121 Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2 Now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth to this day. 3 Here I am. Witness 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 ransom to blind my eyes therewith? I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man’s hand.” 5 He 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.”
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 12:1-5
Commentary on 1 Samuel 12:1-5
(Read 1 Samuel 12:1-5)
Samuel not only cleared his own character, but set an example before Saul, while he showed the people their ingratitude to God and to himself. There is a just debt which all men to their own good name, especially men in public stations, which is, to guard it against unjust blame and suspicions, that they may finish their course with honour, as well as with joy. And that we have in our places lived honestly, will be our comfort, under any slights and contempt that may be put upon us.