I Will Fight Your Battles

Samuel was one of a very few righteous judges in Israel. That was because he was also a prophet, and he “judged Israel all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 7:15). Near the end of his life, “he made his sons judges over Israel.” But, unfortunately, they were not righteous: “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” It’s not clear if they became corrupt after Samuel made them judges or if they were already that way when he put them in that position, but I have to think that it was the former given Samuel’s wisdom. It is ironic that Samuel grew up in the house of Eli who was chastised by the Lord for not correcting his two wicked sons, and then his two sons became somewhat like Eli’s sons. But surely Samuel had taught them the ways of the Lord and admonished them, unlike Eli. I have been pondering today what happened next: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” The account tells us that Samuel was displeased because they wanted a king to judge them, and the Lord said this in a well-known passage: “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:1-7). The Lord’s words suggest that Samuel felt like the people had rejected him, likely because they didn’t want his sons to be judges. But if his sons were corrupt and “perverted judgment,” was it really bad that the people didn’t want them to be their leaders? Did the Lord want them to simply accept the sons of Samuel instead of requesting a king? Was Samuel right in being offended by their rejection of his sons? What was it that the people should have desired?

               Having a king was clearly upsetting to the Lord, but the text, as far as I can tell, never says that He was upset that they didn’t want Samuel’s sons to be judges. We read, “According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods” (1 Samuel 8:8). The Lord was upset that they forsook Him. The Israelites wanted a king in order to be like all the other nations, and I think the rejection of Samuel’s sons as judges was an excuse to make the request for a king that would help them be like the world around them. It may be that if they had said to Samuel, “Your sons are wicked so give us another righteous prophet of the Lord like you to be our judge,” the Lord would have be happy with their request. I believe the choice between Samuel’s sons on the one hand or a king on the other hand was a false dichotomy; surely there was another way, to have another prophet to guide them like Samuel. Instead, they wanted to replace bad leaders who were not following Jehovah with something that would them take them even further from the Lord by causing them to trust in a king more than Him. Even after Samuel explained all the terrible things that a king would do, the people still said, “Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:19-20). They had forgotten that it was the Lord who would fight for them as He has promised multiple times in the law: “The Lord shall fight for you…. The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes…. Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you…. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you” (Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 1:30, 3:22, 20:4). Their story reminds us that we must put our trust in the Lord, and He has reiterated even today that He will fight for us: “For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil—I will fight your battles” (Doctrine and Covenants 105:14). We must learn to trust in Him more than in the world.