Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; I Samuel 12:20
Suggested Scripture reading I Samuel 12
Scripture called it the “the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1) The boy knew what he did was wrong but it was almost like he could not help it. He knew that was not true because God always gives us a means to escape temptation. (I Corinthians 10:13) The fact was, however, he had sinned. No one knew about it. He left no evidence and no one was affected but him he thought. He was broken hearted because he knew he had failed the Lord and himself. The convicting voice of the Holy Spirit in his heart and the departure of the blessing of God on his life were the evidences of his disobedience. The worst thing was his fellowship with the Father was broken. Now he was afraid to seek God. How could he ever again approach God in prayer and fellowship as he had in the past?
The people of God had much the same feelings in I Samuel chapter 12. They had seen that the peoples around them had kings to rule over them and that was what they wanted too. Samuel, the prophet had been their leader. God told them that they were not turning away from Samuel but from God. (I Samuel 8:7) They sinned and in I Samuel 12:19 they repented and asked Samuel to pray for them, “And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” (I Samuel 12:20) Samuel’s advice in verse 24 was “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.” God is grieved when we sin but when we turn from them and confess them to Him “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
Repentance always produces humility. In humility the boy overcame his fear of God. He turned from the sin and sought forgiveness. He would have to endure the results of his sin but he could start again with his walk with the Lord. He had been afraid to face God just like Adam and Eve feared God after they sinned in Genesis chapter 3. They hid from God until God found them. Samuel’s words were true for the Children of Israel, Adam and Eve and you and me today. When we sin (not if but when) the Spirit of God calls us back to Himself saying,
Fear not: to seek forgiveness.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I John 1:9
[podcast]https://lifeabovefear.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/023-Fear-Not-To-Seek-Forgiveness.mp3[/podcast]
