FBC Daily Devotional – September 17, 2021

Israel’s Demand for a King in 1 Samuel 8–9

Well, good Friday morning end of the week already and looking forward to the weekend the Lord's Day coming and gathering together with God's people. What a what a wonderful Privilege it is to gather in just a couple of days.

In the meantime we've got work to do we've got things to take care of and I trust that our thoughts today and from God's Word will Encourage us to get on with those things and to do them in a way that that pleases him.

But what I want to focus on is what we read in 1st Samuel 8 and 9, you know Israel has come to the place where they're tired of the judges, you know, like Samuel and those kinds of guys just Temporarily giving respite and so on and so if they want a king they want to they want to be like everybody else all around them they want to be they want a king that will rule over them and.

And they keep insisting on this they go to Samuel give us a king make a king for us and Samuel warns them that if you you persist in this demand You're turning from the Lord as your king to have some human being be your king.

And they say we don't care. Give us a king. Give us a king and the Lord says give him a king and Frankly, you know, this is this didn't take God by surprise. He had a king planned for them All along David was going to be the chosen king eventually, but there's now one in the interim in the meantime Saul.

And.

But before Saul is selected as the first king of Israel The Lord tells Samuel you need to warn the people what's going to take place when they get a king. So in chapter 8 verses 10 through 18, he tells him about all this thing.

He says this is going to be the behavior of the king who reigns over you. He's gonna take your sons. He's gonna point them to be his chariot drivers his horsemen. Some are gonna run before the chariots he's gonna point captains of your sons over 50s and over thousands and hundreds and so forth and When it comes time to harvest he's gonna he's gonna take taxes on your harvest and take a tenth of your stuff.

He's gonna make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He's gonna take your daughters to be cooks and bakers and so forth. And he's gonna take in verse 14 says gonna take the best of your fields the best of your vineyards and your olive groves.

He's gonna give them to his servants. And then they'll take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to his officers and his servants. He'll take your male servants his feet your female servants and so on and so forth.

He's good your king you're gonna this king you're asking for just so you know. He's gonna be one who takes all kinds of things from you. For himself for his administration. I say, okay, that's fine. Give us a king.

And the Lord says to Samuel in verse 22 heed their voice and make them a king. Samuel tells everybody. Okay, go go back home when times, right? I'll appoint a king over you and then in the next chapter he chooses Saul anoint Saul to be to be the first king.

Rejecting the Lord’s Reign Leads to Bondage

But what I want us to get from this and in that warning about what's gonna happen when the king is chosen. What I want us to get from this is to learn the lesson that to reject the Lord's reign over me is To invite some form of bondage some level of bondage that saying it's going to end up dissipating rather than truly enriching.

Get that did you get that to reject the Lord's reign his authority over me to reject Jesus as Lord over me is to invite some form of bondage that's going to dissipate rather than enrich me now that's the principle and and I've seen that principle worked out in the lives of people over and over and over again and It's painful and it is sad.

It is tragic. Where you know people I've seen them they grow up in church. They've they've they've been you know Been with God's people, but they finally decide, you know, I want to do my thing. I want to go my way.

This is often the case with younger people not all not exclusively but often younger people cast off the quote shackles of their their parental guidance and so forth cast off the quote shackles of the church the shackles of God's Word and his Parameters for life and happiness cast all those things off.

I know better. I know better. I'm gonna let something else. I'm gonna have some other King. I'm gonna go after some other King and off they go. Off they go and when they go they eventually find out I'm not enriched in this decision that I've made in this path that I've chosen instead I find dissipation and heartache and grief and complications and and just Difficulties that they could not have imagined.

It's a sad road to go Casting off the rule and the reign of the Lord and Having your own way you go your own way and Cast off the Lord. Dissipation Not enrichment. Oh Let this be a challenge to us. Let this be a warning to us and Oh those whom we know and have And would love and care for who have gone that route.

May we pray that God would be gracious to To bring them back to himself and that they would bow the knee to Jesus the Lord Father in heaven, I pray that we would not cast off You as our King You as our Lord.

May we gladly willingly Surrender ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ. Therein, we'll find.

True.

Enrichment in our lives. We pray this in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen. All right. Have a good rest of your Friday and a wonderful weekend. And if you can join us Sunday morning at the Lord's house, we'd be glad to have you For the services together.

Good day. God bless.

You.