Repent and Repeat
Preached by Jason Abbott
May 29, 2016
In seminary, I learned that Israel really only had seven good kings:
David
Solomon
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jotham
Hezekiah
Josiah
So, the Israelites had just seven good kings during nearly five hundred years of biblical monarchy. That’s not a good track record! As we read today’s passage, however, we’ll see that this was exactly what God told them to expect (page 294).
1 Samuel 7:3-8:22
7:3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
As we tour these chapters, we’re going to see a couple of basic movements: (1) of repentance and (2) of repeatance. In other words, we will see an instance of real repentance, and God’s response to it. Then, we’ll see a repeat performance of human sinfulness. So let’s look at each.
1. The people repent (7:3-17).
I don’t know about you, but for me repentance—turning and seeking forgiveness—takes time. When Natalie and I argue, I’m not quick to admit when I’m wrong. Rather, I have to sit for a while (and fail miserably at figuring out how I’m not wrong!) before I’m willing to repent and seek her forgiveness.Furthermore, real repentance cannot simply be going through the motions. Far too often, we try to seek reconciliation in this way. This is a true travesty! Instead, we must authentically own our sin before the person we’re apologizing to. We must honestly admit our faults. And this will likely mean change.
a. Real repentance means change (7:3-6).
It’s going to mean change for Israel here, and it’s going to take time.If you were here two weeks ago, then you remember that the word of God came to a young Samuel. And, you’ll also remember that it continued to come through Samuel. There was a prophet again in Israel.Yet, having a prophet doesn’t equal repentance. From when Samuel began his prophetic ministry to today’s account, a very long time has passed—decades. Buckets full of unrepentant water have flowed under the proverbial bridge.Friends, do you ever get impatient with the “slowness” of God’s timing? Perhaps, you’ve been sharing the gospel with a family member or a friend for years and, yet, see no progress—no softening of heart. Maybe, you’ve been praying about something—healing from some ailment or freedom from some addiction—but have begun to lose hope that you’ll ever experience it.Friends, don’t lose hope. Rather, just consider Samuel—years of hard work proclaiming the word of God to Israel but no real repentance. How often did he want to give up? How often did Samuel wonder what God was doing? And, what if Samuel never got to see repentance? Would his life and work have been a failure? Absolutely not!Our success will not be determined by the accumulation of visible results, but by the cultivation of a heart which pursues God regardless of the accumulation of visible results. People may look “on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).So, persevere—don’t give up—and cultivate a godly and faithful heart. That’s what real success looks like in the Christian life.Well, God does allow Samuel to witness the fruit of his prophetic ministry. Israel does repent. And repentance means change—turning from its sinful desires to what pleases the Lord.Israel’s change means putting off the foreign idols it has been worshiping: the Baals and Ashtaroth. And, when we read these kinds of things, we tend to think of strange and ancient and foolish kinds of temptations which we don’t experience in our thoroughly enlightened, modern context today.But, if we think this way, we are the foolish ones!What Israel is to put off here is the worship of Canaanite fertility deities. They are to stop mixing their sex with their salvation. They are to live their lives dependent only upon God and his revealed will, whether with the provision of food or with the pleasure of sex.Friends, we have whole industries dedicated to putting food on their table thru the practice and display of every imaginable sexual act. And, there’s no lack of food on the table! What does spending between 10 and 12 billion dollars yearly on pornography say about the idols we worship?1 What does repentance look like for us if we want to follow God?Real repentance means change and, with it, comes real salvation. And:
b. Real salvation means grace (7:7-17).
Now for Israel, in this instance, grace is made visible. Grace is on display. You see, the Philistines catch wind of this little revival-meeting of the Israelites, and, to them, it signals revolt.2 So, here they come ready to crush the revolution. But the Israelites, in their weakness, can only cry out to God.The account of the Philistines’ defeat is not given in detail, but it is clear. The author tells us precisely who won the day:
As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel (7:10).
Who stood before the Philistines on that day? A scared and weak people did; a people who were so very scared and weak that their only strategy was to cry-out to God for mercy. And, in the midst of their fear and weakness, God rescued them. It was an act of grace—the unmerited favor of God.Friends, we would do well to honestly evaluate ourselves—our true selves. We are not the best and brightest of people. We are not the most popular of people. We won’t prevail on our own. However, when we begin to recognize this reality, we are ready to see and receive God’s Grace made visible—made flesh.Why was Jesus so often with sinners? Because they knew they were sick. Because they knew they were powerless. Because they knew they needed a Savior. Why did Jesus say it was so hard for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven? Because they thought they were well. Because they thought they were powerful. Because they thought they didn’t need a Savior.Friends, we all need the Savior. We all need Jesus. If you’ve forgotten this, or if you’re realizing this for the first time, do not hesitate to turn to Jesus in faith and to receive God’s grace—God’s unmerited favor.If you’ve been walking with the Lord for half a century, you still need it. And, if you’re hearing this message of grace for the first time, you really need it. We all need God’s grace given through faith in Jesus Christ—the Savior.Well, this brings us to the sad ending of today’s text:
2. The people repeat (8:1-22).
They repeat their rejection of God. They repeat their sin of idol worship. They turn away from God and turn to foreign ideas. “What we have here is simply the old idolatry with a new twist.”3Having a king wasn’t in and of itself the problem. Rather, the motives were. Why do the people want a king at this point? What’s their motive for this change of political structure? Well, they make it quite clear:
Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations (8:5).
Or again:
. . . there shall be a king . . . that we also may be like all the nations (8:19-20).
The people want a king—like the nations. They want a king they can see. They want a king to lead them into battle. They want a king who’s more like them. They want what they want. And what they want is to fit-in!Don’t we, in the church, struggle with this too? Don’t we want to fit-in too? We’re constantly changing to fit-in and to be relevant, and this isn’t always wrong. But it can be wrong. In fact, it can be disastrously wrong.There are church buildings all over this city and even all over this world. Yet, not all of them house real churches. They often begin as bona fide churches. They often begin as a gathering of forgiven sinners worshiping their Savior, Jesus. They often begin as a gathering of those who are pursuing God through the study and application of his word as it’s revealed in the Bible. But the pressure to fit-in, the pressure to be relevant to this world, eventually leads them astray.
This part of the Bible is embarrassing. Let’s not read it or preach it.
This command of God is unpopular. Let’s ignore it or explain it away.
Friends, we do not get to choose what the King of the Church looks like. Furthermore, we cannot make him any more relevant than he has eternally been and will eternally be. Our King has always been unpopular in some way to people because holiness is always unpopular to sinners.Look, Israel must be a warning to us here. They see the nations around them and they want what those nations have. They love the idea of a human monarch more than they love God. They desire to play at the games of the pagan nations around them. But, when they get what they’ve ask for—it’s a curse not a blessing! It leads them away from God not closer to him.Why are we preaching thru Samuel? Why are we publicly reading chapter after chapter of this ancient text? Why do we sing songs together on Sundays? Why do we give of our time and our money week after week?We don’t do it because it makes us fit-in with the secular world around us. We don’t do it because it makes us appear relevant. In fact, it often does precisely the opposite thing.We do so because we have a King. We read because our King has spoken and continues to speak to us through his divine and ancient word. We still sing because our hearts overflow with the goodness of his ways. We continue to give because we want others to share in the grace we have in Christ.Friends, don’t condemn the Israelites’ lapse into their old sinful idolatries. Rather, recognize that they are just like we are. It’s a picture of our own propensity to turn away from God again and again. To repent and then to run back to our sins! If this is you, then repeat repentance (not sin!) and receive God’s grace.
1 See this report.
2 Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart, 74.
3 Ibid., 84.
