1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 12. Samuel having appointed a king unto the people, testifieth his own integrity, to which they witness, 1 SAMUEL 12:1. He setteth before them the sins of their ancestors, and their own sin in asking a king, 1 SAMUEL 12:6; comforts them if they will obey the Lord; threateneth the di... [ Continue Reading ]
WALKETH BEFORE YOU; goeth out and cometh in before you, i.e. ruleth over you, as that phrase signifies, NUMBERS 27:17 DEUTERONOMY 31:2 2 CHRONICLES 1:10. To him I have fully resigned all my power and authority, and do hereby renounce it, and own myself for a private person, and one of his subjects.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITNESS AGAINST ME; I here present myself before the Lord, and before your king, being ready to give an account of all my administrations, and to make satisfaction for any injuries that I have done. And this protestation Samuel makes of his integrity, not out of ostentation or vain-glory; but partly... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS WITNESS AGAINST YOU, to wit, if you shall at any time hereafter reproach my government or memory. Or rather, _against you_, that I gave you no cause to be weary of God's government of you by judges, or to desire a change of the government; and thereby the blame of it wholly rests upon yo... [ Continue Reading ]
That for your sakes raised, constituted, and exalted Moses and Aaron to that great power and reputation which they had, and used, to deliver you.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT I MAY REASON WITH YOU: since God hath laid so great obligations upon you, let us a little consider whether you have answered them. THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS, Heb. _the righteousnesses_, i.e. mercies or benefits; for so that word is oft used, as PSALMS 24:5, PSALMS 36:10 PROVERBS 10:2, PROVERBS 11:4; a... [ Continue Reading ]
In this land; in which Moses and Aaron are said to settle them; partly, because they brought them into and seated them in part of it, to wit, that without Jordan; partly, because they were, under God, the principal authors of their entering into the land of Canaan; inasmuch as they brought them out... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY FORGAT THE LORD, i.e. they revolted from him, as it is explained, 1 SAMUEL 12:10, and carried themselves as ungratefully and unworthily towards God, as if they had wholly forgotten his great and innumerable favours, and their infinite obligations to him. FORGETTING OF GOD is oft put for all man... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEDAN is certainly one of the judges; and because there is no judge so called in the Book of Judges, it is reasonably concluded that this was one of the judges there mentioned having two names, as was very frequent. And this was either, first, Samson, as most interpreters believe, who is called _Bed... [ Continue Reading ]
A KING SHALL REIGN OVER US: SEE POOLE ON "1 SAMUEL 11:1". When the Lord your God was your king, i.e. when God was your immediate King and Governor, who was both able and willing to deliver you, if you had cried to him, whereof you and your ancestors have had plentiful experience; so that you did not... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM YE HAVE CHOSEN: though God chose him by lot, yet the people are said to choose him; either generally, because they chose that form of government, or particularly, because they approved of God's choice, 1 SAMUEL 10:24, and confirmed it, 1 SAMUEL 11:15. THE LORD HATH SET A KING OVER YOU; he hath... [ Continue Reading ]
_ Heb. Then shall ye be_ (i.e. walk, or go) _after the Lord_, i.e. God shall still go before you, as he hath hitherto done, as your Leader or Governor, to direct, protect, and deliver you; and he will not forsake you, as you have given him just cause to do. Sometimes this phrase of going after the L... [ Continue Reading ]
Who lived under the judges; and you shall have no advantage in that point by the change of government, nor shall your kings be able to protect you against God's displeasure.... [ Continue Reading ]
By standing he intends not the posture of their bodies, but the consistency of their minds, by serious and fixed consideration.... [ Continue Reading ]
AT WHEAT HARVEST it was a rare thing in those parts to have thunder or rain, as the Scripture oft implies; and St. Jerome affirms, who was an eye-witness of it; the weather being more constant and certain in its seasons there, and in divers other parts, than it is with us who live in islands, as all... [ Continue Reading ]
Who had such great power and favour with God.... [ Continue Reading ]
PRAY FOR THY SERVANTS; for so we shall still own ourselves to be, though we have got another master. UNTO THE LORD THY GOD, whom thou hast so great an interest in, and canst so easily prevail with for any mercy, whilst we are ashamed and afraid to call him our God, because we have so highly offended... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR NOT, to wit, with a servile and desponding fear, as if there were no hope left for you.... [ Continue Reading ]
TURN YE NOT ASIDE, to wit, after idols; as they had often done before; and, notwithstanding this warning, did afterwards. SHOULD YE GO, or, _should ye turn aside_; which words are easily to be understood out of the foregoing branch, such ellipses being most frequent in Scripture, as DEUTERONOMY 1:4... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HIS GREAT NAME'S SAKE, i.e. for his own honour, which would seem to suffer much among men, if he should not preserve and deliver people in eminent dangers; as if he were grown feeble, or forgetful, or inconstant, or unfaithful, or regardless of human affairs, or unkind to those who own and worsh... [ Continue Reading ]
Think not that because you have so highly disobliged and rejected me, that I will revenge myself by neglecting to pray for you, or by praying against you, as I have now done for your conviction and humiliation, and so for your preservation; I am sensible it is my duty, as I am a man, a Israelite, a... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR THE LORD, AND SERVE HIM; otherwise neither my prayer nor counsels will stand you in any stead. HE HATH DONE FOR YOU, or, _among you_, both at this time and formerly.... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]