I openly admit that I don’t always understand the bible! I love reading the historical books of the Old Testament. There are so many times I step back and laugh at the similarities between myself and the Israelites.

But then there are times when I have to say… “What were they thinking?!?”

Here’s an example:

1 Samuel 12:19 And all the people said to Samuel, ‘Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”

Reading Samuel’s response to this statement, I sense a hint of irritation. We all know he’s not in favor of this plan to give the Israelites a king, but he’s doing what God asks of him. Samuel responds to the people by commanding them not to turn away from the Lord but to serve the Lord with their whole heart. He doesn’t mention anything about serving Saul, their new king. He doesn’t mention anything about how Saul fits into that equation… except at the end (vs 25) where he states, “But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

So why didn’t the Israelites turn back then? If they were so fearful of the Lord (as in vs 19) then why didn’t they deny Saul as their king and turn back to God? Why did they continue down the path to be like the kingdoms around them while begging God’s forgiveness for doing it?

They’re begging forgiveness for stealing the cookies but won’t take their hand out of the cookie jar! Who has some insight on this?