He Is Our Greatest Witness

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 12:5, He said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

Israel is stepping into a new chapter in their history. They are now officially transitioning leadership from the Prophet Samuel to King Saul. Until this time, Samuel has not addressed the people regarding his own leadership. He has remained humble before them and not called them on the carpet regarding their decision to request a king, when Samuel had led them with honesty and integrity. God now gives Samuel the opportunity to speak to the people and set the record straight. This is a very important lesson in our lives. Far too often, we try to defend ourselves against words wrongly spoken about us or accusations made against us that are simply not true. There will be times when speaking up is the last thing we should do. This can be very difficult to do, as there will be times when the intentions behind our actions will be construed as selfishly motivated. In those times we will be greatly tempted to defend ourselves. These are the times when we must do as Jesus did and not give an answer. In Matthew 27:11-14 we read, “Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you say.’ 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. 13 Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?’ 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.” In 1 Peter 2:21-24 we are also told, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” So it was with Samuel. Let us stop and think for a moment. If we hear that someone we know has been demoted or fired from a position at their place of employment, do we first think that maybe this was done unjustly, or do we immediately think, “I wonder what they did to get demoted or fired?” We then go on the hunt for the juicy tidbits. So it may have been with Samuel. We forget, when we read our Bibles, that there is nothing new under the sun, and there were probably those in the crowd who thought, based on Samuel’s sons’ ill reputation, that a king was being requested because of some crooked thing in Samuel’s life that they did not know about. Yet, Samuel did not spoke up until God opened the door on this occasion. Sometimes it is best to be silent and just let someone else come to our defense and speak good things about us and our character. Proverbs 27:2 tells us, “Let another praise you, and not your mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” Ultimately, the best Witness we can have in respect to the intentions of our actions and our character is God. Samuel took the people into account, asking them if he had ever defrauded them in any way, in verses 3 and 4. He called them out publicly, as their rejection of his leadership, and of God, was also public. Will our intentions always be purely motivated? Of course not, we are all flawed. However, there are times when we are doing what we do from an honest heart and pure intentions. However, not everyone will see that. Ultimately, if we have been pure in heart in our intentions, we too can say what Samuel said here, “He is witness.” All the while that Jesus did not defend Himself, God became His Witness at the Cross. In Matthew 27:54 we read this about what the Centurion said about Him as He hung on the Cross, “Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” In the end, God will vindicate us against those that falsely accuse us or judge our intentions falsely. He is our greatest Witness.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).