Kings come from Judah. 1 Samuel 16.7
Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Samuel-Chronicles (1)
Pray Psalm 17.1-3.
Hear a just cause, O LORD,
Attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
Let my vindication come from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.
You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Sing Psalm 17.1-3.
(Park Street: All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name)
Hear a just cause, O God the LORD! Gladly receive my plaintive word.
I cry with lips of purity: Look on my case with equity!
Look on my case with equity!
Let judgment from Your throne proceed; You have discerned my every need.
Let naught of sin in me be found, and from my tongue let truth resound!
And from my tongue let truth resound!
Read 1 Samuel 8.1-7; 10.17-24;16.7; meditate on 1 Samuel 16.7.
Preparation
1. What did Israel want Samuel to do?
2. What were the people looking at as qualities of a king?
Meditation
In this installment of our series, “Jesus throughout the Scripture”, we will be looking at 6 books and a long sweep of Old Testament history. But our focus will be on kings and their work. That should already suggest how much of this part of Scripture invites us to look ahead to the coming of the King of kings.
We begin with Saul. The people had a good idea, one which God had anticipated and laid out the parameters for in Deuteronomy 17.14-20. Israel could have a king, but in this case, God could see that, while their idea was good, their hearts were wrong and thus their approach to naming a king would be disastrous.
The people’s desire was not to be better prepared to serve the Lord but to be like the other nations (1 Sam. 8.5). Right away we know that’s not right. But that’s what we do so often in the church, isn’t it? We want to be like the surrounding culture so that people from that culture will be more likely to drift into our pews.
To them, the best man was the tallest. God knew their desire, which is why He prepared the way for their folly, 1 Sam. 10.17-24. The people should have desired a king from the line of Judah (Gen. 49.6-8). But they weren’t interested in what Scripture said, only in what they wanted. This was the period of judges, after all.
Just as the people in Jesus’ day. The Jews under Roman occupation were looking for a mighty conquering king to deliver them from their oppressors—a king who had a heart for war. But God sent them a King with the purest heart ever, a heart for peace—Shiloh, our Lord Jesus. He wasn’t what they were looking for, however, because they were not looking according to God’s Word. They had worldly hearts. What about us?
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Samuel had two bad sons, whom he set as judges in the land of Israel. They were bad because they chose to be, not because Samuel had raised them poorly. “But his sons did not walk in his ways” (1 Sam. 8.1-3).
The people clamored for a king because they didn’t like Joel and Abijah; but this was merely an excuse, for none of the people acted in a godly fashion. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdgs. 21.25). Mainly, they just wanted to be like everybody else (1 Sam. 8.5).
This provoked these words from God, meant to comfort the heart of Samuel, yet showing the total depravity of the heart of man: “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” (1 Sam. 8.7).
“I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you. But you have today rejected your God, Who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’” (1 Sam. 10.18, 19).
And history repeated itself with Jesus: Pilate said to the clamoring crowds, “‘Behold your King!’
But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’” (Jn. 19.14, 15).
Jesus, The ultimate King, said to His disciples, “He who hears you hears Me; he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him Who sent Me” (Lk. 10.16).
When we contemplate our own lives, do we ever clamor for another king?
Do we find ourselves longing to be just like everybody else?
Do we want our churches to be more user-friendly?
More lenient? More up to date with the times?
Or do we long to do everything God’s way (Ex. 20.1-17; Matt. 22.37-40)?
Have we completely misunderstood what true worship entails?
Do we see others through the world’s eyes (1 Sam. 10.24)?
Or do we see them through God’s eyes (1 Sam. 16.7)?
Do we like our leaders because they are tall and good looking?
Or maybe because they are related to just the right Christian superstar?
Do we show partiality to “fame”? Or wealth?
Or do we look to Jesus Christ as The King, The Only Savior, and The Supreme Example
of all we long to be and do
“If then you were raised with Christ,
seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above,
not on things on the earth.
For you died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3.1-3).
Right idea. Right approach.
Reflection
1. What does it mean for us to confess Jesus as our King?
2. How can you resist the pull of the culture that wants to draw you away from the things of God?
3. Whom will you encourage today to remain steadfast in following the Lord Jesus?
[T]he Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. His anointing was not an empty ceremony, a Divine power went with that instituted sign; he found himself advanced in wisdom and courage, with all the qualifications of a prince, though not advanced in his outward circumstances. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on 1 Samuel 16.6-14
Pray Psalm 17.4-9, 15.
Pray that God will keep you from all sin, that He will hear and answer your prayers throughout the day, fill you to overflowing with His kindness, and make you more like Jesus today.
Sing Psalm 17.4-9, 15.
(Park Street: All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name)
As for the deeds of sinful men, I will not walk those paths again.
My feet hold firm from first to last: Help me to walk Your righteous path,
help me to walk Your righteous path!
When I have called, You answered me, LORD; hear now my fervent, seeking word!
Let kindness flow by Your command. Keep and preserve me by Your Right Hand,
keep and preserve me by Your Right Hand.
Treasure me in Your holy eye; shelter me from a troubling sky.
Around me all my enemies eagerly would despoil me,
eagerly would despoil me.
But as for me, LORD, save and bless! Let me behold Your righteousness.
Your face in glory I would see, and thus forever blessèd be,
and thus forever blessèd be.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
