2018-10-21T08:00:00-05:00
22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
The opening of 1 Samuel 8 sounds familiar. When the passage was read this past Sunday, I thought: “Didn’t we just do this a few weeks ago, I know how this story goes: a leader has become old and sets his wicked sons up to follow in his footsteps, but God is working behind the scenes to prepare another man to take his place.”
The reader should remember that this was the exact environment that the LORD used to raise up Samuel (1 Samuel 2-3). However, this time when the elders looked around and saw the wickedness of the new judges, they wanted to take matters into their own hands. Either 1) they were not willing to wait to see what and how the LROD would provide. Or 2) they could not see what the LORD was doing, and maybe they forgot about the ways that he provided for them in the past. One timeline I found suggests that it had been nearly 50 years since the LORD graciously provided Samuel to the people in the place of Hophni and Phinehas. Either way, they wanted something visible, measurable, and comprehensible. They did not want to, or felt that it was unwise, to trust and wait. Thus, they chose their own king.
The desire of the elders for a king was not forbidden. Nevertheless, this desire was clearly a rejection of God being king over them (1 Samuel 8:7) and a lack of trust in His provision and promise. Moses prophetically established rules to govern a king for the young nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Of note in that section is that the king is not to acquire many horses, wives, or silver, and he is to read the law of the LORD all of days of his life that he “may not be lifted up above his brothers.”
We know the LORD is sovereignly preparing a king after His own heart who will lead the people well, but this new king hasn’t been born yet. The elders were not willing to wait to see what the LORD would do and took matters into their own hands. The unwillingness to trust in the LORD results in great cost.
Through prayer, the LORD reveals to Samuel that the king they set up will take from the people. He will not follow the rules laid out by Moses: “he will take your sons… he will take your daughters… he will take the best of your fields… he will take the tenth of your grain… he will take your male servants… donkeys… he will take the tenth of your flocks.” Ultimately, Samuel says “and you shall be his slaves” (1 Samuel 8:17). If we put our trust in any ruler, power, or authority other than the sovereign king, it will enslave us.