“‘And now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and grayheaded, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.’” (1 Samuel 12:2)

• Samuel had to lay his burden down.

The time comes to us all when our last word will be said, our last deed done. We cannot always serve, even if we have proved faithful to our task. How solemn is the contemplation! We need to buy up our privileges, and redeem our time. As Samuel reviewed his past, he spoke with full assurance of his words and acts. He called Israel to notice how blamelessly he had served them. This they fully admitted.

• Samuel gave a final great defence of God.

As Samuel stepped aside from his former arduous task as Judge, he said, “‘Stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers’” (v. 7).

It was an impressive sight. There stood Samuel with his gray hairs, defending his Lord’s righteousness. He knew that no man could find just fault with God. The Lord had brought forth His people from Egypt with a high hand. He had led them through a land of pitfalls and of serpents. He had fed them with the manna from Heaven, and had given them water from the flinty rock. He had taken them into the land of promise.

• Samuel gave a great call to his people.

As Samuel was about to step aside, to admit the leadership of the youthful Saul, he gave the most earnest plea to the people whom he had loved and served so long, to go through with God. He told them that obedience to God would be followed by blessing, and disobedience would bring the curse.

That is true for us today, both as individuals and as a nation.

Guard your heart. Teach your children. Watch and pray.