Title: Mizpah's Repentance (1 Samuel 07:5-12)
The people of Israel in this text were faced with two crises. The first crisis was a political crisis, and they were feeling a sense of crisis in front of the Philistines' invasion. The idols they worshiped were Baal and Ashtaroth. In this political and religious crisis, Samuel gathered all the Israelites together at Mizpah. They gathered at Mizpah to pray, fast, and confess their sins. These are verses 5 and 6.
Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you." So they gathered at Mizpah, drew water and poured it before the LORD, and fasted that day, saying, "We have sinned against the LORD." It is the week. The people of Israel first gathered before God in a political and religious crisis to pray, fast, and confess their repentance. We too, first felt a sense of responsibility for the various crises and corrupt realities of our society and people, and gathered at Mizpah. Just as we repented, we must pray earnestly to God during this Lent.
Looking back on our reality today, we can feel that we have so many prayers to pray for. For our politics, for our culture, for a crime-free society, for true democracy, and for the unification of the nation. For this we must fast, repent, and pray.