides simply recounting Israel's testimony will confront them. Do you catch that? It's pretty intense language: "Line up so I can confront you with how God has been faithful and wonderful to you for generations."
That's weird, but there's some truth here. He knows that their testimony will challenge them.
Why? Well, I think it's because a look at any of our testimonies—for those of us who are in Christ—shows us that God has always, always, always been faithful to protect, provide, and renew.
Any of us, if we are in Christ, if you sit back and think about your own testimony for a moment, your testimony is that God is faithful and sought you out and made a way for you from death to life. He interceded on your behalf and chased after you while you were chasing after the things of the world. He chased after you and bought you back from death to life by His death on the cross.
That's all of our testimonies. Amen.
God has always been faithful, and yet we struggle to trust Him today.
And there is a reality that when we are wrestling with our faith, when our faith is weak, our testimony can become a confrontation because it pushes us to go, "You know God's character. You know what He has done. Look at this."
The Old Testament Sin Cycle
Samuel reminds Israel of their collective story:
They were slaves in Egypt, but God worked through Moses and Aaron to bring them freedom in a land of their own.
But Israel continually forgot God and followed the worthless idols of the land.
So God allowed them to be harassed by their enemies and the surrounding nations.
But every time this happened, Israel would eventually see their sin and confess and repent.
And when they did this, God would raise up judges who would lead them back to freedom.
This continued right up to their current day and Samuel's ministry to them. Samuel is the last of these judges.
It's honestly a really good summary of the whole story of Exodus and Judges. This is what theologians call the Old Testament's "sin cycle."
You see, God had made this covenant with Israel under Moses' ministry at Sinai. He would be their God. He would live with them. He would bless them. He would grant them their own land, make them a nation, and they would live in faithfulness to Him and have joy and freedom and abundance. They would reject the false idols of the nations surrounding them, and they would worship God alone.
Understanding Deuteronomy 28-29
We don't talk about this passage a lot, but Deuteronomy 28 and 29 is actually one of the most important passages in all of Scripture for understanding the Old Testament. It's the interpretive lens through which you can understand every other text until you get to the New Testament. It's the setup for that entire section of redemptive history.
And it's basically this: Moses recounts the blessings and the curses of following covenant or breaking covenant.
What Israel agreed to for them and their children and their children's children in perpetuity at Sinai was this:
"We will follow God and He will bless us." And the blessings will look like this (and they list them out).
"And if we break covenant and we break faith and we worship false gods, then God will take every one of those blessings and turn them into curses." And it will look like this.
"And at any point, if we get tired of these curses and the way they're destroying our lives, if we turn back to God in repentance, God in His grace and love for His name's sake and His glory will immediately forgive us and restore the blessings of the covenant."
That's what Deuteronomy 28 and 29 describes, and it goes into detail.
The story of the rest of the Old Testament is the story of Israel struggling with their covenant, wrestling with their covenant, experiencing all the blessings of covenant, going, "Man, God is so good."
And then something happens—something scary, something intrusive—and they fall into some sin pattern. They forget who God is and they chase after the false gods and religions around them, and they forget their covenant.
Then God allows all the curses of the covenant to come upon them. Eventually it gets bad enough and they go, "Man, why do we want to live like this?" And they turn back to God and say, "We've forsaken our covenant. Please forgive us."
And God says, "Absolutely." And He raises up leaders and He restores all the blessings.
And it just goes in this cycle, generation after generation after generation after generation, until you get to where we are.
The Change Israel Needed vs. The Change They Sought
Never mind the fact that by the time you get to Samuel, Israel's beginning to realize something has to change. We're going in this spiral and it's getting worse.
Never mind the fact that the change they need is to simply follow God and obey the covenant. That's the change they need. The change they need is to stop forgetting. It's to stop running away to false gods. It's to stop forsaking their covenant. That's the change they need.
But the change they sought in Samuel's day was to go, "I know, how about instead of God raising up a judge, how about if we just have a king like everyone else?"
Samuel is pointing out here that this is purely and simply a wild pull for Israel. All they have to do is look to their own story, consider their lives, their parents, their grandparents, their great-grandparents, to see how faithful God is. If you seek Him, He'll take care of you.
Isn't That True for Us as Well?
Isn't that true for us as well? Think back over your own life. All of us have had a mixture of hardships and trials and pains and blessings in our life. All of us.
But if you're in Christ—like we already said—I guarantee that if you consider your testimony, what you see is how God has made a way for you, even in the midst of suffering and evil and wrong and injustice.
If you look at your testimony as a Christian, what you see is a story of God's provision in the midst of the brokenness of this world.
But that isn't how our minds work. That's not what we do automatically.
The Newest Problem Always Feels the Worst
When we have issues in front of us, whatever issue is currently in front of us, whichever one is newest, it just feels the worst, doesn't it?
Whatever new hardship this cursed and broken world hands you, just by pure fact of its newness and its presence, it feels worse than the ones that have come before it most of the time. Anybody else? Just me on that one?
"Look, I know God has always cared for me, but what about THIS? What about this new thing? What about this new scary big decision in front of me? What about this broken relationship? What about this anxiety, this fear, this sin pattern that has popped back up? How can I possibly get past this one?"
Beloved, Israel saw the Ammonites and thought that a king would bring them the renewal they needed. That's what they thought.
If they had stopped for a moment and considered their story, they would have known that faithfulness to covenant would have brought them what they needed. But the thing that is in front of them is the thing that seems like the biggest. And they seek for the answer that is closest to them.
Samuel's calling this out as foolish and shortsighted. He exposes this as rejection of God's rule over them.
The problem wasn't a lack of God's power working in Israel's favor. That's not the problem. The problem was the lack of Israel's memory, the lack of Israel actually seeking their God.
They wanted an earthly king because they had purely and simply forgot about their actual King.
We Do This Every Day
Here's the thing: It's easy to see this in Israel, but we have to remember that this is us as well. This is how we live. We do this every day.
We look to earthly kings, to subtle idols. We find ourselves as we face challenges and problems and pains in life, slowly and in small ways conforming to the patterns of the world—in the small little spaces where it's just easier to live like everyone else, to buy into the way this world works apart from Christ, and to seek those easy shortcuts.
You know what I'm talking about?
"Oh, I'm fearful of this major life change. I know what I'll do. I'll spend all the next five days researching everything online so I understand it all and I'm in control."
"I'm worried about this thing going on in our culture and the way things are going overall. I know, I'm going to zone in on some podcasts and books. I'm going to make sure this person gets elected to fix all of it." (And that's not saying who that person is because we may have different opinions on that, but that's an easy lie to fall into.)
"I'm struggling with this job and my finances. I know, I'll pick up this new side hustle and work harder and rest less."
"I'm struggling with this same old sin pattern again. I know, I'll find this new podcast, this new book, this new spiritual mentor."
Here's the thing: None of those things are inherently bad. None of them. They have the capacity to actually help you. But do they have the capacity to fix your life and fix what's broken? No. No, no, no.
What Ammonite Are You Running From?
The small little ways we conform ourselves to this world—I think it really just brings us back to the question: What Ammonite am I running away from?
What are the challenges in my life right now? What trial? What anxiety is causing you to look for an immediate earthly solution and to purely and simply forget that God already has you?
Beloved, Jesus has you. He has you in His hand. He has a new day for you. Our God is a God of daily renewal. And, beloved, that is true for you.
We used Psalm 103 for our call to worship today. I love that text. It does this amazing thing. Overarching, it's this big, long poem really talking about similar stuff to what Samuel's talking about here.
In that poem, David says, "Hey, let's think about how faithful and gracious God has always been. And let's use that to think about how faithful and gracious He will be going forward."
And there's this part right at the beginning of the psalm—we just barely missed it in our call to worship today—where David says, "Don't forget all of God's benefits."
It's such a weird little sentence, right in the middle of this poem about God being so gracious and taking care of us. And he goes, "Don't forget all His benefits."
I love that.
Beloved, the Lord benefits you. He benefits you. He cares for you. He's carried you up until today. He has brought you to where you are now. And, beloved, He will carry you beyond today.
You can remember what He has done, and you can trust Him to carry you into your future.
Part 3: God's Faithfulness Even in Israel's Sin (1 Samuel 12:13-18)
Read on with me in verse 13:
"Now, here is the king you've chosen, the one you've requested. Look, this is the king the Lord has placed over you. If you fear the Lord and worship and obey him, and if you don't rebel against the Lord's command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. However, if you disobey the Lord and rebel against his command, the Lord's hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors.
"Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. Isn't the wheat harvest today? I will call on the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the Lord's sight by requesting a king for yourselves."
Samuel called on the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. They pleaded with Samuel, "Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so we won't die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves."
God Doesn't Give Up on Us
Now Samuel does this interesting thing, and honestly, I think it's a beautiful thing.
Israel has looked to a worldly solution in Saul, and they have sinned in this. Samuel wants them to know this is a sin, but he also wants them to know that God is so faithful that He is caring for them even in this earthly solution.
Samuel says, "Look, you wanted a king, you've got a king. We're here. That's the new day. That's what it is. The king is here, but the covenant remains. God is still with you. And now you, as well as your king, can turn to God in faithfulness and receive the benefits of His care and His covenant blessings."
Beloved, our God is a God of faithful renewal.
I think what we see here is that God doesn't give up on us, even when we are chasing after worldly solutions, even when we forget that He's the One with the authority, He's the one with the power, He's the one who's carrying us. And we look to the immediate worldly solutions around us. God still shows up and works for our benefit, even through those things.
Do you hear that, church? Your God does not give up on you, even when you turn your back on Him, even when you seek out worldly idols, even when you forget His faithfulness and try and solve your own problems your own way, by your own power. Even in that, your God# The Only Renewal That Matters (Continued)
Even in that, your God doesn't abandon you. He's that good, He's that faithful.
Which I think makes it all that much more beautiful, all that much more alluring, all that much more attractive for us to actually just reject our idols and seek Him—because He's so kind.
The Significance of the Storm
And then we get this interesting scene where Samuel calls upon God to send a violent storm, and God sends thunder and rain rolling down on the wheat harvest.
I'm guessing the significance of this is as lost on you as it was on me. We kind of read this and we're like, "Dang, it rained. And everyone thought they were going to die." And we kind of just go, "That's weird."
But there's actually a couple things going on under the hood here that make this text make a little bit more sense to us. Three things I want to talk about:
1. This Didn't Happen in Israel
You have to understand—and here's what I mean by that—this region of Israel doesn't experience the seasons the same way we do. Their winters are mild and rarely drop below freezing. And as a result, this largely agricultural culture really understood their seasons in terms of the rainy season and the dry season. That's kind of the two categories for them.
By the time wheat harvest rolls around, it doesn't rain anymore. Rain would have been incredibly rare in this particular area during this particular month.
And the thing you need to know is that a violent and thunderous storm—not only would it be unheard of, but it would actually be kind of dangerous for them.
So when this storm appears, it's such an unlikely thing to have happened that when Samuel prays, the people immediately know, "Oh, this must be from God."
2. Baal Was a Storm God
The second thing you need to know is that the primary pagan god that Israel tended to turn to in their faithlessness—the idol worship that they went to most often—was to worship the kind of pantheon of gods that, generally speaking, the Philistines and the different "-ites" around them held onto.
One of the primary gods there was a god named Baal. Baal is a storm god who lives in the clouds and makes it rain and throws thunder and lightning and is in charge of life and death and prosperity in your crops.
So when God shows up in the storm and in the thunder and in the lightning, He wants to make sure that in no uncertain terms, Israel knows: The storms belong to Me, the rain belongs to Me, the lightning belongs to Me, the life of your crops belongs to Me.
3. Rain Meant Life or Death
This is the last one, and this is the big one: The reason Baal worship was so appealing is because in an agrarian society with lots of deserts, people lived and died by their relationship to rain. Literally lived and died by their relationship to rain.
Rain at the right time means crops grow. Rain at the wrong time means crops die.
A wild late storm on the day of harvest has the potential to completely destroy an entire wheat crop. Wheat actually has to dry in order for it to be safely storable. So when wheat is ready to be harvested, if it gets soaking wet, it has the potential to ruin it.
So God does this really intense thing: bringing about this storm, this thunder, on a day when it should never show up, on a day when it could spell disaster, to remind them, "Hey, I'm God, not Baal. Your flourishing is in My hands, not his."
Renewal Begins with the Fear of the Lord
I think it's why it brings these people to such an intense response. This is a wake-up call.
Israel realizes in this moment that no earthly king has power over their future the way God does. Not only is Baal powerless to actually feed them, but Saul—this mighty king who they've raised up, who defeated their enemies—sure, he's got a sword, he can go kill an Ammonite. He can't make it rain on harvest day.
It puts their life, it puts their whole society in a completely different context for them.
And beloved, it is a reminder for us as well: Renewal, the spiritual renewal we're talking about, it begins with the fear of the Lord.
We need the continual reminder that He is God and we are not—that He is actually the one who is sovereignly in control of this world and our lives, that God is the authority, and that seeking life and renewal apart from Him is not just foolish. It's pointless. It's pointless.
Some of Us Need to Repent
So this whole scene leads Israel not just to remember that God has been faithful to them in the past, but it leads them to repentance in the moment. Right in this moment, they want to repent of their faithlessness. They want to turn to God right now.
I believe strongly that in a room like this, some of us need to be struck by that truth. The Lord is the God of the storms and the rain. He is—hear this, beloved—the authority in your life. He is the one in control of your life.
And some of us need to remember His faithfulness, remember His power, and purely and simply repent of our lack of faith.
We need to stop for a moment and say, "Lord, I forget about You. I don't acknowledge that You're the one who's in charge. I don't acknowledge that You're the one who actually holds my days. Forgive my faithlessness."
As the father says to Jesus in Mark: "I believe You, Lord, but help my unbelief."
Or the better connection in my mind: Samuel here is the Darth Vader to Israel's Admiral Motti. And some of us need a wake-up call today to remember that our lack of faith can be disturbing.
(Yeah, yeah, I had to do it. It doesn't actually connect to the sermon. I just saw the chance, I had to take it. You know what I'm saying?)
Part 4: The Gospel of Renewal (1 Samuel 12:19-25)
But even if that is you today, take heart. Take heart.
We are not here in this text today to tear you down and beat you up for your faithlessness. That's not what we're about. That's not what God is about. That's not what this text is about.
No, no, no. This text is to encourage you with the beauty of the Gospel.
Read on with me and let's end out this text. Verse 20:
Samuel replied, "Don't be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don't turn away from following the Lord. Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart. Don't turn away to worthless things that can't profit or rescue you; they are worthless. The Lord will not abandon his people because of his great name and because he is determined to make you his own people.
"As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way. Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart. Consider the great things he has done for you. However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away."
And this, beloved, is the word of the Lord for us today.
Don't Be Afraid—Run to God
Samuel wraps this whole thing up not by beating Israel over the head with their failure, but by encouraging them in faith and in the goodness of God.
I love that. I love it.
Because he doesn't avoid the reality of their sin and their failure. "Hey, this is real. You guys did this. It's bad. It's real. It's really bad. You shouldn't do that."
But—but look how good God is to you. So don't be afraid.
He points them back to hope. Don't run away from God. Instead, as you remember His faithfulness and acknowledge His authority on your life, run to Him. Lean into the Lord. Lean into His renewal, because His renewal is the actual renewal your heart needs.
Your Idols Are Worthless
Beloved, can I just—I know I already said this, but can we just stop here for a second?
The idols we turn to in this life, they are worthless.
It is so easy, I think, as modern Western people—not even as Christians, just as modern people—to read this ancient story and to think about people who get actual idols and make little statues of little guys with horse heads and offer sacrifices to them. It's easy for us to think about that and go, *"Who would do that? Idol worship? Man, what a bunch of dum-dums. They've seen what God's done in their life and they're going to go build those statues. It's easy for us to do that.
But beloved, we build our own idols all the time.
We may not build statues for them, but I think we put shrines for them in our lives. I think we build our schedules and our passions and our time around the things that we idolize.
And if you don't believe me, an easy way to do it is to go and look back over your last month's calendar and your last month's bank statements. Where are you giving your time and your money? That will show you what you structure your life around, what things you give precedence, what shrines you are building in your mind, in your heart, in your life.
Because, beloved, all of us do this all the time. We believe the lie. We believe the lie that the kings of this world can give us the renewal and freedom we long for.
The Lies We Believe
"Oh, the world's falling apart. Let's elect the right person and save the country." And that's not saying who that person is because we may have different opinions on that, but that's an easy lie to fall into. "I'll just get out there and scrape up the vote and get all my social media posts out there and all the news articles and I'm fully informed and this is the right person and they will fix everything."
But they won't. They won't. They won't. Earthly kings don't have that power. They don't have that authority. It's just what it is.
"Oh, man. I really want comfort. I really want success in this life. Okay, well, get the right education, right? That'll fix everything. If you get that cool degree that puts you above everyone else and that awesome job that makes all the money so you can buy the biggest..."
It won't. It won't. That won't give you a life of purpose and meaning. That won't give you the freedom that you're longing for.
"Oh, well, I'm lonely. I just desperately need connection. So I'm going to seek out relationships and sexuality and those sorts of things."
"Oh, I'm anxious. I'm worried all the time. I'm going to numb out on screens, on substances."
I could keep going.
Beloved, the reality is all of us build idols out of the things we think will fix what is broken in our lives.
Israel convinced themselves time and time again that a statue of a dude with a cow head that threw thunder could fix what was broken in their lives. And they destroyed their covenant with God over it.
And it is easy to look down our nose at them while we worship at the altar of social media and sexual immorality and political success and wealth and comfort.
We make all the same idols. We're just not creative enough to give them statues. We give them the same weight in our hearts.
Here's the Problem
Beloved, here's the problem with them: They are worthless. They're worthless.
Baal could do nothing. Baal couldn't save Israel and your idol can't save you.
Practical Steps: What Does This Look Like?
I think Samuel kind of gives us a little bit of an example of what this actually means. So I'm going to look at a couple different ideas that we see in Samuel's life, specifically in this text.
1. Walk with All the Integrity You Can
First off is where we started: Walk with all the integrity you can.
I love that idea. I've been thinking about that idea all week. I love that Samuel starts by going, "Hey, I did my best being your judge. Did my best. I mess anyone up? Anyone got any opening grievances? Because I'll fix it right now."
I love that. We know from reading the text up to this point, Samuel's not perfect. He was really bad at parenting. We know he's not perfect. We know he's sinful, but he did the best he could. He walked with the most integrity he had the ability to.
Beloved, we're all sinful, broken people and we won't live perfect lives. But we can be intentional. We can walk with the integrity we have. We can put our whole selves into that.
Work is a way of glorifying God and it's a way of trusting Him. Choosing to live with integrity literally means choosing to reject the idols of this age. It just does.
If you're choosing integrity at work, choosing integrity in your relationships, choosing integrity in your family, it will inherently mean increasingly rejecting idols.
2. Remember What God Has Done
And then Samuel in this text reminds us to remember what God has done.
I said this a couple times today, but I'm so serious. Beloved, you have a testimony. You should remember it. You should come back to your testimony often.
You know, the primary reason that we make such a big deal out of baptism and communion at this church is for this reason: When we take communion, when we celebrate baptism, it gives us these opportunities to remember what God has done, to stop and have some intentionality in our thought and even have these benchmark moments that we come back to.
One of the best reasons to take communion on a Sunday is not because anything magical happens here, but because at some point this week, you'll have a Thursday afternoon. And you'll be stressed and exhausted and ready to be done with the week and not thinking about God and struggling in your spiritual disciplines and in this place of just spiritual dryness and going, "Why is this all so hard? And why am I so bad at it?"
And to have a moment where you stop and go, "I'm going to find—five days ago, standing in line with my whole church, and we walked up and we took the elements and all of us together said, 'His body broken, his blood poured out.' And I ate and I drank, and they ate and drank with me. And we were proclaiming the gospel together. Dang, that just happened. And it's going to happen again this weekend."
Those moments help put our feet back on the ground and go, "Hey, I know you're stressed. I know you're struggling, but God is still God. He's still on His throne."
Same thing if I were to make a big deal out of baptism. You should remember your baptism often. That moment where you were dunked under, you couldn't breathe, and you came up and everyone was shouting and cheering and clapping because they were praising God that another one had been brought into the family.
Those moments are powerful. They're testimonies, what the Scripture calls Ebenezers—these stones of remembrance that help us ground ourselves remembering what God has done.
3. Pray, Pray, Pray
And then this is right at the end. I love this piece. Samuel says, "I'm not going to sin against you by stopping praying for you."
I love that. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.
One of the best ways we can actually practically seek the Lord as your provision, as your source of renewal, is your prayer life. One of the best ways you can actually seek the Lord is by—big surprise—talking to Him.
And by the way, there's nothing magical about that. When we talk about prayer, that's what we're talking about. Just talking to God, telling Him what's going on in your mind, what's going on in your heart, telling Him what things you want in this world.
Why Prayer Matters
Those of you who are parents who have kids, you know why prayer is so beneficial and powerful.
There's this amazing and terrible season of life that is somewhere between the age of 18 months until—I don't know how old is my oldest kid? Ten. I don't know if it stops.
There's these moments where your kid just starts talking to you, and they're talking and they're talking and they're talking, and it's kind of nonsense. You know what I'm saying?
"I was watching the show the other day, and there was this clamshell thing going on there. Do you know sometimes the ocean goes in, there's salt water, and it's just going on. And have you ever heard of Legos? There's a Lego set that has Mario in it. How can Mario be in a Lego set?"
And they're going, going. And you have a moment where you go, "What are they talking about right now?"
And then they stop and go, "Are you even listening to me?"
And you go, "Yeah, yeah. Saltwater Mario. Something in there, right?"
It's hilarious. It's annoying sometimes. It's beautiful. It's one of the most amazing things about parenting.
How# The Only Renewal That Matters (Continued)
How heartbroken would you be if that never happened again?
We delight when our children talk to us about whatever's going on in their head. And I'm going to go out on a limb, and I'm going to guess for you older parents with kids who've grown up and moved out, that you never get tired of those conversations. It's a delight to have your kid just call up and go, "Hey, here's what I was thinking about," and just go for it.
God delights to hear from us.
And you've got to know, probably nine out of ten words that come out of your mouth when you're praying are gibberish in an eternal perspective. Just probably are.
And yet God delights in them. And yet they're beautiful. And yet prayer connects us to the heart of God.
4. Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart
And then lastly is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Did you catch this? Samuel uses this phrase twice. He's making this connection here to one of the most famous texts in Scripture, Deuteronomy 6. It's called the Shema. But I want to read this larger chunk here. It's where Samuel's quoting from, but it speaks into this larger theology that Moses established for Israel.
It says this. This is Deuteronomy 6, starting at verse 4:
"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates."
I love that text. I love that text.
Because Moses is speaking to Israel this universal spiritual truth: We all forget about God. We forget about Him. We get busy and caught up in our lives.
And so if you want to actually seek Him with your whole heart, you've got to just keep talking about Him. It's got to be part of how you live your life, part of the rhythms of your day, part of the rhythms of your heart to think about Him and talk about Him.
And by the way, if that text sounded familiar, it's because Jesus references that same text when He's asked, "What's the greatest commandment? How do you summarize a life of following God?"
Jesus says, "Oh, greatest commandment. Easy. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."
Seek after the Lord. This is what both of them are getting at.
When you seek after Him, when you build rhythms where you think about Him, talk about Him, talk to Him, you will find that He's actually carrying you along and you're actually noticing it and it's actually wonderful.
Conclusion: Your Renewal Is Found in Christ
Guys, your new day, your renewal is found in Christ. Period. Period.
The renewal you are longing for, it is found in Jesus.
Jesus's accomplished work on our behalf shows the love and faithfulness of God. It just does. Jesus does the work. He fulfills the greatest commandment for us. He makes way to the Father for us, so that in Him we can have the new day we long for.
Having renewal in your life isn't about you trying harder or finding a better solution. It's about trusting the One who already did the work.
The New Wave Infrared Convection Oven
I'll end with this thought.
Have you guys ever bought an "as seen on TV" product? Anyone?
I can say with a clear conscience, I've only ever bought one at Goodwill secondhand. The problem is, I'm a sucker for these things. If I see the commercial, I shouldn't see the commercial. Because if I see the commercial, I go, "You know, I have always wanted a specific gadget to cut zucchinis into spirals. I think I do in fact need that in my life."
On Kim and I's honeymoon, one night we decided to watch a movie and we couldn't figure out how to get the TV working right. And so for about 40 minutes, I'm sitting there with cords pulled out, trying to get the TV to work so I could watch a DVD.
And the whole time an infomercial for the New Wave Infrared Convection Oven was playing. And this guy just kept roasting chickens over and over and over.
And I'm telling you, I became convinced—convinced—that my family needed a New Wave Infrared Convection Oven. Within 40 minutes of watching this, I was just like, "100%, Kim, think about all the chickens we would roast. Chicken is good for you. We should definitely get one of these."
By God's grace, no one bought us one of those as a wedding gift and we didn't have enough money for me to buy one. And so I've never used one or bought one. I have no idea if they actually work. They're probably just air fryers, right? But made of glass. That seems like a bad design.
Anyway, I've never had one.
You Don't Need the New Gadget
But here's the real thing: You don't need that. You don't need that. That's not actually going to make you bake more chickens. It's not. It's not.
What you actually need is just a normal kitchen range that your house already had when you bought it. That's what you actually need.
But I am easy. I am quick to convince myself that I need the new cool, hip item, the specific gadget. I'm quick to think that.
The reality is I don't.
The Same Is True of Our Faith
Same is true of our faith, beloved.
We don't need a worldly king. We don't need a new idol. We need Jesus.
Boring, mundane, everyday faith in Him. Jesus. Prayer and Scripture reading in community. Jesus. The same Jesus that saved you when you were a kid. The same Jesus you've been chasing your whole life. That's what you actually need.
That's where your renewal in your life is found.
It's not flashy. It's faithful.
Closing Prayer
Let's pray.
Father, we thank You that You are a God of renewal. We thank You that You don't give up on us even when we turn to worthless idols, even when we forget Your faithfulness, even when we seek our own solutions in our own strength.
Lord, help us to remember. Help us to look back at our testimonies and see Your hand carrying us through every season. Help us to trust that the same God who brought us this far will carry us into our future.
Forgive us for the idols we've built—the shrines in our schedules, our bank accounts, our hearts. Help us to tear them down and to seek You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Thank You that in Christ, we have the renewal we long for. Thank You that Jesus has done the work. Help us to rest in that truth and to walk in the freedom it brings.
We love You, Jesus. We pray these things in Your name.
Amen.
Reflection Questions
As you go from this place, consider these questions:
Re-read 1 Samuel 12:1-25. What thoughts and questions come to mind as you read?
What “new day" or renewal are you currently longing for in your life? Be as specific as possible.
This week, we described Israel's sin cycle (forgetting God, chasing idols, experiencing consequences, repenting, and being restored). Where do you see this pattern playing out in your own life? How about in the broader culture?
Samuel confronts Israel simply by recounting their testimony of God's faithfulness. Take a moment and consider your own salvation testimony. Why do you suppose it can be so easy to forget what God has done for us? What helps you remember?
Pastor Sam said looking at your calendar and bank statements will often identify what you're actually building your life around. What would an honest look at the past month reveal about your priorities and potential idols? What makes these earthly solutions seem more real than Kingdom-centric ones?
In our text, Samuel’s example offers several practical ways to seek renewal in Christ: walk with integrity, remember what God has done, pray consistently, and love God with all your heart. Which of these feels most challenging for you right now? Which feels most accessible?
What was God telling you in this sermon? What are you going to do about it?
For Further Study
Deuteronomy 28-29 - The blessings and curses of the covenant
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - The Shema: Love the Lord your God
Psalm 103 - Don't forget all His benefits
Mark 9:24 - "I believe; help my unbelief!"
The Book of Judges - Israel's repeated sin cycle
This sermon was preached at Immanuel Fellowship Church in Ellisville Missouri as part of our "New Days" series within 1 Samuel, exploring Israel's transition from tribal confederation to monarchy and what it teaches us about God's movement in our own lives and world toward his good future. For more resources on faith and Christian living, visit our website or connect with our community. You can email us at hello@ifcstl.com or call/text us at 636-431-4708
