to fear · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
serve
וַעֲבַדְתֶּ֥םva.'a.vad.Tem
H5647
to work (in any sense) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
truth
בֶּאֱמֶ֖תbe.'e.Met
H571
stability · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
heart
לְבַבְכֶ֑םle.vav.Khem
H3824
the heart (as the most interior organ) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
consider
רְא֔וּre.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
done
הִגְדִּ֖לhig.Dil
H1431
to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 10:21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Isaiah 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider…
Psalms 126:2-3 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for…
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 12:16–end
Two things Samuel here aims at: -
I. To convince the people of their sin in desiring a king. They were now rejoicing before God in and with their king (Sa1 11:15), and offering to God the sacrifices of praise, which they hoped God would accept; and this perhaps made them think that there was no harm in their asking a king, but really they had done well in it. Therefore Samuel here charges it upon them as their sin, as wickedness, great wickedness in the sight of the Lord. Note, Though we meet with prosperity and success in a way of sin, yet we must not therefore think the more favourably of it. They have a king, and if they conduct themselves well their king may be a very great blessing to…
HE TERRIFIES THEM WITH THUNDER IN HARVEST-TIME. (Sa1 12:17-25)
Is it not wheat harvest to-day?--That season in Palestine occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom or never rains, and the sky is serene and cloudless. There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any prognostics of its approach, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an attestation of his words being true. The people regarded it as a miraculous display of divine power, and, panic-struck, implored the prophet to pray for them. Promising to do…
Only fear the Lord - Know, respect, and reverence him.
Serve him - Consider him your Lord and Master; consider yourselves his servants.
In truth - Be ever honest, ever sincere; with all your heart - have every affection engaged in the work of obedience; act not merely from a principle of duty, but also from a pious, affectionate sense of obligation. Act towards your God as an affectionate child should act towards a tender and loving parent.
Consider how great things - Review the history of your fathers, review your own life; see what interpositions of power, mercy, goodness, and truth, God has displayed in your behalf! Has he not daily loaded you with his benefits?
The Church Fathers
Whence Samuel also well explains this same way, saying: "Therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth, and with your whole heart." 17. This way is indeed good and right: because it leads to eternal life and arrives there swiftly. Through the fear of the Lord, evils are avoided; by serving him, his commandments are fulfilled. We truly serve him in truth when we carry out his precepts for the sake of heavenly reward alone. For whoever seeks a temporal reward for a good work does not truly serve God, whom he does not love in his work because of a false intention. But those who desire to serve God in truth are commanded to place their whole heart in divine service, so that they may carry out the things of God in such a way that they retain nothing in their mind that is contrary to God. This way is assuredly not only good but right: because it leads to salvation and swiftly brings its follower to perfection. For it is shown as another way to the promised land — good, because it leads there; right, because it avoids detours. Through this way, each person arrives at the summit of virtues all the better, the less he turns aside through circuits of negligence. This right way is expressed in that way by which the Lord is said to have wished to lead the children of Israel to the promised land. He wished to entrust the labors of the desert to them, so that for us who walk in the footsteps of his Only-Begotten, he might smooth the course of so great a journey. For they could not yet hear: "If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor, and follow me; and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matt. 19:21). For while the ancient people ran about through various things with license over temporal possessions, they could not, as it were, be led quickly to the promised land through the circuit of toil. Therefore, so that the prophet might introduce to us the way of the new life, he says that the way is good and right: to fear God and to serve him in truth and with the whole heart — because those who do not cease to seek the almighty God both through good works and through fervent desires quickly arrive at the height of divine grace. And because he had made that same people attentive to hearing the words of his preaching through a miracle, he adds: "For you have seen the magnificent things that the Lord has done among you." 18. As if he were saying: From…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Devotedness To God · Grounded upon: The goodness of God — Grounded upon: The goodness of God
Fear, Godly · Motives to: The goodness of God — Motives to: The goodness of God
Ingratitude To God · Warnings against — Warnings against
Obedience · ENJOINED — ENJOINED
Obligation · A motive of obedience — A motive of obedience
Reproof · When from God: Should be accompanied by exhortation to repentance — When from God: Should be accompanied by exhortation to repentance
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 12:24
Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart,.... Fear him not with a servile fear, which is before dehorted from, but with a filial fear, a reverential affection for God; and includes the whole of religious worship, internal and external; explained further by serving him according to the truth of his word, and in a cordial, sincere, and affectionate manner; and if this was wanting in them, he suggests that his prayers and instructions would be of little avail, and not to be depended on:
for consider how great things he hath done for you; in bringing them out of Egypt: settling them in the land of Canaan; giving them his laws, statutes, commands, and ordinances; sending pr…
Lastly, he repeats once more his admonition, that they would continue stedfast in the fear of God, threatening at the same time the destruction of both king and people if they should do wrong (on Sa1 12:24, see Sa1 7:3 and Jos 24:14, where the form יראוּ is also found). "For see what great things He has done for you" (shown to you), not by causing it to thunder and rain at Samuel's prayer, but by giving them a king. עם הגדּיל, as in Gen 19:19.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 12:23
I will continue to teach you: Samuel was both intercessor and educator. • Although this address marked the end of Samuel’s political leadership, he continued his spiritual ministry for some time (e.g., 19:24).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 12:23
And as for me, far be it from me. Since you will do your part by returning to 'ה, I also, far be it from me to stop praying on your behalf.14 From this verse, the Gemara in Maseches Berachos 12b, derives, that if a person knows that his prayers will be answered if he prays for mercy for his fellow but refrains from doing so, he is considered to have sinned.
