The Lord instructed Samuel to go to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons to be king. Samuel's response was similar to that of many others that we read of in the Bible whom God had instructed to do something; a response of fear and uncertainty:
"How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me?"
It sounds strange coming from Samuel, "the man of God", who we read of in the Bible as being bold in obedience to God by speaking God's often harsh messages to Saul. The Bible provides records of Moses, and the prophet Elijah responding in a similar manner when God instructed them to go and fulfill His purpose. The point is that it is not unusual to be afraid and uncertain when God instructs us to go to work.
God responded with a specific plan detailing exactly what Samuel was to do to avert Saul so that he would be protected. The plan: "make it appear and say that you are there for a reason other than what you are really there for." God's plan included a deception and a lie. It required Samuel to deceive Saul by making it appear that he was there to offer sacrifices, and it required him to lie to Saul about the reason that he was there. Now, I'm not saying that God is a deceiver or liar, nor am I saying that God advocates for such things. But there are times when doing God's work that His people need to operate under the radar, and cannot truthfully say why they are there. The underground church in nations that are hostile to Jesus operates in this way on a daily basis. Jesus instructed His disciples to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves, and this is what He meant by that. It is unwise and careless to honest and forthright when doing the Lord's work in potentially dangerous situations. Being deceptive in such scenarios is for our own protection, as it was for Samuel's.
Despite his fear and uncertainty, "Samuel did what the Lord said." He was obedient to God, demonstrating faith and trust in Him.
When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders trembled when they met him and asked, "Do you come in peace?".
The man of God Samuel was well known, and the elders recognized him when he arrived, and probably thought that he came to bring a message of rebuke or judgment against them. Samuel was a "seer" which is a prophet, and prophets usually did not bring good news. If one showed up in town, it probably wasn't going to be a good day. In Christianity today, many people say that Christians should be "joy givers", which means you appear to be happy and joyful all the time whether you are or not, and you have a positive attitude and outlook on life. If you aren't this way, they say, then you're a "joy stealer" or you must not have Jesus because you don't have the joy that comes from knowing Jesus.
But number one, this is one of the reasons why so many people look at the church as being full of hypocrites. There are people who are genuinely and naturally joyful, and they are great to be around. They have positive attitudes and big smiles and everyone loves them. But there are many who fake it because their church leaders instructed them to portray an image of joy in order to create a joyful environment so that people will enjoy coming to the church. This is hypocrisy.
God did not create everyone with an exuberant, joyful personality. He made some to have a more somber personality, however, they are still joyful because they are obedient to Jesus, which is where real joy comes from. Christians who live in persecution experience great joy because of their obedience to Jesus, but they may not always have an outward appearance of joy because they are living in tough conditions. When you speak speak with them though, their joy will be evident because they understand the source of their joy.
God made some to be prophets. Prophets usually brought messages from God to His people, and they were usually not messages containing good news. They were usually messages calling for His people to repent - turn away from your idolatry and turn back to Him - and if they didn't, then He was going to discipline them by way of judgment and wrath.
In some cases, their messages were of rebuke, like we see when the prophet Nathan rebuked King David for raping Bathsheba and killing her husband. The deed had already been done, so God sent His prophet to rebuke him and inform him of how He was going to discipline David for committing these evil acts. Make no mistake, God's discipline of His people is His wrath and judgment being played out in real time. If we respond with repentance, then He will not make us account for it again at the judgement on the Last Day because He will have already forgiven us. But if we respond with unrepentance by continuing to rebel against Him, we will have to answer for our wickedness when we stand before Him on judgment day, and the outcome might not be very good.
David's life after he committed these heinous acts of wickedness was not so good, even though he seemed to have repented. God kept His promise of judgment against David, and his family fell apart.
All that to say, prophets would be considered "joy stealers" in modern day Christianity because they did not bring a positive message or outlook on life with them. Their messages were typically of doom and gloom. And because of that, many of them suffered terribly at the hands of God's people who were the recipients of the message. They probably viewed them as messengers of doom and gloom, so they rejected God's word because they did not believe that it was true. So when the elders saw Samuel come into town their hearts probably sank, and they trembled with fear because they thought that he was there to give them a message from God.
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