KNOW THE KING

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. From year to year, he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord.

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

1 Samuel 7:14-17, 8:1-5

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the first part of 1 Samuel, chapter 7, we find the people of Israel confessing and repenting as they turned back to the Lord who in turn granted them victory and deliverance from the Philistines. After this, Samuel, who had interceded for them at Mizpah, carried out duties as judge “all the days of his life”, going “on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah” every year before always returning to his home in Ramah where he built an altar to the Lord.

Well, as the years passed, Samuel grew old and “appointed his sons as judges for Israel” but unfortunately, just as we saw with Eli, the sons were nowhere near like their father. For we read where Joel and Abijah didn’t walk in Samuel’s ways or put another way, they chose not to walk in the ways of the Lord. The scriptures tell us that they went after “dishonest gain…accepted bribes and perverted justice”…sinful behavior that didn’t sit well with the elders of Israel for we read them going to Samuel at Ramah with the following ultimatum:

“You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

Here we find the elders clearly communicating that they were unsatisfied with their leadership, yearning for new authority to rule them but there was one problem. They thought this would come from a man, not the Lord who had already shown He was with and for them.

For as the elders of Israel expressed the desire for a human king, they did so forgetting that they already had a King (capital K)…a King more powerful than any other king on earth…the King of all kings. And it wasn’t as if their King had been in hiding. Rather, He (the Lord)  had been on the battlefield with His people bringing them victory…most recently over the Philistines.

How quickly they forgot.

Yes…Israel had a King…One who would always lead and guide them into right and righteous living…One who would always protect them…One who would always remain faithful to them and provide for their needs. He was there for them if they would have just turned to Him instead of going to Samuel. Surely, He would have reminded them who He was and let them know it wasn’t His will for them to have a king like the other nations around them.

But they went to Him and so we’ll see as things play out that they get their kings and how those kings will eventually lead to the destruction of the nation.

Friends, we need to learn from this mistake made by the people of Israel. For too often, we think we know what we need in life and will go to great lengths to try and acquire things without first seeking whether the Lord wants us to have them. Like the Israelites, we forget that we have a King who wants to rule and reign over our lives…One who will always lead and guide us to live righteously…One who will always seek to shield and protect us…One who will always remain faithful to us and provide for our needs.

He, the Lord, is there for us all the time. All we need to do is turn to Him.

Do you know your King?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.