1 Samuel 12:10

They cried. This supplication consists of two parts: (1) a confession of waywardness in not following their Guide, and (2) a plea for deliverance, accompanied by the promise to serve God faithfully thereafter. But man seems forever incapable of learning from the experience of others. He follows his own inclinations until it is almost too late, and finally, in sheer desperation, admits his own need of outside assistance. He thinks he has learned his lesson and will never fall again.

Solomon, for instance, went into the laboratory of life and tried out every conceivable highway to happiness. But with each experiment he found nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit (Eccl. 1:14, 17; 2:11, 15, 17, 23, 26; etc.). Finally he came to the conclusion that the fear of the Lord and obedience to His precepts constitute the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13). But even with such examples before them men soon forget the conclusions of the wise man till they have traversed the same road themselves and proved to their own satisfaction that what a man shows he is sure to reap.