CHAPTER 12 Jun. 30 
Samuel’s Farewell
Samuel said to all Israel, I have listened to all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2Now, the king is your leader; I am old and grey-headed and my sons are with you, and I have been your leader from my youth to this day. 3Here I am. Testify against me before Yahweh and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you. 4They said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from any man. 5He said to them, Yahweh is witness against you and His anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand. They said, He is witness. 6Samuel said to the people, It is Yahweh who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh, which He did to you and to your fathers. 8 When Jacob had come into Egypt and your fathers cried to Yahweh, then Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot Yahweh their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10They cried to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served the Baals and Ashtaroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies and we will serve You’. 11Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.12 When you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to reign over us’, when Yahweh your God was your king. 13Now therefore, see the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for; Yahweh has set a king over you. 14If you will fear Yahweh and serve Him, listen to His voice and not rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then it will be well with both you and the king who reigns over you. 15But if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Storm As a Sign from Yahweh
16Now therefore stand still and see this great thing which Yahweh will do before your eyes. 17Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh to send thunder and rain, and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the eyes of Yahweh, in asking for a king. 18So Samuel called to Yahweh, and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel. 19All the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God that we do not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king. 20Samuel said to the people, Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil, yet don’t turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart. 21Don’t turn aside to go after vain things which can’t profit or save you, for they are vain. 22Yahweh will not forsake His people, for the sake of His great name, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you His own people. 23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you; I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24Only fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 25But if you still do wickedly you will be consumed, both you and your king. 

Commentary

12:14 With both you and the king- If all Israel had been obedient, then Saul would have been too. If a majority are spiritually minded, this can at times and in some ways influence a potentially weaker minority; even though the reverse is more often true. And yet Saul made the people “follow him trembling” because they weren’t spiritually stronger than him (13:7). 
12:14,15 Israel requested a human king. God was Israel's king, and therefore their desire was effectively a rejection of God and Israel's special relationship with Him. And yet God gave them a human king. If they had a human king, it was harder for them to be God's Kingdom, to personally realize that God was their King, that He was the one to whom they owed all allegiance and duty. And yet God gave them a human king, because this was the path they had chosen; and by so doing He in one sense pushed them down the downward spiral of disobedience because they had chosen this themselves. 
12:20,21 If we don't serve God whole-heartedly, we will serve the idols of this present age. There's no third road.
12:23 It is an actual sin- albeit a sin of omission- to cease to pray for our brethren.