You've Messed Up. Now What?

What do you do when you become conscious of your evil, both past and present?

Why does a holy God move forward with His historically and presently unholy people?

And how can we pick up the pieces of a life shattered by our own hand through willful defiance of YHWH?

This is the story of a nation seeing their sin the way God sees it and asking the question we all ask when our eyes are opened, and we see our naked sin with utmost clarity.

The book of Samuel is punctuated by faithfulness provoked by ungodly people. Hannah is provoked to prayer by the harassment of her rival wife Peninnah, Samuel is summoned to complete the final cycle of the judges in response to Israel’s faithlessness, and David’s refusal to slay God’s anointed is occasioned by the murderous intent of God’s anointed. Israel doing something Israel shouldn’t do is the story of Israel, and yet Israel’s demand for a king crosses another line entirely.

Israel’s lust for alignment with the nations and their leaders, as well as their distaste for the sons of Samuel, demanded satisfaction. “Give us a king to judge us” (1 Sam. 8.6), their words ringing in the ears of the elderly prophet as he prays to their incumbent king, YHWH. Samuel is told to inform the people of the dire consequences of such a decision, which he does in 1 Sam. 8.10-18, including military drafts, forced labor, increased taxation, culminating in an outcry echoing one not unlike one heard long ago from the fields and furnaces of Egypt.

Israel was adamant: “No! But there shall be a king over us” (1 Sam. 8.19), and so God relents, instructing Samuel to find a certain handsome Benjamite man and anoint him as ruler over God’s people. But YHWH would not allow Israel to have their king without understanding what recalling Him as leader meant.

At Gilgal, the place where long ago the reproach of Egypt had been rolled away from them, Samuel summons all Israel in 1 Samuel 12 and informs them that reproach has come yet again. The aged priest preaches passionately of the cycle of their persistent faithlessness. Israel had forgotten their deliverance from Egypt and had been sold into the hands of their enemies: Sisera. Philistia. Moab. Ammon. Repeatedly Israel had seen their sin, cried out to God, and been delivered: Jerubbaal (Gideon). Barak. Jephthah. Samuel. The fiery sermon reached its boiling point in v.16-17:

“Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” (ESV)

This time God would not bring another foreign nation. This time YHWH Himself would signal His displeasure by attacking their very lifeblood: The wheat harvest. Thunderstorms during the dry season of the wheat harvest would ruin their crops and in turn inflict painful, gnawing famine throughout the land. Once again God releases the rain and the thunder to signal His rage over wickedness, and perhaps the great fear of Israel toward God and Samuel was brought on in part by that old story of Noah and his ark.

Israel had often responded to God’s wrath by admitting their mistake. But what makes the account in 1 Sam. 12 unique is that they acknowledge not only their present, but their past: “And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” (1 Sam. 12.19 ESV) In a rare moment of clarity, Israel admits both their history and their status of wickedness. But how would Samuel (and God) respond to this? What plan of action would be effective for a people who had once and again had turned aside from the covenant? What should we do when we finally see our nakedness?

“Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.” (1 Sam. 12.20)

1. Yes, you were wrong. Don’t give up on following and serving God.

Israel’s evil past and present did not condemn their future. Our evil choices both historically and presently do not prevent us from seeking after God NOW and going forward serving Him with everything we have. Paul likewise acknowledged his sordid past in 1 Tim. 1.13, admitting his time as “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” of Jesus Christ. This same man writes in the previous verse thanking God for appointing him to service and admitting in v.14 that God’s grace overflowed for him through faith and love in Christ Jesus. When we turn from past and present evil to follow and serve God, we display God’s mercy, patience, and proclaim as Paul does in v.17: “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Yes, you’ve messed it up, Big time. Probably not the first time. God knows it, and now you know it. The only path forward to something better is God’s path. Nothing you’ve done prevents God from doing good things through you if you will choose His way.

Samuel wasn’t done:
“And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.” (1 Sam. 12.21 ESV)

1. Stop regarding the forbidden fruit as good for you.

What exactly was Samuel referring to in v.21? Is he generally telling Israel to stop pursuing worthless things, or is he being specific? Israel’s sin in 1 Sam. 12 was demanding a king. Simply put, their demand for a king was empty, it would not profit them, and it would not deliver them. Ironic: Israel demanded a king for the express purpose of fighting their battles for them (1 Sam. 8.20), failing to recognize that they already had One who would fight their battles for them: YHWH! Israel fell into the serpent’s trap: Regarding that which God said would destroy us as something that would profit us instead.

We mess up because we start viewing what God said would destroy us as something that will profit us instead. God says sexual immorality will defile and destroy us (Matt. 15.19-20; 1 Cor. 10.8; Jude 7). It doesn’t matter if we think it will make us happy or give us pleasure. Sexual immorality is empty and cannot profit or deliver. God says fixation on material possessions is not our life (Luke 12.15) and will result in God’s wrath being brought to bear once again (Col. 3.5-6). It doesn’t matter that we will feel secure (temporarily) if we accumulate more wealth or we will reach greater social standing through the pursuit of more. Covetousness is empty and cannot profit or deliver.

Stop seeing the sin as better for you than God’s will. No matter which sin it is, or how tempting it looks. Nothing Satan can offer you will leave you in better standing than what God has given you. Ask Adam and Eve.

Finally, the ultimate reason why Israel was given yet another chance:
“For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.” (1 Sam. 12.22 ESV)

1. God’s plan is about Him, not you. Your choice is whether to be a part of it, or not.

Why was Israel compelled by Samuel to return to God? It wasn’t about Israel, but God! Israel was given another chance because of God’s faithfulness to HIS promises and the greatness of HIS name, not theirs! Their name literally means “struggles with YHWH”: The focus of Israel’s existence wasn’t Israel, but YHWH! It pleased God to make a people for Himself, a people through whom He would fulfill His promise to bless all nations (Gen. 12.3), by bringing about One who would crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3.15) and deliver all who would turn to Him in faith. That plan would carry on undeterred and unstoppable until it was brought to fruition at Calvary, and continues until one day the skies are rolled up as scrolls and God’s Anointed King descends to deliver all His people from their ultimate enemy: Death itself (1 Cor. 15.26).

In short, your life isn’t about you. You were created not in your own image, but in God’s image (Gen. 1.26). You exist to glorify Him. Your ultimate purpose and happiness and fulfillment is found not in yourself, but Him. God has left you to decide whether you will choose to be a part of His plan or defy Him. He has given you every evidence of His power, His character, and His intentions. He has provided countless examples of individuals and nations who defied Him, with uniformly disastrous results. God’s kingdom will endure with Christ as its King forever (Rev. 1.4-6). Everyone outside of His kingdom will suffer for eternity in burning, torturous darkness (Matt. 8.12; 22.13; 25.30).

Samuel concludes his sermon in this way:
“Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (1 Sam. 12.24-25 ESV)

Yes, you’ve messed up. Remember what He has done in Jesus and serve Him faithfully.
If not, both you and whatever you turn away from God to pursue will be destroyed in the end.