When Samuel said, \u201cWitness against me,\u201d he was asking for the people to testify if they had anything against him for something he had failed to perform or correct. He was asking them if he had ever broken any promise or failed to deal fairly with them in any matter. Wow. This is a challenge to any person in a position of leadership no matter what arena of life. Anyone can say they have integrity but it’s their actions that are the true indicators. Could we stand up before the people who know us best and say this?<\/p>\n
Character and integrity were at issue here both publicly and privately. Everyone agreed Samuel was blameless. To Samuel that meant they did not seek a king because as a judge he had done something ethically wrong. Samuel understood a critical secret in life sometimes called \u201cfirst-accountability to God.\u201d If we see ourselves as working for God rather than men, we will seek to please God and the result will be that we will also deal with others truly and fairly.<\/p>\n
Charles Reade, British novelist and dramatist, showed that he understood character and integrity when he said, “Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” It’s easier to build character and guard it than it is to rebuild it after it’s been lost. The beginning of character repair is facing our flaws, repenting, and dealing with them. Repentance is a good and needful thing in every believer’s walk. Struggling with a character issue? Go back to the sinful act and repent. God is gracious and forgiving when we come in brokenness and humility.<\/p>\n
“LORD, cleanse us from our sins, and help us to get it right today.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Samuel 12 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, here I\u00a0am:\u00a0<\/em>witness against me before the\u00a0LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man\u2019s hand.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And he said unto them, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>witness against you, and his anointed\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered,\u00a0He is\u00a0<\/em>witness. 6<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto the people,\u00a0It is\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0of all the righteous acts of the\u00a0LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the\u00a0LORD, then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.\u00a09<\/sup>And when they forgat the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And they cried unto the\u00a0LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the\u00a0LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God was\u00a0<\/em>your king.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>whom ye have desired! and, behold, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath set a king over you.\u00a014<\/sup>If ye will fear the\u00a0LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the\u00a0LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0But if ye will not obey the voice of the\u00a0LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the\u00a0LORD, then shall the hand of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0be against you, as\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>against your fathers. 16<\/sup> Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will do before your eyes.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Is it\u00a0<\/em>not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the\u00a0LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>great, which ye have done in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, in asking you a king. 18<\/sup>\u00a0So Samuel called unto the\u00a0LORD; and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and Samuel.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>evil, to ask us a king. 20<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the\u00a0LORD, but serve the\u00a0LORD\u00a0with all your heart;\u00a021<\/sup>And turn ye not aside: for\u00a0then should ye go\u00a0<\/em>after vain\u00a0things\u00a0<\/em>, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>vain.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0For the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will not forsake his people for his great name\u2019s sake: because it hath pleased the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to make you his people.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:\u00a0\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0Only fear the\u00a0LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great\u00a0things\u00a0<\/em>he hath done for you.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Samuel said, \u201cWitness against me,\u201d he was asking for the people to testify if they had anything against him for something he had failed to perform or correct. He was asking them if he had ever broken any promise or failed to deal fairly with them in any matter. Wow. This is a challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6469"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16161,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions\/16161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}