1 Samuel 12:3-5 Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken?… Israel never had a judge like Hannah's son. Josephus says that Samuel had an "inborn love of justice." And so he had. Some men still both in public and in private life have that same love of justice born in them. And they are happy men, and all men are happy who have to do with them. Some other men, again, most men indeed, have an inborn love of injustice that they have to fight against all their days. The golden rule is written as if with nature's own finger, on some men's hearts; while other men are never able all their days to learn that rule. Samuel was still "The Seer" as he sat on the judgment seat; but there was nothing enthusiastic, carried away, or impracticable about Samuel. He was a clear-eyed, firm-handed, sure-footed, resolute-minded, righteous man, with an inborn sense of truth end righteousness; and all his opinions, and decisions, and sentences carried all men's consent and conscience with them. In ancient Rome they used to put on a white robe when they went out to ask for the votes of the voters, and it was for this that they were called "candidates" in the language of Rome; clean men, that is, in our language. But it was only one famous name here and another famous name there that came out of office as clean as they entered it. Look at Samuel laying down his office, and putting on his snow-white mantle. (A. Whyte, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. |
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