A Study of the Books of Samuel
Sermon # 6
”Give Us a King!”
1 Samuel 8:1-18
“Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that
he made his sons judges over Israel. (2) The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name
of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. (3) But his sons did not walk in his
ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. (4)Then
all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, (5) and said to
him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king
to judge us like all the nations."
The elders presented their request to Samuel and backed it up with several
arguments or excuses. Anytime we want to justify a course of action we wish to take we
come up with a list of what we think are logical arguments which are often really nothing
but excuses to do things the way we want to do them.
“A radio
news series about honesty in America talked about excuses. The commentator said that
people use three types of excuses when guilty of wrongdoing.
The following illustration of excuses is one of the best I have every heard; “The commanding officer was furious when nine
GIs who had been out on passes failed to show up for morning roll call. Not until 7 p.m.
did the first man straggle in. “I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier explained,
“but I had a date and lost track of time, and I missed the bus back. Being determined
to get in on time, I hired a cab. Halfway here, the cab broke down. I went to a farmhouse
and persuaded the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding to camp when the animal fell
over dead. I walked the last ten miles, and just got here.”
Though
skeptical, the colonel let the young man off with a reprimand. However, after him, seven
other stragglers in a row came in with the same story—had a date, missed the bus,
hired a cab, bought a horse, etc. By the time the ninth man reported in, the colonel had
grown weary of it. “Okay,” he growled, “now what happened to you?”
“Sir, I had
this date and missed the bus back, so I hired a cab .”
“Wait!”
the colonel screeched at him. “don’t tell me the cab broke down.” “No,
sir,” replied the soldier. “The cab didn’t break down. It was just that
there were so many dead horses in the road, we had trouble getting through.”
[Contributed by John F. King
www.bible.org/illus/excuses]
Now let’s examine the excuses that the elders offered for wanting a king.
First, they tell Samuel that he is too old
to lead them, in verse five they say “look you are old.” Obviously they had never read
the book, “How to win friends and Influence People.” At this point Samuel is
probably 65 to 70 years of age. (Which is by the way a lot younger than it use to be.)
They seem to be suggesting that Samuel is “as good as dead” and that his
leadership is over. The second reason that the elders give for wanting a king is “your sons do not walk in
your ways” in other words your sons are not fit to lead. Ouch that must have hurt. This must have been true
for it is never denied. But it seems to be more of a convenient pretext than the
elder’s real motives to over throw the theocratic system in favor of a human king.
Finally, the real reason is given, in the last part of verse five, we want
to be “like all the
nations.” But Israel was
never designed to be just like the other nations, they were to be unlike them and superior
to them in every way. Just like the Christians of today is not be just like the world but
that according to 1 John 2:15, we are “not to love the world or the things in the world.”
Unfor-tunately too many Christians are still trying to follow the world’s example, to
look like, sound like and act like unbelievers.
Up until this point in history of the life of the nation of Israel has been
characterized by disunity, each tribe did its own thing. There seem to be no real pattern
for the selection of judges. Viewed this way the desire for a king probably seemed very
logical, except that it left God completely out of the picture. There is not the slightest
indication that they wanted Samuel to determine God’s will regarding a king. There is
no reference to prayer on their part and no evidence of humility. They wanted what they
wanted and they wanted it right now. That sounds thoroughly modern, doesn’t it?
The problem is not just that Israel requested a king; it was insisting that God
give them a king immediately.
In verse six we learn that the elders request for a king, “… displeased Samuel.
The Hebrew word for “displeased”
means “to
see the evil in something.” Samuel was very upset with the request of the
people, and there probably was any number of reasons why. He certainly had room to take
offense that the people were linking his age with the need for new leadership. Samuel may
have felt more than a little threatened and devalued by the request of the elders. Samuel
left the scene convinced that he had been rejected by the people he had spent a lifetime
faithfully serving. As any godly leader would Samuel probably agonized over whether what
is happening is due to some failure on his part. You may never have thought of it, but
when some member of the congregation fails to live like a Christian should, the pastor
grieves and asks himself, “What could I have done to prevent this?”
But perhaps most of important of all Samuel saw what Israel’s rejection of God will cost.
However, much to his credit Samuel instead of arguing with the people or defending
himself, the reminder of verse six says that he “prayed to the LORD.” In the response he
received both personal affirmation, which made him feel good and instructions for the people, which frustrated
him. In verse seven we read, “And the LORD said to Samuel,
"Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected
you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. (8) According to all
the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to
this day--with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods--so they are doing to you
also. (9) Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and
show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."
The Lord answers
Samuel’s prayer. He always has and he always will. Paul in his Philippian letter
(4:6) says, “Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Prayer did
several things for Samuel. First, it provided God’s guidance on how to respond to the
Elder’s request. Secondly, it gave encouragement to Samuel in his service. God
reminds Samuel it is not he, that is Samuel, whom they are rejecting.
Israel’s
request for a king is seen than much more than a mere desire for an earthly king, they are
rejecting God’s kingship in their lives. This is not the first time that Israel has
rejected God. At Sinai will Moses is on the mountain receiving the law, the people are in
the valley demanding that Aaron “make them gods” (Ex. 32:1). Disgruntled in the wilderness they
said, “Let make a captain and let us return to
Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4).
In verse ten Samuel, “… told all the
words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. (11) And he said, "This
will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and
appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his
chariots. (12) He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties,
will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war
and equipment for his chariots. (13) He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks,
and bakers. (14) And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive
groves, and give them to his servants. (15) He will take a tenth of your grain and your
vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. (16) And he will take your male
servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to
his work. (17) He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. (18) And
you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and
the LORD will not hear you in that day."
Israel’s demand of a king in the
face of all the bad things they have just heard is unreason-able. They thought that
they knew what was best, they took counsel of their own hearts and having chosen a course
independent of God, they proceeded at once to follow it up.
No one could do for Israel what God had already done. It was also ungrateful
because it ignored the evidence of God’s past goodness. In spite of all the Lord had done for Israel from
the call of Abraham to the conquest of the Promised land, they decide to turn there back
on Almighty God and choose to have a mere mortal to rule over them. And it is willful
because even after Samuel’s explanation, Israel insisted on her own way. In spite of
all the warnings, the people insisted that God give them a king.
We have all heard the old saying,
“You
made your bed and now you have to lie in it.”
God will of course forgive the sin of our demanding our own way, but
he may not remove the consequences of that choice. Sometimes the severest judgment God can
give us is to let us have our own way.
Notice the progression in rebellion evident in the text, they begin in verse six by
asking Samuel to …
“ give us a king” but now in verse nineteen they defiantly “… refused to obey
the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, (20) that
we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us
and fight our battles."
God has previously told Israel that
she would one day have a king. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that kings would be
among their descendants (Gen 17:6, 16). Jacob named 1Judah as the kingly tribe (Gen.
49:10).
Some have pointed to the prophesy of Deut. 17 (verses 14-20). "When you come to the land
which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, "I
will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' (15) you shall surely
set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall
set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. (16)
But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to
multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, "You shall not return that way again.'
(17) Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he
greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. (18) "Also it shall be, when he sits on
the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book,
from the one before the priests, the Levites. (19) And it shall be with him, and he shall
read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be
careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, (20) that his heart may
not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the
right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his
children in the midst of Israel.”
Didn’t God say that Israel was to have a king? Yes. Does that mean that it was
alright for Israel to demand a king? No. The fact that something is prophesied in
scripture is not proof that what is being told is good and right. The betrayal of Judas
was foretold, as well as the fact that Israel would reject Christ as the Messiah. But that
does not mean that either of these acts was good or right. It only means that God want us
to know that it was part of his eternal plan.
In verse twenty-one, we are told, “And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them
in the hearing of the LORD. (22) So the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed their voice, and
make them a king." And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his
city."
One of the great mysteries of God’s work among men is that the Bible is interwoven with stories of how God works with people even in the midst of their failures to bring purposes to be.
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