April 07, 2014 - Monday

Start Time: 6:34 A.M.

End Time: 6:54 A.M.

Title: Israel Asks for a King

Scripture: 1 Samuel 8:1 – 22

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.^[a] 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 follow 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 follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead^[b] us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.  Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

NOTES:

Ø God’s appointed leader represents God, when we reject the appointed leader, we reject God; when we honor the appointed leader, we honor God!  Many times, we treat others as if they are not important and even the respect we give to our leaders because we think that our ultimate leader is God not man.  Yet God chooses a man to represents Him in many situations.  As Jesus said, the least thing we do to our brothers, we do to Him.  So we have to be mindful of how we treat our God-appointed leaders, for they are a representation of the Lord.  Let us give honor and respect to the Lord by giving them to His appointed leaders.

→ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.  Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.  He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.  He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”  When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord.  The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

NOTES:

Ø God listens to us even when our requests are unnecessary or doesn’t make any sense!  God knows the heart of His people and even when at times our desires are insulting or disrespectful to our Lord, He still listens to it and hear us.  And the same as what He did in this passage, HE gave the desire of His people even when the requests clearly rejects Him as their King.  The Lord is our King and He is our ruler, yet many times, we seek to find guidance from people or human or anyone with authority, we didn’t think of what God may feel when we seek for someone else’s counsel when He is available to give His.  Still, because of God’s love and grace for us, He gives in to our desire.  What an amazing love He has for us!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Thank You because You always seek to give us what’s best for us, even if it means hurting You.  Lord thank You because in every leader You appoints to us, he represents You, which gives us an opportunity to do good and please You in a tangible way.  Thank You Lord that You hear our cries and sees our hearts.  Thank You because You are willing to give in to my request even in times, it means me not satisfied with You only.  Sorry Lord for hurting You.  I pray that You will show me joy and love and peace in You presence at all times so I may not seek for more or beyond what is only necessary for me.  Open my eyes Lord for Your goodness daily and let me understand the importance of always focusing on You and not on men.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!