1 Samuel 8

A series in this book, and we'll be continuing for a while in our evening service

looking at the book of 1 Samuel and what it has to teach us for today.

So let me read chapter 8, 1 Samuel chapter 8, and then we'll dig into it together.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 8, when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

The name of his firstborn son was Joel, the name of his second Abijah, they were judges

in Beersheba.

Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after Gain.

They took bribes and perverted justice.

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.

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 haven't 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 doing also 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.

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who are asking for a king from him.

He said, These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you.

He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to

run before his chariots.

And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties,

some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war

and the equipment of his chariots.

He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys

and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.

And in that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves.

But the Lord will not answer you in that day.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said,

No, but there shall be a king over us 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.

When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey their voice and make them a king.

Samuel then said to the men of Israel, Go every man to his city.

A long time ago, an unknown soldier wrote the following.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things.

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy.

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness that I might feel my need for God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am among all men most richly blessed.

Very often there's a difference between what we want and what we need.

In tonight's passage, we see a group of people facing a national crisis.

Facing a real problem.

And demanding what they wanted.

What they thought that they needed.

And then we see God through the prophet Samuel warning them that what they think they need.

What they were saying.

What they really wanted.

Wasn't really what they needed.

Now we'll look at this passage in three parts.

We'll look at first, the problem they were facing.

Second, the demand.

For what they wanted.

And third, God's provision in the long run of what they really needed.

So first, their problem.

Just to set a little bit of the background in this book of Samuel.

So far in the first seven chapters, we've seen God raising up Samuel to lead the people of Israel in a dark time.

The book of Samuel begins at one of the low points of Israel's history.

It was a time when the leaders were corrupt.

When their enemies were a constant threat.

When they were dissolving at times into civil war.

Spiritually speaking, it was a time of approaching darkness.

And increasing chaos.

And ominous silence.

And God raised up Samuel as a prophet.

To speak his word into the silence.

And to bring order into the chaos.

And to shine light into the darkness.

And in chapter seven, the last chapter, God used Samuel to deliver the people from the enemies who were threatening them.

The Philistines.

And to judge the people with wisdom.

And fairness.

But the problem we see here in verses one through three.

Samuel's getting old.

And his sons didn't walk in his ways.

Samuel loved God.

And he loved the people.

And so his leadership resulted in stability.

His sons loved money.

And they loved themselves.

And the result was instability.

And chaos.

The future didn't look good.

For the people of Israel.

And it's a pattern, interestingly, that happens multiple times in this book of Samuel.

That God-fearing, a God-fearing generation is then succeeded by a self-centered generation.

So Eli the priest knew the Lord.

His sons didn't.

And his sons used their authority in the priesthood for their own gain and their own benefit.

Samuel judged wisely and impartially.

His sons took bribes.

And sought after dishonest gain.

David would later become the greatest king of Israel.

But then his sons ended up literally killing each other.

And you might ask, how does that happen?

How does one generation, parents who love God, how are they succeeded by people who could care less?

It shouldn't be that way.

Now the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how that happened.

But it does say that it happened.

And sometimes it still happens.

Now Samuel wasn't directly responsible for the selfish behavior, self-serving behavior of his adult children.

But what he was responsible for was he put his sons in leadership positions.

And he didn't really hold them accountable.

Verse 1 says, when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

But if you read the book of Judges, which is sort of the background of the book of Samuel, Samuel actually didn't have to do that.

The office of judge was not a hereditary office that was supposed to be passed on from father to son.

From parent to child.

Right?

In fact, in Judges 8, the men of Israel came to Gideon, one of the judges, and they said, rule over us.

You and your son and your grandson.

Set up a dynasty.

And Gideon said, no.

I won't rule over you.

Nor will my son rule over you.

The Lord will rule over you.

So Samuel put his sons in positions of spiritual leadership, but they failed to live up to their responsibility.

And he didn't act decisively.

Now, he did put them down in Beersheba.

Now, that was in the southern, it was sort of the remote southern part of the country.

So he sort of put them off in a remote place, maybe to limit their influence.

But the problem was they weren't fit to lead anywhere.

Not in the remote part of the country, not in the central part of the country where Samuel was.

And putting them there only contained the problem temporarily.

It didn't actually solve it.

You know, one of the biggest challenges for every generation is passing on the responsibility for spiritual leadership to the next generation.

So in the New Testament, 2 Timothy 2.2, Paul says to Timothy,

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.

And along with teaching others, Paul talks about setting an example for others.

So if you're in a position of Christian leadership, whether that's leading a Bible study for other college students,

or whether that's being an elder or a deacon in a church, or whatever it might be, being a parent,

one of the most important tasks that you're called to, is to train up other people who love God, who can lead alongside you,

and then who you can eventually pass on your responsibility to.

Because one day, like Samuel, you'll grow old.

And you won't be, or you might have to move out of town.

Or for whatever reason, you won't be able to be that leader anymore, and you'll have to find someone else to succeed you.

And this is where many otherwise godly Christian leaders have failed.

Many times through the years.

Either they haven't been willing to share leadership at all,

and so, when they finally die, their whole organization, their whole ministry falls apart,

because they don't let anyone else have,

they don't let anyone else into that leadership circle,

or, they're not careful about who they invite to lead with them,

or who they pass on the leadership to,

and it goes downhill.

So this is a warning.

That we see.

And this is the problem that the people were facing.

And so the elders, what we see is the elders of Israel,

they recognize this problem, rightly,

but then the second thing we see is what they think they need.

They come to Samuel, and say,

here's what we want.

Verse 4.

Or verse 5.

They say,

Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways.

Now appoint for us a king,

to judge us like all the nations.

Now just as a background,

there hadn't been a king in Israel so far.

So the people of Israel had been led by different judges,

who were raised up sort of one by one,

generation by generation, person by person,

that God raised up at different times to lead the people of Israel.

And the people say,

enough of this judge stuff.

Give us a king.

Give us a dynasty.

Now verse 6 says,

Samuel was immediately displeased.

On the one hand,

he probably felt personally offended.

Because he had been a judge.

And he had,

he probably felt like,

man, like,

you're coming to me and saying,

my replacements aren't doing well,

and we need to restructure.

And I'm at the end of my career path.

Facing the end of his life,

felt like they were criticizing his leadership.

But God says more than that,

it's not just about them criticizing you,

it's about them rejecting me.

God said,

what's really behind their request

is not them rejecting you as a person,

it's them rejecting me.

And,

and clinging on to

other things.

Other gods instead.

You see,

their request for a king,

it wasn't wrong in principle.

In fact,

God has,

God had always planned

to one day establish a king in Israel

and carry out his purposes through a king.

So even before this place in the Bible,

there had been promises.

In Genesis 49,

God had promised

that one day a ruler would arise

from the tribe of Judah

who all the nations would obey.

And in the book of Deuteronomy,

God had said to the people of Israel,

when you go into the land

and you say,

I want to have a king

like all the nations around me,

he says,

you may indeed set a king over you

whom the Lord your God will choose.

It wasn't wrong in principle

to have a king.

What was wrong?

You might ask

with their request.

The problem wasn't their request,

it was their attitude.

And we see three indications

of what was wrong with their attitude.

The first indication we see

is they demanded from Samuel

instead of depending on God.

You know,

when we face real problems,

real dangers,

real insecurities,

if we don't cry out to God

in prayer and dependence on Him,

we'll often turn to other people

and start demanding

insistently from them.

Notice what Samuel did.

Verse 6.

He heard the people's request.

The first thing he does,

he prayed to the Lord.

Even before he responded to them,

he prayed to God.

And then again,

verse 21.

He heard all the words of the people

and it says he repeated them

in the ears of the Lord.

He went right to God

and said,

here's what they're saying.

What do I do with this?

But by contrast,

the other leaders of Israel

don't pray at all.

Now interestingly,

if you look back

just in the last chapter,

in chapter 7,

three times,

three times,

the leaders of Israel pray.

Chapter 7,

verse 3 says,

all the house of Israel

lamented after the Lord.

Chapter 7,

verse 6,

they gathered at Mizpah

and fasted and said,

we have sinned against the Lord.

Chapter 7,

verse 8,

the people came to Samuel

and asked him,

don't stop crying out to the Lord

on our behalf.

And Samuel cried out to the Lord

for them

and God answered him.

But here in chapter 8,

they don't ask Samuel

to pray for them.

They don't pray to God themselves.

They just come to Samuel

and they demand.

They say,

give us a king.

Samuel,

you can solve our problems.

Has someone ever come to you like that?

You can solve all my problems.

This is what you need to do.

Now.

And if you do that,

they're going to come to you again.

A week later.

And say,

this is what I need you to do.

And only you can do it.

It's not a fun place to be in.

You see,

when we don't come before God

and ask him for what we need,

we can sometimes end up making

excessive demands

from other people.

So that's the first issue

with their attitude.

They demanded from Samuel

instead of depending on God.

The second issue with their attitude

is that they spoke,

but they refused to listen.

In fact,

Samuel listened to them,

but they didn't listen to him.

Three times,

God said to Samuel,

obey the voice of the people.

And that word obey

could also be translated

something like,

listen carefully,

or heed,

or take to heart

what they're saying,

and respond appropriately to it.

God said to Samuel,

don't disregard what they're saying.

Even though their motives are bad,

listen to them.

But the people didn't,

and Samuel also listened

to what God said

in verse 7 through 9.

But the people didn't want to listen.

Even though Samuel was a prophet

who spoke God's word,

even though Samuel was a trusted,

wiser, older man

who had shown his trustworthiness

throughout his life

over and over,

even though his words were reasonable

and sensible,

they didn't want to hear it.

And do you notice

that after Samuel gave them

all his warnings,

what the people said

in verse 19 and 20,

they just repeated

what they had said before.

They said,

no,

there shall be a king over us.

They just become

a broken record,

and they keep repeating themselves

and keep insisting

on the same thing,

louder and louder,

over and over.

Now the irony is,

if you look at

why they want a king,

verse 19 and 20,

they say,

there shall be a king

so that we may be

like all the nations

and that our king

may judge us

and go out before us

and fight our battles.

But if you look back

at chapter 7,

they had done

exactly the opposite.

They hadn't followed

the pattern

of all the other nations

who were worshipping idols.

They had served

only the Lord.

Chapter 7,

verse 2.

And then when they were

attacked by the Philistines,

it says,

the Lord went out

before them

and the Lord

fought on their behalf

and delivered them

from their enemies.

And then the Lord

provided Samuel

to judge them wisely.

You see,

God had done

everything

that they wanted

this king to do.

God had already

done it

in the past

for them.

And God was willing

to do it again.

But they said,

no,

we want a king.

And they didn't

want to listen.

They didn't want

to listen to Samuel.

They didn't want

to listen to God.

They just wanted

to talk

and repeat themselves

over and over.

The Bible says

there's wisdom

in being quick

to listen

and slow to speak.

That's a question

that all of us

need to ask ourselves.

Am I teachable?

Will I listen

and obey

God's word

even when it's not

what I want to hear?

Will I listen

to older,

wiser,

trusted people

who have shown

their trustworthiness?

Will I stop

and reconsider

if one of them

comes to me

and says,

I'm not sure

what you're doing

is the best course

of action.

Are you open

to reason?

Or do you just

dig in your heels

and start repeating

yourself over

and over

and louder

and louder?

So they demanded

from Samuel

instead of depending

on God,

they spoke

but didn't listen.

And the third thing,

the third issue

with their attitude

was they latched

onto a substitute

instead of

the source.

Verse 8,

the Lord said,

ever since I brought

them up out of Egypt,

they've been forsaking me

and serving other gods.

They're doing

the same thing now.

God had delivered them

because they were

slaves in Egypt

and God had

brought them out

and set them free

and provided for them.

And God says,

what they've done

in return

is they've gone

and latched on

to these other things

as substitutes

for me.

And here,

it was just

the king.

The king became

their god.

The office

or the ideal

of a king

had become

in their mind

the answer

to all of their

problems.

They were just

like the people

back in chapter 4.

A couple weeks ago

we looked at chapter 4

when they were

defeated by the Philistines

in battle.

They said,

let's bring the ark

here

so that the ark

of God

can save us

from our enemies.

And God said,

no.

The ark is meant

to be a symbol

of my presence

with you,

a sign

and a reminder

that I'm with you,

but the ark

isn't a magic box.

I'm not in that

magic box.

And you can't put me

in that box.

And it's not

going to work

if you think

that that box

is going to

protect you.

It can't replace

who I am.

And the people

were doing

the same thing here.

They were

latching on to

not the ark

but here

a king

as the answer

to all their problems

as a substitute

for God.

Is there something

that you really,

really want?

Like the people.

That it's become

a substitute

for God

in your heart

or in your life.

Maybe you're

constantly looking

to be

in a relationship.

And if someone

else questions you

and says,

is this really

the right time

for you to pursue that?

Or,

is that person

really,

is this really

a healthy relationship

or is it,

has it become

codependent?

Or are you really

pointing one another

towards,

God?

Or are you just

sinking more deeply

into each other?

If people ask you

those questions,

you immediately

become defensive

and you say,

no!

I'm going to be

in my relationship

and don't you dare

question me.

Or maybe all your

energies are

focused on

getting into a

certain

grad school program

or landing a

fellowship

or getting a

certain kind of

job.

And you think,

once I get that,

I'll have it

made.

And then I can

worry about

everything else

in my life.

But right now,

that's what I'm

focused on.

You know,

the ladder

just keeps going

up and up.

And you think

you see the top

and then you get

there and you

realize there's a

bunch of people

further up.

And even when you

get to the top,

then you have to

worry about how

long can you

stay there.

and if that's

the one thing,

if that's the one

thing that you

focus all your

life around,

you can never

be completely

satisfied.

You can never be

fully secure.

No, none of

these things are

bad in themselves.

Relationships

are good.

God meant us to

be in community

with each other.

God provided

marriage as a

good thing.

God calls us to

pursue friendships

in all kinds of

different ways.

God gives us the

opportunity to work.

That's a blessing

from God.

That's a good thing.

It's worth pursuing.

But when it

becomes a substitute

for God,

when it becomes

that one thing

that defines you

more than everything

else,

and that one thing

that you're always

thinking about,

that's always in the

back of your mind,

and that's driving

you,

then it's become

a substitute

instead of the

source.

And Samuel warned

the people.

Substitutes end

in slavery.

Samuel said,

you think this

king is going to

fix all your

problems,

but you don't

realize he's

going to create

all kinds of

new problems

that you haven't

even thought of.

Notice what he

says about what

the king's going

to do.

Verse 10

through 19.

Verse 10

through 18.

He said,

a king will

take,

take,

take,

take.

He'll take

your sons.

He'll take

your daughters.

He'll take

a 10%

of your grain

and the best

of your fields

and vineyards.

He'll take

from you

and keep

on taking.

And he says,

finally,

you'll be his

slaves.

You'll be just

like it was

all the way

back in Egypt,

except this time

you chose it

for yourselves.

others.

And if a

relationship

or if work

or whatever

else,

a good thing,

if it becomes

your God,

it will just

start to take

and take

and take

and take

until it

leaves you dry

and broken

and you become

a shell of who

you once were.

you've come

to that place.

Maybe you've

been there.

Maybe you are

there.

You've latched

on to something,

hoping to find

life in it,

thinking this is

what I really,

really want,

and you've got

it.

And you end

up in slavery.

Maybe you lose

it.

And you feel

like you don't

have anything.

And you cry

out and you

wonder if

anybody will

hear you.

You know,

there's good

news in this

passage.

Samuel warned

the people of

what would

happen.

He warned

them what you

want isn't

really what you

need.

You know,

if you keep

reading in the

Bible, the

good news is

God doesn't

just say no to

them and leave

it at that.

He doesn't just

give them what

they want.

Ultimately,

God provides

what we need.

God told

Samuel, listen,

obey their

voice and make

them a king.

Some ways it's

surprising.

With all the

warnings about it,

God seems to

give in to their

demand.

But God had

always planned to

carry out his

purposes through a

king.

And so God chose

to work through

their flawed and

wrong motives for

his ultimate good

purposes.

You know,

sometimes God

refuses to give

us what we

demand, what we

want, out of his

love for us.

To protect us

from getting

entangled and

enslaved in

something that we

latch onto too

much.

Sometimes God

gives us what we

ask for.

He says, okay,

this is what you

want, I'll give it

to you.

And then I'll show

you that that's not

really what you

need.

And it's not really

what's going to

satisfy you in the

end.

And I'll let you

have it because you

so deeply want it.

I'll let you have

it.

But in the end,

I'll bring you to

see that it's me

that you really

want.

And it's me that

you really need

more than anything

else.

They got a king.

But you know

what?

Their hopes that the

king would save

them and do

everything for them

and fix all their

problems were

disappointed over and

over.

If you read the rest

of the Old Testament,

many of the kings

failed.

They all fell

short.

They got what

they wanted.

And then they

realized that what

they wanted wasn't

what would satisfy

them deep down.

But God didn't

give up on them.

And he doesn't

give up on us.

He always had a

plan to give

them what they

really needed.

And what they

really needed was

for the Lord

himself to be

their king.

Not a king like

all the kings of

all the other

nations who would

take and

take and take

but a king like

God himself

who would give

and give

and give.

And ultimately

that's why God

sent his one and

only son Jesus

Christ into the

world.

Not to come to

us and take and

take and take and

demand

but to give

and give and

give.

all the way to

the end.

Jesus said the

son of man

referring to

himself came

not to be

served but to

serve and to

give his life as

a ransom for

many.

as we sung

as we sung

about how Jesus

paid it all

how he laid

down his life

on the cross

he gave himself

for us

that's the kind

of king

that we really

want

that we really

need

a king

a leader

who deserves

our full

loyalty and

allegiance

who is

sacrificially

committed to

us

even to the

point of

giving up

his own

life.

That's what

Jesus did.

That's why he

deserves our

full loyalty and

our full

allegiance

more than

anything else

because he's the

source.

He's not a

substitute

that's going to

end up in

slavery.

He's the

source

who gives us

life.

tonight we're

going to

celebrate

what we call

communion

which is

simply

reminding us

of the

sacrifice that

Jesus made

how he gave

his life

for us

so that

everyone

who turns

to him

and trusts

in him

and says

Jesus

I want

you

to be

my king

the promise

is that

everyone who

does that

receives

forgiveness

of all of

our sins

and life

now and

forever with

God.

So that's

what we come

to celebrate

and remember

that God

provided for

us what we

really really

needed

and he doesn't

always give us

what we think

we want

but he does

give us what

we need.

So as we

prepare to do

that let's

pray.

Lord

our hearts

are often

fickle

we want

all kinds

of things

and we

think we

know what

we need

but often

Lord

we are so

short sighted

and we see

all of the

potential

and none

of the

danger

and we

latch on

to good

things that

you've made

good gifts

from you

but we

neglect you.

Lord

forgive us.

I pray

that we

would

listen to

you

and receive

from you

and trust

in you

with all

our hearts.

Thank you

Lord that

you're a

king like

nobody else.

Lord you

didn't come

to take

and take

and take

because you

already had

everything.

Everything

was already

yours.

You came

to give.

You came

to give

your life

for us

and we

thank you

for that.

Help us

be shaped

by what

you've done

for us.

In Jesus

name we

pray.

Amen.