Read: 1Samuel 8:6-22, 12:16-25
Intro
Singing about J being King – reign – kingdom – comfortable to us.
 When Israel was founded, God was their King – leader – protector Theocracy.
 History: After Moses – Joshua - Judges – Samson – leaders – rescuers –
but never a King. Why? God was their King.
 Today, J is King – one day soon coming again – visible reign on Earth –
every knee bow - every tongue confess - forever Lord of Lords & King of
Kings.
o Started – end with God/Jesus as King.
o Middle: we want another king – rejected God. Spectacular sin. God
– b/c he has a massive, overarching plan – used that sin to glorify J.
Why was it so bad to want a King?
8:11-17 – This is what the king who reigns over you will do
 take take take.
 What does J do? Give.
8:7 – They have rejected me.
 Knowing it was rejecting God – and with all the warnings –
8:19 We want a king over us - rebellion
 What do we call that – depose one King & choose another:
o Treason. Give us a King who can fight our battles for us.
8:20 Then we shall be like all the other nations
 Want to be like everyone else – hearts.
So why does God allow this spectacular sin to occur? Why does he allow a
human king of Israel? He allows this sin to occur – doesn’t stop iti.
To show us that we are just as bad as idolatrous Israel
How many times do we do just that? Depose our King - God and his ways, and
choose our own instead? ii
 I wonder: Did they realize? If you asked them, “are you rejecting God?”
I’m pretty sure they would have said no. But in effect that’s what they did
– because they were asking someone else to do what only God could do
for them.
 Only God could be their authority – leader - saviour – someone to adore –
worship. Only God can be/do those things.
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When we make an idol out of money, relationship, power, success, control,
food, clothing, TV, personality – anything – when those things become bigger
than God in our lives – we’ve made a god out of them.
 When we make anything more important than God, when there is
anything that absorbs our affection and imagination more than God,
when we ask anything to give you us what only God can giveiii - it is a god
of our own making. We’ve fashioned something in our own imagination
and bowed down to it. We’ve taken something finite and made it greater
than the infinite YHWH.
 John Calvin famously said “The human heart is a factory of idols”iv
meaning that there is something deeply ingrained in our nature that longs
to worship – something higher than us – something to bring us happiness,
worth, value, meaning, purpose, joy, peace, comfort. We all want that.
o Problem: God is the giver of all those things, but our nature is to
look elsewhere. Our hearts manufacture idols – replacements for
God.
 Our hearts are a idol-factories – pumping them out – natural to us. That’s
why when God gives the Law – commandments – show us our sin and
need of a saviour – 1st command – Have no other Gods before YHWHv.
So easy for us. Eg:
 If only I could be married – then I’d be happy, satisfied, stable, secure.
And the spouse becomes the idol.
 If only I had that job promotion – then I’d feel valued and important,
recognised. And the job becomes an idol.
 If only I had more money – then I’d be able to give, and I’d be secure and
calm and not stressed. And money becomes the idol.
 If only I felt happy about the way I look – botox, enhancements, diets – to
make me happy, feel good about myself, confidence.
We ask those things to do for us what only God himself can do. And we ask
our spouse or job or kids to do the impossible – and they fail – and we get
angry, or miserable, or depressed or scared. Because we’ve put something
ahead of God himself.
This story (and others) show us that we are just as unfaithful as Israel – all
rejected his rule and reign in our lives – all settled for lesser kings – all
committed treason against Almighty God, just as they did.
 All ungrateful and idolatrous at heart.
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To show us we need the grace of God
Samuel:
v16 ‘Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before
your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder
and rain. And you will realise what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD
when you asked for a king.’
 Really serious – show you – miracle – rain at harvest time – doesn’t
happen
18
Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and
rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
 Awe: defn – pray – immediate, impossible weather change. Snow in
August in response to prayer.
19
The people all said to Samuel, ‘Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so
that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for
a king.’
20
‘Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied.
 Typo? Do not be afraid? Surely: be very afraid. Treason against God –
“evil” and he wants you to know how serious that is with a weather
miracle. They think they’re going to “die”.
 Don’t be afraid: Samuel. Why not?
v22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because
the LORD was pleased to make you his own.
 If you turn back to him - he won’t reject you – why? He has “made you his
own” – you belong to him – chosen you – loves you – cares for you.
 Love for the ones who reject him. Blessing upon the heads of those who
cursed him? What do we call that? Grace – unwarranted , unmerited,
undeserved favour.
 Why does God receive them back – and not destroy them for treason?
Grace. And why does he show grace? For the sake of his great name
 This is who he is.
o 2Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
 He is the faithful God – he will always remain true to his character – he
will not deny who he is.
o Deep truth: If you are a Xn tonight: God doesn’t love you – cherish
– value – save you because you are worth it – b/c you are
wonderful.
o Done good things – also wretched things – foul stench in the
nostrils of God. Doesn’t put him off.
o He says come anyway – recognise your failure – like they did –
admitting your sin – come, pleading his mercy. Don’t come saying, I
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feel so bad about myself, I need to feel better about myself. No –
you need to feel better about him!
 All about his grace – his wonder – beauty – purity – love and favour –
towards we who don’t deserve any of it b/c we’ve rejected him so many
times.
 So many times my heart has strayed / From His kind and perfect ways /
Making clear my desp’rate need/ For His blood poured out for me.
 John 6:37 whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
To show us the glory of the King of Kings
Warnings all came true:
 God gave them Saul – had his moments – turned out to be a pretty rotten
kingvi. Following him was a succession of kings – about 40.
o Only a handful were better than terriblevii (8) – only 3viii were really
good.
o Some were truly awful – rival Saddam or Bin Laden – had chemical
weapons – used them.
o Very best: David – gold standard – all the others looked back to him
– best one. David wrote most of the Psalms – man after God’s own
heart.
 Guess what? Adulterer, liar, murderer. Desperate, bitter
repentanceix. All the rest were worse. As an idea, kingship of
Israel was an utter failure.
 God gave them these kings – because sinfully, they asked for a king – and
they all failed. Why? Because a king was coming who would eclipse them
all.
o Their failure made the success of the King of Kings all the more
obvious.
o In their darkness, he shone brighter.
 Their sin was dealt with, hundreds of years later, at the cross.
o King Jesus would not dominate, domineer – servant of all. Die in the
place of his sinful people.
o Although he was perfect, he would be polluted with the stinking
sins of millions – die so that they – we - might live.
 All 4 gospels record what Pilate – Roman governor – asked Jesus: “Are you
the king of the Jews?x” – Resounding yes!
o Jesus is the new and greater King.
Revelation 19:16
On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
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What do you do with all this?
Know that nothing will thwart the plans of God.
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him
 He is absolute ruler – rules in absolute sovereignty – not restricted by
geography, time, willingness of us.
 Not even sin – gross sin – can undo his plans. In fact, Bible shows time and
again, he even uses the worst of sins to – in the end – glorify Jesus.
o In the end – in this case – took about 1000 years – Saul to Jesus.
 If you are his: hold you – watch – keep you. Calls you to trust – whatever
your situation – keep your eyes on him – hard.
o Bible examples to help us. Can’t see how this will work out: no –
they couldn’t either – calls you to be faithful to him – he will remain
faithful to you.
o 2Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. – reply on his character – who he
is.
Video: Faithful One
Respond
 Eyes.
 Areas of life /trusting. Tried to work it out in other ways – not working.
o Confess unfaithfulness – unbelief – distrust – demanding a lesser
king
o Forgiveness through J
o Help us keep eyes on you.
i
1Samuel 8:7-9
This section is from an old sermon of mine: “God or King, You Choose”, from 1Samuel 8.
iii
Keller, T. Counterfeit Gods. Hodder, 2009, pxvii
ii
iv
OK, words to that effect anyway: http://szezeng.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/paraphrasing-calvins-idol-factoryquote.html
v
Exodus 20:3
vi
In fact, God warned them this would be the case: 1Samuel 8:10-18
David, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, Josiah
viii
David, Hezekiah, Josiah
ix
Psalm 51
x
Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, John 18:33
vii