Give Us a King!

In today’s Bible reading*, the people demand that Samuel appoint a king to rule over them … just like the other nations have. Samuel seeks God’s mind on the matter.

God knows that the people want something to substitute for Him. Rather than having a relationship with their Creator, they would rather have idols to worship.

God tells him to relay to the people what will happen if they have a king like the other nations. Although he tells them of the poor treatment, heavy taxation, and even enslavement, the people continue demanding that Samuel anoint a king.

Just like the pagan cultures around them, God’s people crave what the other people have. God says that they haven’t changed at all since they escaped their slavery in Egypt. (1 Samuel 8:8)

Application

In the coming days, we’ll see what happens when God gives the people what they ask for. It seems that there’s a recurring theme in God giving people what they ask for. Oftentimes the very thing the people demand of God is the very thing that God uses to judge them.

Just look at the first chapter of Romans where God gives the people over to a debased mind. God gives the people over to dishonorable passions. God gives the people over to impure heart lusts.

Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it!

* Chapters covered in today’s reading:
1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel 5
1 Samuel 6
1 Samuel 7
1 Samuel 8