SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:19
Entonces dijo todo el pueblo a Samuel: Ruega por tus siervos al SEŅOR tu Dios, que no muramos; porque a todos nuestros pecados hemos aņadido este mal de pedir rey para nosotros.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 12:19
Verse 19. Pray for thy servants-that we die not] As they knew they had rebelled against God, they saw that they had every thing to fear from his justice and power. We have added unto all our sins this evil] It is no sin to have a king; a good king is one of the greatest blessings of God's providence; but it is a sin to put a man in the place of God. Is it not strange that they did not now attempt to repair their fault? They might have done it, but they did not; they acknowledged their sin, but did not put it away. This is the general way of mankind. "God help us, we are all sinners!" is the general language of all people: but though to be a sinner is to be in the most solemn and awful circumstances, yet they are contented to bear the character, heedless of the consequences!
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 19. And all the people said unto Samuel , During the tempest, and in the midst of it; it was the general cry of the people, they were unanimous in it: pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not ; though they had rejected him as their judge and supreme governor in desiring a king, now they were his humble servants, at least feignedly; and knowing what interest he had with God in prayer, they entreat him to make use of it on their behalf, who having sinned so greatly, had not the assurance to call the Lord their God, though they had no doubt of his being the God of Samuel, whose prayers he had heard, of which this tempest was a full proof; and was so violent, that if it continued, they were afraid they should be destroyed by the thunder and lightning, or they and their cattle, with the fruits of the earth, be washed away with the prodigious rain: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king ; though Samuel had laid before them the evils and inconveniences of having a king, and had in the name of the Lord charged them with rejecting God as their king; yet nothing convinced them of their evil till this storm came, and then all their sins came fresh to their minds; and this added to the weight of them, and lay heaviest on them, that they had rejected the Lord, and slighted his prophets, and, notwithstanding all remonstrances, resolved on having a king.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 16-25 - At Samuel's word, God sent thunder and rain, at a season of the yea when, in that country, the like was not seen. This was to convince the they had done wickedly in asking a king; not only by its coming at a unusual time, in wheat harvest, and on a clear day, but by the prophet's giving notice of it before. He showed their folly in desirin a king to save them, rather than God, or Samuel; promising themselve more from an arm of flesh, than from the arm of God, or from the powe of prayer. Could their prince command such forces as the prophet coul do by his prayers? It startled them very much. Some will not be brough to see their sins by any gentler methods than storms and thunders. The entreat Samuel to pray for them. Now they see their need of him who shortly before they slighted. Thus many who will not have Christ to reign over them, would yet be glad to have him intercede for them, to turn away the wrath of God. Samuel aims to confirm the people in their religion. Whatever we make a god of, we shall find it deceive us Creatures in their own places are good; but when put in God's place they are vain things. We sin if we restrain prayer, and in particula if we cease praying for the church. They only asked him to pray for them; but he promises to do more, to teach them. He urges that the were bound in gratitude to serve God, considering what great things he had done for them; and that they were bound in interest to serve him considering what he would do against them, if they should still d wickedly. Thus, as a faithful watchman, he gave them warning, and s delivered his own soul. If we consider what great things the Lord hat done for us, especially in the great work of redemption, we can neithe want motive, encouragement, nor assistance in serving him __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ויאמרו 559 כל 3605 העם 5971 אל 413 שׁמואל 8050 התפלל 6419 בעד 1157 עבדיך 5650 אל 413 יהוה 3068 אלהיך 430 ואל 408 נמות 4191 כי 3588 יספנו 3254 על 5921 כל 3605 חטאתינו 2403 רעה 7451 לשׁאל 7592 לנו מלך׃ 4428
