March 23 / I Samuel 8-10

I Samuel 8-10

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

I Samuel 8:4-9

And so we again see democracy at work. Yes, we are getting a monarchy, but it is because that is what the people want. Although God accedes to Israel’s request, and grants them a king, He knows that their desire for a king is really a rejection of Him as King. They would rather seek security in a fallible human than in the LORD God Almighty. (What fools we are!) Samuel is clear-eyed and warns the people of all the negative consequences of how kings operate (I Sam. 8:10-18), but the people put fingers in their ears and insist that they want to be like all the nations, dreaming that, somehow, this king will single-handedly fight their battles for them. (I Sam. 8:20)

Clearly, the better choice would be for all the people to repent, to reject foreign gods, to put their full faith and trust in the LORD, and to walk in His ways, loving Him with their whole heart and loving their neighbors as themselves. But Israel has shown, time and again throughout the yo-yo years of the Judges, that they are not so inclined, and God is unwilling to force compliance, so He grants their wish and gives them the king they desire. In so doing, the LORD in His sovereignty accomplishes three things (among many others, I’m sure):

• He unifies the nation under a single leader, thereby enabling them to fight their enemies — particularly the Philistines — more effectively than they could under the fractured tribalism they have seen thus far. (I Sam. 9:16)
• He lets the people taste the consequences of their own poor decision. (I Sam. 8:18)
• He sets up a pathway through which He Himself can one day again be acknowledged as King: the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

In other words, God uses even Israel’s rejection of Him to work out His own purposes.

But all of that goes well beyond our reading today. For now, we see Samuel anointing a young man named Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the first king of Israel. For now, this Saul is the one chosen by the LORD to lead His people. He is God’s chosen instrument for fighting Israel’s battles. He is the LORD’s anointed.

As for us, I think it is worth asking ourselves a few questions. Where might we be looking for a king other than God? How might we be rejecting God, wanting to conform to the world around us, to fit in with our culture? How might we disregard God’s warnings and with rose-colored glasses accept ideas that run contrary to Scripture? Are we looking to politics or politicians (of either party) to solve problems only God can solve? Do we, again, want a king other than Christ?