1 Samuel 8:4-6 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. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

I really admire Samuel’s integrity here. He overlooked the personal attack on himself and his children. He looked past that and at their attitude about God.

“You are old and useless and we hate your kids.”

How would you respond to comments like that? It is really hard to hear but those words, no matter how true they might be, are masks to the real problem. So often the devil hides his true intentions behind personal attacks. We have to get past that to see what is truly going on.

God’s reply to Samuel reveals the truth; “for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me”. If you know this up front it just might help you as you serve the Lord. It is not a personal rejection, no matter how it sounds.

Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

It sure feels personal but it is nothing more than a mask they hide behind. You should see the one they serve, Satan.

Now comes the really hard part, the part I didn’t quote in God’s response to Samuel in verse 7. “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:” We have to trust that God is at work in these people’s lives and they are not ready to receive the good news. Not yet anyway.