1 Samuel 11 is where a problem emerges and the people go running to Saul. And God is working with Saul to help Israel.
‘And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings and his anger was kindled greatly’
1 Samuel 11:6
The Holy Spirit is so intrinsic, so compulsory, for anything is he not?

1 Samuel 11
What we read through this chapter is Saul establishing himself as a leader that gets results and he deals calmly with the people who say, who said you shouldn’t be king? Let’s kill them now’. Gosh, people haven’t changed really, have they?
But Saul says ‘the Lord hath wrought salvation to Israel’.
And Samuel tells everyone,
‘Come and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there’
Everyone was in celebration mode.
1 Samuel 12
Now the Prophet speaks to the nation. And his words still carry the resonance of how the kingdom of God works, we would be wise to pay attention to them.
There is a pattern in scripture, through the Old Testament and the New, where the historical account of God and his children, in this natural world, are spoken publicly to the people. A sequence of events if spoken reveals the overarching narrative of what has taken place from God’s perspective. Stephen did it in the book of Acts right before he died. Peter did it on the day of Pentecost. Moses did it, and Joshua did it.
Shall we learn anything by this?
Christianity does not exist in a vacuum. It is not just since Christ that this salvation message has unfolded. When we reject the historical we lose the anchoring concepts and the God which is eternal and does not change.
In a way that is so typical of the grace of God, Samuel tells the people, despite this not being God’s plan for you, here is your chance, you can have a king and the Lord your God (1 Samuel 12:14). But if you fail to follow God you’re not going to like the consequences.
The power of God is demonstrated and they feared.
And Samuel says,
‘Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord but serve the Lord with all your heart; and turn ye not aside; for then should you go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain……’
1 Samuel 12:20-21
He will not stop praying for them, for teaching them the ‘good and the right way’. But the warning is clear, if you divert from this, things aren’t going to go well for you.
Do we carry this fear of God with us today?
Or do we think God just looks the other way? Grace should never be abused. The price Jesus Christ paid never devalued.
But when we keep God first and foremost in our hearts, and we follow him, obeying his voice, then what a triumphant life is possible with him.