And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart."
1 Samuel 12:20

The people of Israel had been a theocracy for many years at this point; God had been their leader, their ruler, and their king. He had performed miracles time and time again, from the plagues in Egypt, to the parting of the Red Sea, to suspending the sun in the sky so that Joshua could lead the army to victory. He showed up many times in mighty ways to save his people. But now, in the beginning of 1 Samuel, the people demand a king so that they can be "like all the nations." (8:5, 20)

This is a great tragedy. This is what would be considered high treason by any earthly king. An earthly king, of course, is flawed and sinful. Yet, even despite his shortcomings, to rebel against the king is a grievance that, in most cases, would be unforgivable and deserving of immediate death. So, how much more treasonous is it to rebel against a King that is infinitely good, infinitely lovely, infinitely loving to His people? It is infinitely more treasonous. To the degree that God is good, is the degree to which our sin is bad.

Anybody who rebelled against an earthly king had due reason to be afraid. Jesus tells us to "fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt. 10:28b) Our God, Yahweh, is a great and mighty God with power that we cannot comprehend. Therefore, Jesus tells us to be afraid of him before we are afraid of those who can "kill the body but not the soul." (Matt. 10:28a)

Even so, Samuel shows us the grace of our great King who says, "do not be afraid", even though he says directly afterwards that "you have done all this evil." We will slip, we will fall, we will sin. But "fear not", as Jesus continues in Matthew 10, "you are of more value than many sparrows."

Therefore, do not lose heart, and "do not turn aside from following the Lord," but, rather, purpose in your heart to "serve the Lord with all your heart." This is, no doubt, what James means when he says "but he gives more grace." (Jas. 4:6)