1 Samuel 8 - We Want a King Like the World

alright let's open our Bibles tonight First Samuel Chapter eight we're gonna continue out through our favorite book of the Bible these historical books are narrative written I think I've mentioned that to you a lot but that all that means is you get stories from the Lord and and everything that he wants you to know is in it and so your lessons are drawn from the story well what if I was standing there what if I was going through this what if I was faced with these things how would I respond what would the Lord want me to do and so the most people enjoy narrative books the most because that's kind of the way you approach them is the book of the book of Acts is written that way all of the historical books in the Old Testament are written that way as well the Gospels somewhat are written that way the epistles are no way written that way they're all very doctrinal so we're gonna be in these historical books for quite some time these four two books first and second Samuel they start with Samuels birth he was the last judge maybe to 1100 BC or so we're gonna go forward a hundred and thirty years through the reign of King Saul the the life of Samuel before that and then the reign of David almost to the end of day of his life about 970 or so so tonight we're all the way at chapter 8 I let me go really quickly over what we've looked at so far as far as time wise the first couple of chapters covers Samuels birth his mom had no had no children and cried every year while she went to worship there before the Lord and asked God for a child and the answers didn't come every year to Shiloh three times a year for a week no answer and eventually she began to pray differently Lord rather than just a child so that I can you know be fulfilled I want to give this child to you to serve you and that really was all that the Lord was looking for and after many years of crying that following year she had a child she she promised she'd bring them to the tabernacle to serve the Lord she weaned him for three or four years and then delivered him to the high priest who happen to be Eli at the time was a good priest not a very good father in fact his sons created havoc in the place of worship and it actually turned the people away from coming to worship the Lord they were stealing money they were sleeping with the women they were throwing their weight around it was just about as horrible as it get heel I didn't do anything about that and and that would eventually be his downfall in Chapter three Samuel is 13 or so God comes to speak to him in his heart for the first time he hears God's voice he learns to discern God's voice he he's allowed for the first time to to respond to what the Lord tells him and God tells him that if Eli doesn't get his act together with his family that'll be the downfall of his of his ministry of there won't be anyone following into the throne you know to the place of a high priest if you will and he delivers the bad news to a man that he respected and looked up to as and yet he's just a teenager when you get to the end of chapter 3 into the first part of chapter 4 we get the tone for the next 25 years there's nothing in the narrative except to tell us that during those years God began to faithfully speak to his people again during the time of the judges that was unusual because so often the people weren't listening but God brought Samuel and he he laid out for them the will of God and after you know 25 years of that Samuel now in his late 30s the children of Israel rather than responding decided well the Philistines who are our enemies you know have been defeating us and the reason they are winning is they have a God they can carry into battle and we aren't carrying ours so let's go get the Ark let's put it on our shoulders let's go March out with our God and then we should win and instead of when they were slaughtered thousands of people died the ark was stolen Israel went home and defeat all the years of ministry of Samuels seemed to have just gone by the wayside he had been faithful but there hadn't been any repentance or any turning to the Lord in chapter 4 and 5 were told of that battle or those battles the stealing of the Ark and all and how that the Lord and then in in first of all teaching his people that he wasn't an idol he was a Living God he now has to deal with the Philistines who looked at this Ark as you know an idol and so the Lord began to send Cygnus sickness through all over the five especially the five major cities of the Philistines and it wasn't but seven months later that the Philistines kind of collectively voted to send this thing back to Israel and which they did miraculously so they were God made it sure that they knew that he was the Lord by the time we get to chapters six and seven we find that the people after years of wandering devoted themselves again to the Lord that it was like the message of samba for a little while got through and so he met with them they made a new vow as a nation to the Lord God began to deliver them from the from the Philistines and the place that they had lost thousands of men in battle years before they were able to return to now with God's help and find victory and for a time you know it God kept his Israel safe the Philistines didn't incur themselves into the land and and and God's people lived as they should protected by him and overseen by his spirit and by his work by the time you get to the end of chapter 7 and and by the way all you're told there is that that for the next many years the only thing that we know about is Samuel continue to do what he'd been doing for years he had a circuit that he would preach he would go to me every part of the nation of Israel holding fast God's Word and holding it out to them God continue to give them victory and for a time other than that tour are we again see 20 25 years passing without any comment and by the time we get to chapter 8 we now find Samuel to be an old guy so the Lord's giving us a little bits and pieces so we can kind of put the story together and and think about how that applies to us by the time we get to chapter 8 and you might remember in chapter 6 verse 1 it said that the ark was seven months in the hands of the Philistines in chapter 7 verse 2 that it was 20 years in the land before anyone really took notice in chapter 8 verse 1 we will read now when Samuel was old and it's the word for old he's now you know in his 70s or greater and that's where we start tonight we're just going to look at one chapter tonight chapter 8 it it's a sad chapter again as we follow God's people and then God's prophet to tell them what they shouldn't and might be doing what they should have done and we get to see that there's always this temptation for God's people to look around and want to be more like the world rather than to please the Lord and you find that to be so here that there's a greater influence at least for them from surrounding them than there is from from the God that they should have by now be convinced stuff and I guess that happens to us too you know we know what God wants but we'd like to be like everyone else and yet we're not God's called us out of the world right we belong to him so the lesson is is pretty straightforward we want a king just like the world we want to be just like the world we want to function just like the world when they had every advantage in the world every battle that they fought that they won that's recorded was because the Lord was with him every battle that they lost that's recorded was because they went with without it and yet now they want a protection from the world rather than I think I'll just get a shirt that says I belong to the Lord that they decided not to do so let's start verse 1 it says this now it came to pass when Samuel was old and like I said 25 years or so maybe longer passed between these two chapters again the the the explanation of what Samuel was doing is back in verse 15 of the last chapter that he judged Israel all the days of life and he wanted a circuit to just share God's Word so it came to pass when Sammy was old that he made his sons to be judges over Israel the name of his firstborn son was Joel the name of his second born son was Abijah and they were judging in bear Sheva but his sons did not walk in his way as they turned away after dishonest gain and they took bribes and they preferred a perverted justice I think the names that Samuel gives to his boys tells you his hope for them those are pretty godly name's Joel means God is or Jehovah is my god a Bahji means Jehovah is my father so no doubt Samuel commitment to the Lord is seen in the names that he gives to his boys they eventually get a job in the government of Israel if you will they are given a work in the southerly border town of their shaiva we've taken our groups to bear shave a couple of times it is in the middle of nowhere today it's kind of down by the by the the Gaza Strip if you will about that far down but but needless to say has a big history samuel did never in his regular circuit according to the last chapter go down that far so he did have some representation from his boys there and they took administrative positions in the government as judges unfortunately they you know got positions that were too much of a temptation for them they were quickly corrupted by their power their decision-making was influenced by bribery and dishonest gain and perverted judgments or if he will pay offs for judgments and so samuel boys this godly man who served all of his life funds that he has a couple son that that fell for the mighty dollar they were moved by and interested in and understand this is the judges time wasn't very easy to well i won't make an excuse for them but let's just say there weren't a lot of you know godliness in the land as a whole jesus had warned years later that be careful of covetousness your life doesn't consist in the abundance of the things that you possess solomon himself when he was led by the holy spirit spoke to his boy in chapter one and he said you know be careful of the ways of greed for gain because it'll take away the life of its own or chapter 1 verse 19 of the book of Proverbs be careful that your life isn't taken away from you because you are driven by greed and so here's samuel boys and they seem to be caught up I suspect that samuel was unaware of their sin like I can't imagine from what we know of Samuel that he would have tolerated it for long he would have taken them out of that position for sure he expected better from them also as Eli was spoken to by the Lord when his boys were running wild and he didn't do anything about it you here that same word coming if you will from the Lord to his prophet Samuel so it is always tragic when your children don't walk with the Lord I would like to tell you that doesn't happen very often the scripture and I'd be lying to you Adam had Cain Noah had ham Isaac had Esau Jacob had room Reuben and Simeon and Levi not exactly doing well Aaron had a by Hugh and in a DAB David had saw Absalom and you make a whole list of fathers who did well that wanted to do have their kids do well and didn't always do well some of them came back around some of them did not but let's just say by the time that Samuel is old and the nation watches they don't want anything to do with his kids they loved him but they didn't really want anything to do with them I think as Christian parents I think there's much direction to be found in just raising your kids in the ways of the Lord and then hanging on to proverbs 22 verse 6 train up a child in the ways that he should go when he goes old he will not depart from it I take it more than a platitude I take it as God's promise so be encouraged parents if that's you in that position I'm sure that Samuels heart broke for his kids especially when he heard from the congregation the the nation that he had been wanting to serve and had been serving all of these the years but needless to say his sons were not doing well though remember dad had given them some godly name has had great hopes for them I'm sure spent lots of time praying for them they weren't doing very well but they were kind of out of sight they were down in the south and kind of away from the centers of life if you will in Israel we read in verse 4 that the elders of Israel then gathered together and they came to Samuel in Ramah verse 17 in the last chapter that's where he lived and they said to him look you are old that's not nice but maybe true yeah that's not nice and and and your sons do not walk in your ways now make us a king to judge us like all of the nations a delegation of elders from Israel came to Samuel towards the end of his life with some requests that probably had been whispered around the nation for years here's their rationale Sammy was not getting any younger and they could depend upon him but he wasn't gonna be around for rich longer his boy certainly weren't cutting it and if you'll jump down to verse 19 and 20 which will be their response in a few minutes to us it'll may be weeks in the context of the story one of the things that they wanted more than anything else is they wanted to be like all of the nations it says there in verse 20 we want a king to be like the nations they didn't want to be like God's people they wanted to fit right in they wanted to to compete if you will they wanted someone to rule that would lead them into battle someone that would replace Samuel who had just been God's voice to them for years really all they needed but they didn't see it that way though they had been you know the Lord had moved Samuel in and for the past probably 50 years you know he was the voice of God to the people the majority of the nation as as I think evidence even by the elders here had not really been moved very much closer to the Lord if you ever feel like your ministry is not going anywhere just read Samuels life or Jeremiah's life or Ezekiel's life you know guys that spend 50 60 years in ministry and seem to have very little to show for it though they faithfully represented the Lord and I'm so telling that to you because when we see Samuel upset you can understand why he might be upset you know he had literally spent his years of life on the road bringing God's Word to to every place that he could get he did it faithfully year in and year out and yet here comes the brain trust of the nation the political in leadership the spiritual leadership and they determined that their best hope for their future was not samuel who was going out was not his kids but they wanted to be updated from their archaic kind of political Constitution their divine government where they had to hear from God all the time and they wanted to get with the tribes or get with the times I should say thinking ahead they were still tribal in their relationships loosely organized hard to get everyone on board you know from a purely political standpoint probably a good idea from a spiritual standpoint horrible idea right this isn't all what God wanted he'd chosen two people and he had proven himself to be their God so we would really like to have a king it would put an end to tribal general jealousy it would unite the tribes it would produce strength for the common good let's face it all of the judges we've had for the last three hundred and fifty years have only had power for a little while they came and they went there was no descendants to judgeships Oh was one person then they were gone there were long intervals between them all of the enemies around us have kings they are running like that except with the exception of the Pharisees they are ruled by five guys and oligarchy if you will you know there are the guys that make all of the decisions if they had a king he could judge the nation he could provide an army we'd be on equal footing we'd be safer in the long run hey Samuel we just like to have you know a king like everybody else now like I said practically and reasonably and without spiritual insight it seems like a great deal of political wisdom but obviously it's not they might have even argued that this wasn't a new idea in fact you will find that God had a plan for a king all along you might remember back in chapter 8 I guess of when Gideon was was the guy that the Lord was using to deliver the people that it was the people that came to Gideon in Chapter 8 they said we'd like you to be our King and Gideon said yeah I don't want to rule over you nor do my sons want a rule over you but I'll tell you what the Lord wants to rule over you but they hadn't really listened to that then and they haven't been listening to it now when the Lord chose Abraham when Israel began as a nation back in Genesis 17 one of the things that the Lord said to Abraham was I'm gonna make you extremely fruitful and I'm gonna make nations come forth from you and Kings will come forth from you as well so God had an intention to give the spiritual people of God an organization that would include you know politically if you will a king and a ruler and an oversight at all I think it was 10 chapters later to Abraham as he's continuing to speak to Abraham he said I'm gonna bless you and your wife and you're gonna have a son and I'm gonna bless her and she's gonna be the mother of many nations and kings of people's shall be coming from her so it's not new that they would ask for that but understand these people are not walking with God and they want to be just like the nation around them I want to be like they are I don't want to be God's people I just want to be like they were when Jacob came to that place of rulership and the Lord made himself known in Genesis I guess chapter 35 or so the Lord said to Jacob I am God Almighty now you go forth and be fruitful and multiply as a nation and a company of Nations will proceed from you and king shall come from your body so God had a plan and the nation might have argued well the Lord had a plan but I guarantee and none of these folks are reading their Bibles because they're just so far away from from God's heart if you go to the law Deuteronomy 17 especially there are whole provisions in the law for when you get a king from the Lord these are the spiritual qualifications you should look for in his life things like no multiplication of horses to try to be strong without God's help don't go back to Egypt from where you came from to get those horses don't get married to a bunch of women don't look to multiply gold and silver for yourself and on and on it goes right a copy of the law down in your own hand read it every day seek to live it out so that you can be God's representative to the people I mean they're very specific that God had a plan God had a choice of its avian I should say of a king but the people weren't being driven by that in fact if they were saw would have never qualified by those standards they just wanted a helper a an overseer in fact the people in their request in these verses almost verbatim quote Deuteronomy 17 verse 14 where the Lord talks about when you come into the land which the Lord will give you and possess it and dwell in it and they begin to say I would like a king to rule over us like the nations all around us then if you're going to get a king do these things and they stopped at the request so can you see the people gathering with Samuel he's old he's been serving you know they're not doing much better for the most part his boys he here is aren't doing very well either hard to get old sometimes Samuel better you make these changes now before it's too late we don't want to deal with your sons they're different than you are before the Lord what do you say huh good idea huh what do you think and we read in verse 6 that the thing which he heard displeased Samuel and when they said give us a king to judge us and so Samuel 1 and he prayed to the Lord the word displeased is a very strong Hebrew word that means to be grieved or to be brought to tears 2 Samuel this was not a people saying we want to line up with the Bible and will God give us the king he's telling us he's gonna send us it was just the people wanting to be like the world around them and so Samuel was was angry he did the right thing he went verses 6 says and prayed to the Lord rather screamed at the people he was slow to speak and quickly here I guess it would appear from the Lord's words to Samuel that he took all of this very personally like he'd been out there just serving and loving and and presenting gee you're not Jesus but to the Lord to the people and they haven't have not grabbed a whole he felt like he'd he hadn't done a very good job over 50 years sharing the wisdom and the care of the Lord and now it wasn't good enough to turn to God we want to replace the Lord with a heathen a king or a king like the heathen Nathan nation's round about so the Lord says in verse 7 2 Samuel just heed or listen to the voice of the people in all that they have said to you they haven't rejected you they've rejected me that I should not rule over them and according to all of the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day with which they have forsaken me and they've served other gods so they are doing to you also God's answered to Samuel is pretty revealing don't take it personal this is not about you this is about me not only that but the Lord said to Samuel this is power for the course in other words this is consistent with their history from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day their life has always been about pursuing false gods having false hopes entertaining false confidences trusting in things other than the Lord Samuel you're the latest casualty is all but it is a people that we've had to deal with and and Samuel was I think sharing in God's grief the Lord said the same thing he couldn't have been happy about it this is always the way that they are the desire for a king would have been good if they had viewed him as one submitted to the ultimate you know King of Kings Lord on high so instead they wanted a king to be like verse 20 of the other nations but look they weren't like the other nations there's a verse in in in Leviticus chapter 20 where the Lord and through that Moses are speaking to the people and he said you are holy to me and I've separated you from all of the people you're mine well that's far different than being like the world and the Lord would say that to us tonight we're his people right well we're in his kingdom we don't see him yet he's not here to rule yet but we you don't want the world you want you want the King of Kings to rule over your life these people the the nation of Israel that God chose God's intention was to make them the light of the world a witness for him a testimony to his love to to let the world see the power of God who loved all men and yet they just wanted to be like other nations verse 20 will say we want a king that will judge us and govern us and settle our disputes and go to war with us we just like a guy we don't want to live by faith they had switched from religious idolatry which was carrying the ark into battle thinking that somehow that was their God - now political hopes right before I was religious idolatry now it's political hopes that somehow the type of government they had would make all of the difference but here's the problem it's not the type of government you have that makes all the difference it's the God that you serve and the God that you trust in so you know you get to Psalm 20 and so some people they trust in chariots and others they trust in horses but we're gonna remember the name of the Lord our God in other words our confidences are different that's what broke Samuels heart and the Lord said that has broken his for for many years Isiah will say in prophecy what are those who go to Egypt looking for help what are those who rely upon their horses or chariots because there are many or the horsemen because they're strong but they won't look to the Holy One of Israel and they won't seek the Lord woe to them so you left some in there for us you know we we have to learn to live by faith but it's so easy to trust it and other things and people and promises in the world and in success foolish but but tempting and I suspect the Lord's heart it feels the same way about that when we we are willing to do that so even though we've skipped you know 25 or 30 years twice in two or three chapters Israel hasn't made much progress they still have the same spiritual problem every time they call upon the Lord he delivered them every time their hearts were humble he helped them every time they repented of their wickedness God spoke I mean just thirty years earlier in Chapter seven you remember they put that that stone out you're with us the ebenezer stone and the word 'even easier means God has brought us this far that was just one generation earlier God's brought us this far we're gonna make it cuz God's with us and now they want a king just like everyone else how we quickly seem to prefer the visible to the invisible right rather have one in the hand and then two by faith the ones that we don't see and faith will leave you in the minority it's not like all the nations round about everybody wants to see and then and count and contrary to all that Samuel had taught them and the example he had set for them living his whole life in faith they weren't willing to do that but we should be willing to do that you know a Moses was what 30 or 40 years old when he came to his senses one time he looked around and he saw where he was living and all the advantages and it says that he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the fit King , because he endured seeing him who was invisible Moses had a not an eye on more spiritual things that's for us isn't it because you look around you go oh man light of the world seems to be falling apart it's not God's in charge and it won't be long before he'll come for us how much more than wealth and status and being Pharaohs son did Moses want and the answer was he wanted eternal riches with God's people but it took a faith that God earmarked to get him to see it we do the same thing today rather than walking with the Lord we want to blame the system we want to blame our boss or our spouse anything but what it is are less than devoted spiritual life back in chapter 4 I think of this book verse 3 the elders felt that they were defeated in battle simply because they didn't have a God with him in battle such a blind spot for their lives unfortunately you know we like them can make decisions without seeking God or his ways and then decide were right because we're smart and God can't you know he can't understand totally what we're going through so we opt for the for the visible rather than the invisible we trust in our bank account we a trucker the promise of a friend you know logic would tell us rather than you know what the Bible says and I stand upon that and I rest upon that we can think we use the best the world has to offer - for the glory of God and we can resort to worldly ways so we can pick it and protest and demand and threaten in Jesus name we're gonna look a lot like the world or we can just really trust God to get us through this life look Israel this nation knew God they knew who he was they knew he had said they knew what he had done and then they got together and went yeah we got a better plan bad idea bad idea so you know God is patient and and I love the the chapter not only because it's a lesson for me to try to trust the Lord are in through everything but also a lesson in God's patience don't you think if you're God at this time you might go that's 400 years I'm tired and just kind of squash him like a bug but I've amazed at watching the Lord you know people say well look how bad things have gotten I wonder why the Lord's not back yet and I want the Lord to come back but but he's always been patient he lets people you know deny his existence and criticize his ways and and question his love and reject his word and he doesn't strike them dead on the spot I and you would probably do different there's that verse in Matthew I think it's chapter 12 that says that that one day you know the judgment of God was coming every idle word that men speak will one day be brought into judgment but not yet so the Lord says to Samuel it's not about you it's about me and this is this is their way of life you've just entered into you know your there's the latest casualty so here's his advice the Lord's to Samuel and verse 9 he said therefore just listen to their voice however you shall solemnly forewarn them show them what the behavior of the king who will rule over them would be and so go tell them that they can have what they want but before you give them what they want shows them what it will cost them so the following verses beginning in verse 10 down through maybe verse 18 or so saw Samuel lays out the consequences of their show charge of their choices right this is this is the the problem and if anything else versus well is that me I don't know wait a minute no idea but if it continues I'll get rid of it verses 10 through 18 paint a pretty interesting picture I want I want you to think about this these verses would say democracy is not the best way to go it's the best thing we know it's the best man has apart from God but there's a better political system than democracy and it's a monarchy it's a theocracy when the Lord comes to rule everything will be just fine it'll be the only workable system of all our democracy as as good as it is I mean if you ever watched the news you know not everything works so well I know that the church chairs Trump on continually we like what he does and yet were embarrassed by his words and even more embarrassed by his actions and wouldn't want anything to do with his public behavior but hey right on bro and and either way doesn't matter I don't care about politics if we walk with God we're better off if we walk with Him right our biblical outlook should seek God's oversight he will never embarrass you ever or fail you so tell them what they're getting themselves into verse 10 so Samuel told all of the words of the Lord to the people who asked for a king and he said this will be the behavior of the king who were real a rule over your reign over you he will take your sons he'll appoint them for his own chariots and his own horsemen and some will run before his chariots he will appoint captain's over his thousands captain's over his 50s will set some to plow his ground reap his harvest and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for the chariots and he will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers he'll take the best of your land your vineyards your olive groves and set them and give them to his servants he'll take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officers and to his servants he will take your male servants your female service your finest young men and your donkeys and put them to his work he'll take a tenth of your sheep and you will be his servants and you will cry out in that day because of your King whom you have chosen for yourself and the Lord will not hear you in that day that's pretty heavy oh come on Lord lie to me if you have to know he tells you the truth there will be draught established for government there will be conscription when it comes to agriculture and to an army the army will not be voluntary it'll be at the Kings discretion you lose your kids and your daughters they'll be forced to make food and and and support services the Kings will take your land from you if he wants them he'll take your family he'll take your servants he'll take whatever he wants because he's going to be the king he's not gonna be interested in you you know you think you're going to get served by him trust me he's gonna use you for himself that sounds political doesn't it yeah it sounds political to me taxing on your crops taxing on your on your games 10% of the administrative cost of the king will be laid upon you forced labor slavery with limited freedom 10% of tax on your livestock pretty soon you won't be feeling like you've been cared for at all is that what you want that's what you're gonna get so give them what they want but warn them what was coming their way and he said in verse 18 when you've lived to regret the decision you've made to be like the other nations and you will sooner or later it'll be too late I won't respond this is what you want I'm gonna give you what you want but but but it's coming with consequence I think fairly rarely in the Bible are the consequences of each decision laid out so clearly oh they're there but but not this directly i if you're if you're voting and the Lord sends you this letter you might go well maybe I don't know right instead the people say in verse 19 and maybe the word is nevertheless of the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said no we will want a king to rule over us that we might be like other nations that are kingly judges and go out before us and fight our battles like a shark that closes his eyes for charging in with his mouth the people close their eyes shut their ears to God's warning sure they were right and he was wrong isn't that something God you don't know what you're talking about it's all doom and gloom with your prophet here that's not all gonna happen to us but you see that's how sin works it lies to you knowing the consequences of their decision was not enough to stop them if it was things could have been different and I would say the same thing does if you know the consequences of your acts and you believe it nobody's smoking today you might have smoked 50 years ago and nobody know better but you pretty well know better now no one's doing cocaine you shouldn't yet in a spiritual sense only God can deliver you from the blindness of sins deception we read this and we think not a big surprise the folks are just bought into this so quickly but but what is that lesson for us then because it's the narrative we got to put ourselves in their shoes what should we be learning how should we be responding what should we do with the information they say in verse 20 well we're gonna take our chances God's Word falls on deaf ears and Samuel is aggrieved again why because he sees where they're headed and he cares about them so he goes back to tell the Lord what has happened verse 21 and Sam you heard all the words of the people and he repeated them in the ears of the Lord and so the Lord said to Samuel well then heed their voice and make them a king and Samuel said to the men of Israel go home go home God they won't listen to me God they don't seem to care I laid it all out like you told me but nothing seems to matter to them but what they want and the Lord said fine then give them what they want the desire to be like the world never pleases the Lord when it's found in this people ever you'll never please God by wanting to be like the world God brought you out of the world right he delivered you from it though he may give you what you want you should know that it isn't always life to get what you want you should want what he wants for you big difference in fact a completely different story here's here's what is written in the Psalms about this this time it says they saved them from the hand of those who hated them and he redeemed them from the hand the enemy and about the the parting of the Red Sea the the waters cover their enemies not one of them was left they believed his words they sang his praises but they soon forgets his work the forgot his works they didn't wait for his counsel they lusted exceedingly in the desert God tested them in the wilderness he gave them their requests sent them leanness into their soul you don't always want to get what you wanted I want to really be careful and pray Lord give me what you want because I have a lot of stuff I'd like to have I would like to do but I think that I think the angel sits at the desk was a check marker no no no but that's good for me it's good for me when Jeremiah was speaking to the Lord about the same thing that people didn't really want to do what God says the Lord said to Jeremiah you know Jeremiah the people have they've committed two great evils they've forsaken me and I'm the fountain of living water and instead they have hewn out for themselves cisterns that are broken and they can hold the water in other word they made the wrong choice I have life to give them they chose to go after some broken you know bottle that isn't gonna be able to hold any life at all same thing here right and same thing can happen to us that God would help us look nobody is forced by God to take his yoke if you'd rather have a heavier one be much obliged my yoke is easy my burden is light he said but these folks were about to strap on something they can't carry so God was angry with his people he as Samuel was as well but he was going to do whatever it took to help them to understand that this wasn't gonna work there's a scripture in Isaiah chapter I don't know Hosea chapter thirteen I think it's verse eleven that says I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath so God was gonna give them what they wanted but he was angry and he was gonna be sure that they learned this wasn't going to work out it's kind of like when they complained in the desert there numbers eleven right about the hatton had meat to eat and the Lord brought all the quail in and they they dole on it like they hadn't eaten in years and it said well the meat was still between their teeth before they'd even chewed it the the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people and a great plague came a lot of people died shoving their food in their mouths well finally got meat yeah and you died God God will give you what you want sometimes only to find out you didn't want that at all pretty good evidence of that in this chapter laid out so clearly for for literally half the the chapter this is what you're gonna get this is what you want this is what you're looking forward to it kind of reminds me of the of the the prodigal son who was just sure his way of life would work give me my inheritance and the father said you know this is not gonna work out oh you don't know what you're talking about old guy and off he went partying it up spring break every day for a year didn't listen to the pleadings of his father or the warnings of his father who gave those warnings to him in love so he learned the hard way he came home when he decided eating slop with the pigs was really not his idea of a good time didn't think his dad would love him as a son again hoped he could get a job as a servant found out God has greater love than that but that was the same driving force behind it and I think that's our one of our big problems do we think we know better don't we we think we know better than God but we don't we don't God will permit foolish demands because headstrong people need to learn by experience and by the way one of the best teachers in the book experience hey you know you shouldn't hit yourself in the head with a hammer you know I did that don't stick your hand in the so I did that idiots we wouldn't you rather just read it experiencing I don't know the tuition for learning by experience is very high sometimes you can't afford the tuition but one of the best ways to discuss men with their own folly is to have the experience in fact I would say that the primary lesson of the book of ecclesiastes is that if you don't believe God then go find out that he's right live it out and then you go this stinks you're right it does so it's the same principle that by the way that God uses for church discipline there's a lot of Bible verses that talk about you know people in the church that aren't walking good and walking with the Lord when Paul wrote to Timothy he said in Ephesus Timothy went there to pasture he said now you know those two guys hymenaeus and Alexander just so you know I delivered them to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme what he meant was I put him back out in the world kept him out of the church so that they could learn out there that this is no place to live and you know it's the same concept you go taste and see and when he just retired of it and then you come back same thing in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 so I think it's better to go God's way rather than the hard way that's all I'm thinking hards way God's Way isn't it so you get two choices tonight God's Way hard way pray forgive mercy love hard way fruit of the Spirit hard way God's Way amen look God intended to give them a king all along he didn't want them to stand out he wanted them to be a witness the sinful request from them did not change God's plans he wanted for them all along the things that they were wanting in their flesh Paul saw was the people's choice he looked good he was tall you ever hear from people that go hey would you vote for I just worded for the good-looking guy yeah that's pretty much what they were doing they didn't know any of the issues David would be the Lord's choice but he was a man after God's own heart so God will allow you be stubborn will not fort your plans we'll sit back and watch you blow up if necessary because sometimes the hard way is the only way you can learn which is the reason the door is always open he's new these mercies new every morning when you're ready to be right he'll be right just wait he's waiting but I think if you have to right you know I'm real big on learning chapters lessons rather than verses like I'm bad at remembering verses but I'm good at with chapters and and here's a chapter we want a king like the world and the lesson should be very clear you can go the Lord's way or the hard way Lord's way the hard way which one you can pick yeah let's do that shall we Father we thank you tonight as we sit together that there is a way of life that you have provided for us and then there is certainly a whole bunch of alternatives ways of the world the way that the world does it the way that we see it around us and yet you call this out of the world we're not of the world anymore we're in it but we don't belong to it this is not our home we're just passing through everything in the world the flesh the devil is not of the Lord it's not the way of God or certainly our politics aren't gonna save anybody but the gospel can and the church walking with God as their king can as well may your word Lord Drive us may it be the the lynchpin upon which our decisions are made and and and the direction in which our life will go and the choices that we will make every time we want to go where God goes and and and we we think of old Samuel broken-hearted 50 years of ministry so little to show for his own boys just running in the direction that no one really wanted to be involved with and the people not wanting to listen to even his warnings he seemed to have done so little but yet he'd been so faithful and may you teach us that that accomplishment in our life is first and foremost a faithfulness to you and then you'll use us as you see fit but may you remind us tonight as we watch the nation of Israel look around and want to be more like the like the Pharisees I mean the Philistines more like like the ammonites more like the mo of Iceland more like all of the different heights around them and less like the God that delivered them who mentioned even at the end here since the day I brought them out of Egypt they've always gone down this road may we not be so hard-headed so slow to learn may we not have a track record of always picking the hard way make tonight Lord we pick your way may we decide to go your way so that we can find your blessings your hand because you're our King you're our Lord we belong to your kingdom and one day when you come to gather your own we're gonna be gathered together with them because we belong to you look the good news for you that are here tonight that don't know the Lord is the Lord knows you and more than anything else he wants you to know him it's an amazing thought but God the God of the Bible wants to be known by his creation he wants to keep you from the foolish ways of life that you can pick watching the news or following the latest poll or or joining the latest Club in college he wants to know you and have you know his heart his love his forgiveness his mercy and sending his son to die for your sins in mine that if we will just call upon the name of Jesus will be saved and God will give a spirit to live within us - to guide us to strengthen us to assure us to show us who he is have you given him your life of you received the Lord into your life and if not will you do that tonight come and pray with one of the pastors invite the Lord into your heart he will come with joy you're his inheritance you're his concern you're his reward he wants you to belong to him his will is to bless what we fight with even as Christians is our will so often is in conflict with his and then we choose our ways over his and only years later sometimes wonder why we were so foolish may we do things your way Lord the the Lord's way and may you help those tonight that need to get saved or come back to you in a big way to do just that touch them Lord deliver them forgive them wash them renew them even as we look to you tonight thank you that you're our King tonight we bow our knees before our king and we worship you thank you lord thank you that you're the Lord in our life shall we stand together sing this last song be to our God before we go home tonight

Channel: morningstarcc

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Length: 51min 39sec (3099 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2019