Neville Goddard on 1 Samuel 8:6-7 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Samuel 8 in context

Scripture Focus

6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

7And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

1 Samuel 8:6-7

Biblical Context

Samuel is troubled by the people's demand for a king; God tells Samuel to heed their request, revealing that they have not rejected Samuel but God, choosing to reign themselves rather than align with divine ruling.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within this scene, the people crying for a king are the outer experiences pressing for a fix from without. Samuel, the prophet of your awareness, reacts with concern, but the LORD answers by inviting you to listen to the voice that speaks through you. The true rule is not a throne among men but the I AM ruling from your consciousness. When you feel the urge for a new circumstance, it is not Samuel being rejected; it is the old image of separation resisting the reign of God in you. The moment you consent to believe a king is outside yourself, you detach from the living king, which is your own unconditioned awareness. God says, Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee but me, that I should not reign over them. This is your inner cue that the kingdom is within your own state of consciousness. The shift is not in changing the world but in changing your assumption about who rules there. When you assume that God reigns in you, the imagined kingdom becomes a present, peaceful ordering of life.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly, close your eyes, and declare, I am the king of my consciousness; God reigns in me now. Visualize a quiet throne of awareness within and feel the throne's weight as your sense of self expands into unity with the divine I AM.