“Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Sure, God had predicted that phrase nearly word-for-word to Moses so many years before, but that didn’t make it any less hurtful that His own people fulfilled His words when they decided His way wouldn’t work for them. They needed to be like the people around them. Give them what they want, God told Samuel, “for they have not rejected you, but have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7)
The rejection came on multiple levels – They decided they wouldn’t trust Him to lead them. They didn’t even think to ask Him if appointing a king was something they should do. They didn’t ask for His guidance in picking a king. They simply told Samuel to pick a king for them without considering what God would want. They ignored what He had told their fathers so long before, warning them what kings would do (Deuteronomy 17:16-17, fulfilled completely by Solomon in 1 Kings 10:23-11:3).
In wanting what everyone else had, they forgot that they already had what none of those other nations ever did. They were like a man living in a mansion becoming envious of all of his neighbors who lived in tents. They were like a man fed up with his steak and lobster because he’s tired of watching those around him eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without him. They were like… well, us.
When Christians who have been blessed with God’s presence in their lives look at the people around them and say, “We need what they have,” we reject God the same way Israel did. We tell Him He’s not good enough to satisfy us. Consider the ways we tell God we’re going to give up His provision to put our trust in human abilities instead.
In our churches. You know what’s difficult? Going and making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that He commanded. You know what’s easy? Turning the church into a buffet, furnished with all the programs a person might need that might magnetically pull them into the church based on what they feel like they might need. It’s not wrong to provide services to help build people up, but it is wrong to replace the hard work commanded of God’s people with an “easy way out” form of outreach.
How many elders, preachers, and members have surveyed the megachurches around them and said “We need to be like them”? It’s not just the churches that rely on entertainment or going against God’s plan for worship or leadership that are guilty of this, though. Any church that thinks the church growth strategy of providing programs until people finally find one they like is the way to grow in place of the hard work of the great commission has chosen a new king, namely man’s wisdom.
In our homes. Israel was concerned about their security. They often went to war with the people around them, and they wanted a mighty, strong leader to represent them. They got their man in Saul, described as being head and shoulders taller than any of his countrymen (1 Samuel 9:2). And yet they failed to realize that it didn’t matter how tall or strong their king was, he could never make them more secure than they were when they were obedient to God.
So many times in the home, a different kind of security is the key motivating factor for life’s decisions – financial security. Parents push their children toward earthly success at the expense of their relationships with God. “Sure, he might have to miss every Sunday in the summer for baseball and every Wednesday in the fall for basketball, but he needs that scholarship!” “No, she couldn’t make it to Bible class this week, she has to study to keep her grades up.” Families observe as the people around them serve the king of material success and say, “We want that king, too!” Matthew 6:25-34 and Psalm 37:25 tell us that we need never worry because God takes care of His own. If you’ve traded a King who has never failed in His promise to take care of His people for the king of American “success,” it’s time for a regime change.
In our daily lives. As I was getting my hair cut recently, the barber was telling me of his kids’ involvement in church activities and how active his daughter is at her college’s campus ministry. I remarked on how that’s good to hear because most people get too busy for that stuff when they get to college. His reply was perfect: “Yeah, but they’re never too busy to do what they really want to do.” Exactly. It’s really easy to say that we didn’t study our Bible enough or set aside time for prayer regularly each week because of how much we have going on, but we always seem to have time for the 3 hour football games, our favorite TV shows, shopping, or whatever our hobbies are.
How we prioritize our time tells us exactly who is king of our lives. We can recognize what God has given us and be content in serving Him with our choices, or we can look at how much “fun” the world around us is having without stopping for God and decide we’re going to serve that same king of busyness. I’ve often found myself looking for things to do to occupy my time so I can keep blaming busyness for my lack of time with God, and maybe you have, too. It all comes down to a choice we make each day. Who is king of my life today, God or my personal pursuits and hobbies? We can look at Israel and point out their mistakes and question why they would want a king, but we don’t hold any moral high ground over them as we continue to supplant God’s rule in our lives with the kings of the worldly people around us.
The people of Israel forgot the role God played for them as their king and protector. They looked to Samuel and realized he wouldn’t always be there for them, and so they began to notice how the nations around them operated. They fell for the classic mistake of thinking the grass was greener on the other side of the fence, that the other nations were better off with what they were doing than Israel was in following God’s leadership. So, they modeled “their side of the fence” after the other nations. A quick reading of Psalm 23 tells us that the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence, the grass is always greenest where God leads us. They didn’t trust in His providence for their lives, and they paid the consequences. In our churches, our homes, and in our personal lives, we have the same choice to make. Who is king of your life?
By Jack Wilkie