If ye will fear the Lord , etc. - On condition that ye rebel no more, God will take you and your king under his merciful protection, and he and his kingdom shall be confirmed and continued. read more
This great thing - This unusual occurrence. read more
Is it not wheat harvest to-day ? - That is, This is the time of wheat harvest. According to St. Jerome, who spent several years in the promised land, this harvest commenced about the end of June or beginning of July, in which he says he never saw rain in Judea: Nunquam enim in fine mensis Junii, sive in mense Julio, in his provinciis, maximeque in Judea, pluvias vidimus . - Hier. in Amos 4:7 ; where he refers to this very history. What occurred now hardly ever occurs there but... read more
The Lord sent thunder and rain that day - This was totally unusual; and, as it came at the call of Samuel, was a most evident miracle. Greatly feared the Lord - They dreaded His terrible majesty; and they feared Samuel, perceiving that he had so much power with God. read more
Pray for thy servants - that we die not - As they knew they had rebelled against God, they saw that they had every thing to fear from his justice and power. We have added unto all our sins this evil - It is no sin to have a king; a good king is one of the greatest blessings of God's providence; but it is a sin to put a man in the place of God. Is it not strange that they did not now attempt to repair their fault? They might have done it, but they did not; they... read more
Ye have done all this wickedness - That is, although ye have done all this wickedness: what was past God would pass by, provided they would be obedient in future. read more
After vain things - That is, idols; which he calls here התהו hattohu , the same expression found Genesis 1:2 . The earth was תהו tohu ; it was waste, empty, and formless: so idols; they are confusion, and things of naught, for an idol is nothing in the world, it is not the representative of any intelligent being. read more
The immutable condition of well being. The facts are— 1 . Samuel, having shown his right to be heard, calls on the people to hearken to his argument. 2 . He refers to historic instances to show that trouble always came with unfaithfulness to God, and prosperity with a return to fidelity. 3 . He reminds them that their desire for a king implied distrust of God. 4 . Recognising the new order of things, he insists that the adversity or prosperity of the nation rested where it... read more
Behold the king whom ye have chosen!... behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you. We have here the two sides of the transaction. The people had desired a king, chosen and appointed by themselves, to represent the nation in temporal matters; Jehovah gave them a king to represent himself, with authority coming from God, and limited by God. Most, too, of the kings of Judah were as truly representatives of Jehovah as any of the judges had been, and David even more so. Desired is rather... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 12:21
And turn ye not aside ,.... From his worship: for then; if they turned aside from that: should ye go after vain things ; idols, which are vanity, and less than vanity: which cannot profit nor deliver ; neither bestow good things on their votaries, nor deliver them from evils, or from the hands of their enemies for they are vain ; empty, useless, and unprofitable; an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8:4 . read more