Monday, August 24, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Samuel 11-13
Key Verse
1 Samuel 12:17 — “Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.”
Devotional Thought
Late August is a season of waiting — gardens heavy with unharvested fruit, school years about to begin, the last warm weeks before everything turns. Waiting is hard, and 1 Samuel 11–13 shows us two very different ways to wait. At Jabeshgilead, a besieged people send messengers and wait seven days for help, and God raises up Saul, whose spirit is stirred, to deliver them completely. But in chapter 13, Saul waits at Gilgal for Samuel, and when the seventh day passes and Samuel has not come, Saul takes matters into his own hands and offers the burnt offering himself. The deliverance at Jabesh came through waiting on God’s timing; the disaster at Gilgal came through seizing it.
Notice how much of this story is about hearing and obeying God’s word. Samuel stands before Israel and asks, “Whose ox have I taken?” — a man whose hands are clean because he took God at His word. He reminds them of Moses and Aaron, of Jerubbaal and Jephthah, of how God delivered His people every time they cried out. Then he tells them plainly: if you fear the LORD and obey His voice, it will go well; if you rebel, His hand will be against you. And when Saul, frightened by scattered troops and gathering Philistines, disobeys the command to wait, Samuel tells him his kingdom will not continue — God has sought a man after His own heart.
There is real mercy here too. Samuel tells the people, “Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD.” Even after failure, the way forward is not despair but wholehearted service. And Samuel vows, “God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” What a picture of faithful intercession — the old prophet will not stop praying for a people who rejected God’s kingship.
So what does this ask of us today? It asks us to examine where we are waiting. Perhaps you are in a season where God seems late — a prayer unanswered, a decision unresolved, a trial stretching past the seven days you thought you could bear. Saul’s mistake was not that he waited; it was that he stopped waiting one moment too soon, and acted as if God’s command could be set aside under pressure. The lesson is not passive idleness but patient obedience: doing the next right thing God has actually commanded, and trusting Him with the outcome. And when we fail, as Saul failed, we do not hide in caves of shame. We turn back, serve Him with all our heart, and remember that “the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake.”
Reflection
- Where in your life are you tempted to act out of fear and pressure rather than waiting in obedience for God’s appointed time?
- Samuel said he would not sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for the people. Who has God placed on your heart to pray for faithfully, even when they have wandered?
Prayer
Lord, You are the God who delivers Jabeshgilead and who sends thunder and rain at Samuel’s word. Teach us to wait on Your timing without growing anxious or taking matters into our own hands. When pressure mounts and answers tarry, give us the grace to obey rather than to force our own way. Forgive us for the times we have acted foolishly out of fear. Thank You that You do not forsake Your people for Your great name’s sake. Make us faithful in prayer for others, and let us serve You in truth with all our hearts, for You have done great things for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.