Your King Will Be Swept Away With You Text: 1 Samuel 12:19-25
Introduction: The Idol of Political Salvation
We live in an age that is drunk on politics. Men look to capitals, whether in Washington D.C. or in their own state, with a kind of religious fervor, believing that if they can just get the right man, the right party, the right legislation, then the land will be healed. This is nothing other than the ancient sin of Israel, dressed up in a modern suit and tie. The fundamental temptation for God's people in every generation is to look for a visible, tangible, political savior instead of the invisible, sovereign, and all-sufficient God.
Israel had come to Samuel with a request that was pure apostasy. "Give us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:5). This was a direct rejection of Yahweh's unique rule over them. They wanted to trade their glorious, peculiar status as a people ruled by God Himself for the cheap imitation of a pagan monarchy. They wanted a king they could see, a throne they could touch, and an army they could count. They wanted to be normal. They wanted to fit in. And God, in His disciplinary judgment, gave them what they wanted. He let them have their king.
But then, in our chapter, God pulls back the curtain. Through Samuel, He sends a thunderstorm in the middle of the wheat harvest, a meteorological impossibility that was an undeniable sign of His displeasure. And suddenly, the people are terrified. The reality of their sin crashes down upon them. They got their king, but they have offended their God. Their response to this terror, and Samuel's pastoral reply, is a profound lesson for us. It teaches us what to do when we are confronted with our own grievous sins. It shows us the path away from despair and back to faithfulness. It is a lesson in how to handle the guilt of having chosen a lesser king over the King of kings.
The Text
Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king."
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart.
And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after meaningless things which cannot profit and cannot deliver, because they are meaningless.
For Yahweh will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because Yahweh has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and upright way.
Only fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see what great things He has done for you.
But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.
(1 Samuel 12:19-25 LSB)
The Confession of Terrified Sinners (v. 19)
We begin with the people's panicked reaction to God's thundering rebuke.
"Then all the people said to Samuel, 'Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.'" (1 Samuel 12:19)
Notice the first fruit of genuine conviction: they name their sin specifically. They don't offer vague platitudes like "we all make mistakes." They confess that "we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king." They see their desire for a political savior for what it is: not a pragmatic adjustment, but a crowning evil, the capstone on a pile of other sins. This is the beginning of all true repentance, to call sin what God calls it. To stop making excuses and to agree with God's verdict.
Their terror drives them to seek a mediator. They don't dare approach God themselves. They know they have forfeited that right. So they cry out to Samuel, "Pray for your servants... so that we may not die." They understand that sin leads to death and that their only hope is intercession. In this, they are a picture of every sinner who has been awakened by the thunder of God's law. The law does not save; it terrifies. It makes us cry out for a mediator, for someone to stand between us and the holy God we have offended. They ran to Samuel; we must run to Christ, the greater Samuel, our only Mediator.
The Paradox of Gospel Grace (v. 20-21)
Samuel's response is a masterclass in pastoral wisdom. It is a perfect blend of unvarnished truth and profound comfort.
"And Samuel said to the people, 'Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart. And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after meaningless things which cannot profit and cannot deliver, because they are meaningless.'" (1 Samuel 12:20-21)
Here is the central paradox of the gospel. Samuel begins by affirming the full weight of their sin: "You have committed all this evil." He does not offer cheap grace. He doesn't say, "There, there, it's not so bad." He rubs their noses in the reality of what they have done. But in the very same breath, he commands them, "Do not fear."
This is crucial. The kind of fear that leads to despair and drives us away from God is a sin. Godly fear, the fear of the Lord, draws us to Him in reverence. But slavish terror, the kind that makes you want to run and hide, is forbidden. Why? Because the purpose of conviction is not to annihilate us, but to turn us around. The very next command is "yet do not turn aside from following Yahweh." The temptation after a great failure is to think, "Well, I've blown it now. I'm disqualified. I might as well go all the way into the pig pen." Samuel cuts that lie off at the root. The answer to sinning is not to despair and sin more. The answer to sinning is to immediately repent and "serve Yahweh with all your heart."
And he gives the reason: the alternative is to go after "meaningless things." The Hebrew word here is tohu, the same word used in Genesis 1:2 for the formless void. Their king, and every other idol they might chase, is ultimately an empty nothing. It is a spiritual vacuum. Samuel's argument is intensely practical. Idols, he says, "cannot profit and cannot deliver." Why? "Because they are meaningless." Idolatry is not just wrong; it is stupid. It is a fool's errand. It is like trying to quench your thirst by drinking sand. You turn from the living God to an empty void that promises everything and delivers nothing.
The Unshakeable Foundation (v. 22)
So if their hope cannot be in their own performance, where can it be? Samuel grounds their security entirely in the character and purpose of God.
"For Yahweh will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because Yahweh has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." (1 Samuel 12:22)
This is the bedrock of our salvation. God's commitment to His people is not based on their worthiness, but on His reputation. He will not abandon them because His "great name" is at stake. He has bound Himself to them by a covenant. If He were to cast them off, the pagan nations would mock, saying that Yahweh was not able to keep what He had promised. God's glory is the ultimate guarantee of the believer's security.
And the ground of this covenant is not our merit, but His good pleasure. "Because Yahweh has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." This is the doctrine of unconditional election in the Old Testament. He did not choose you because you were good, or smart, or strong. He chose you because He was pleased to do so. He set His love upon you out of His own free and sovereign grace. Our confidence, therefore, does not rest in the strength of our grip on Him, but in the strength of His glad and sovereign grip on us.
The Pastor's Unceasing Duty (v. 23)
Samuel then turns to his own responsibility in this crisis, and in doing so, defines the pastoral ministry for all time.
"Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and upright way." (1 Samuel 12:23)
This is a staggering statement. Samuel considers it a sin against Yahweh to stop praying for these rebellious, stiff-necked people. Intercession for the flock is not an optional extra for a pastor; it is a fundamental, non-negotiable duty. To fail in it is to sin against God Himself. The love of a true shepherd is not a sentimental feeling; it is a rugged commitment to stand in the gap for his people.
But this intercession is not divorced from instruction. The ministry has two hands: prayer and the Word. "I will instruct you in the good and upright way." He will not just comfort them; he will correct them. He will not just pray for their forgiveness; he will teach them how to walk in holiness. True grace never leads to laziness or antinomianism. It leads to a hunger for instruction in the good and upright way.
The Two Paths (v. 24-25)
Samuel concludes by setting before the people the great choice, the covenant ultimatum that stands before every generation.
"Only fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away." (1 Samuel 12:24-25)
The path to life is paved with grateful obedience. The fuel for this obedience is the remembrance of God's grace. "See what great things He has done for you." He is calling them to remember the Exodus, the Red Sea, the manna, the conquest of the land. Gratitude for past deliverance is the engine of present faithfulness. This is the heart of true worship: to fear God, to serve Him authentically and wholeheartedly, because we are overwhelmed by the great things He has done for us.
But the warning is severe and absolute. "But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away." This is a direct assault on their idolatrous hope. They thought a king would save them, make them secure, make them like the other nations. Samuel tells them that their political savior will be no help at all on the day of judgment. In fact, he will be swept away right alongside them. When you put your trust in a created thing, that thing will be destroyed with you when the Creator brings His judgment. Your chosen king, your political party, your 401k, your reputation, whatever idol you have erected, will be swept away in the flood of God's wrath.
Conclusion: Our King Will Not Be Swept Away
The story of Israel is our story. We too have demanded other kings. We have looked to political messiahs, economic systems, and personal autonomy to give us the security and meaning that can only be found in God. And when the thunder of God's law reveals our sin, we are tempted to despair.
But the gospel that Samuel preached in shadows is the same gospel we have in full sunlight. Do not fear. You have indeed committed this evil, but do not turn aside. Your hope is not in your own resolve, but in God's great name, the name of Jesus Christ. God was pleased, for His own glory, to make you a people for Himself, and He sealed that pleasure at the cross.
Therefore, look at the great things He has done for you. He has rescued you not from Egypt, but from sin and death. He has given you not a temporary king like Saul who will be swept away, but an eternal King, Jesus, who has already passed through judgment for you and has been raised to a throne that can never be shaken.
So let us repent of our political idolatries. Let us stop looking to princes and presidents for a salvation only Christ can provide. Let us fear the Lord and serve Him, our true King, in truth and with all our hearts. For while all the other kings of this world and those who trust in them will be swept away, our King reigns forever, and we will reign with Him.