Word of Salvation – Vol. 22 No. 08 – November 1975

 

We Want A King!

 

Advent Sermon by the Rev. W.F. Van Brussel, B.D. on 1Samuel 8:20

Scripture Readings: 1Samuel 8, Psalm 72.

Psalter Hymnal:. No. 14, 70:1, 2, 70:3, 183:3,4,5, 462, 368

 

The life of our world the way it is being run today is stacked with dilemmas and difficult choices.  "What would be the appropriate direction for us to take at the present time?"  This is one out of the many puzzles a Prime Minister would be haunted with today.  And all men in a leading position are faced with the same kind of big questions from day to day all over the world.  God's people of Israel of the Old Testament day also used to have plenty of such times when they were faced with tremendously hard choices.  One of such occasions we find recorded in our Scripture-passage today.

Samuel was a good Judge.  But the problem was, he was getting old.  And his sons were not much good.  What to expect from them once their good old father would have passed away?  No, they all agreed, it would not be good to have those taking over from their father by them.  It would be so much better to get a king for a change.

Well, perhaps it would.

This depended entirely, of course, on the type of man that would be going to be their king.  What they had in mind in the first place was one of those ideal kings, you see; One of those impressive ones you read big stories about in books.  But, for that matter, an ideal judge would not have been bad, either would it?

True.  Yet, there was a difference.  Those judges were much more obviously men who would depend on God, and on God's Spirit for their particular office.  But a king, at least as far as they had seen this with other nations, was much more of an authority IN HIS OWN RIGHT!  This was what appealed so much to them!

O yes, they wanted a KING.

And that was not wrong in itself.  As a matter of fact, God had promised them a king a long time ago, even as far back as in the days of MOSES.  It was not even wrong that they wanted a king as the other nations used to have their kings.  Moses had spoken in that vein, to be honest.  Just listen to what we find recorded in Deut.17:14/5, “When you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me', you may indeed set as king over you him whom the Lord your God will choose.”

And it was true that with these sons of Samuel there was not much scope for a reasonable continuation of the leadership of their father and other good judges before him.  It was no wonder that Israel wanted a KING for all those reasons.

Yet, the BAD thing about their desire was the PICTURE which they had in their minds: What would be the advantages of having a KING rather than a judge?  The bad thing was the GOAL they wanted to attain with a king.  They would become much more independent, and impressive, as a nation!  They would no longer look as spoon-fed as it were by the Lord as it had been for so long now under the judges.  Those judges were seers and prophets at the same time!  They would only speak AFTER God had told them WHAT to say.  A KING would be so much better.  He would make up his own royal mind!  He would do his own thing on his own authority as a KING!

Judge Samuel tried to talk them out of this view.  Things would not be going to be as bright as they suggested, IF they wanted a KING for SUCH reasons.  A king of that kind was likely to turn out a tyrant.  "You don't know what you are asking for", Samuel argued.  "Do you know what you are in for with such a man?  He will take your sons to build his army and his workforce.  He will take your girls to work for him as slaves.  He will go for the best portions of your land and orchards.  He will demand the tenth part of your crops, your cattle, your herds.  You will be in for tough experiences!  But once you HAVE a king like that you are stuck with him.  There won't be any way of return.  You will have to swallow whatever he wants you to swallow.  You'd better think again!"

Yet, Israel was determined.  They WANTED their king.  "No, but we will have a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.

You all remember of course from the story that Samuel complained in the presence of the Lord that Israel had rejected him.  But GOD told him that that was not the worst thing.  For it was much worse that they had rejected the KING Whom they had had all along: God Himself!  They had no idea of what it meant to be a nation PECULIAR TO THE LORD of heaven and earth.  They were unaware of their exceptional situation as THE PEOPLE OF GOD!

Yes, what was their ideal?  Did they want a king the way GOD was willing to give them one, a man after God's own heart?  A man who would love to go in the ways of the Lord in front of the people of Israel?

NO, that was NOT their ideal at all.  They were JEALOUS of what they had seen over the fence, what was customary among other nations not peculiar to the Lord.  They wanted a king who would go out before them and fight their battles.  They wanted everybody to say: LOOK AT THAT GREAT, UNBEATABLE NATION OF ISRAEL.  LOOK AT THEIR KING.  ISN'T HE A GIANT?

This condition still prevailed by the time the Lord Jesus came.  Remember how they wanted Him to take up His sceptre and to show off His power to the extent that the Roman legions would be deeply impressed and leave the country of Israel quick and smart.  They wanted a fighter-king more than anything else.

They did not at all feel safe in the world.  They wanted SECURITY, here and now!  They were in favour of strong defence-forces.  It was not so much that they wanted war, but they wanted a strong king whose power would discourage the nations around to attack them because of his great fame.

O yes, Israel knew that they were a special nation.  It gave them occasion for pride more than once.  But on the other hand, it made them FEEL insecure amidst all those other nations with their mighty kings.

Israel misunderstood entirely that, and how, GOD was their King.  There was no reason whatsoever for fear.  But, of course, they would only see that if, and as long as, they would believe.......!

We wonder WHAT was left of Israel's faith when they wanted a king.  True, God had promised a king a long time ago.  But NOT one of the kind THEY had in mind.  They thought it was too risky to live by faith.  Faith was nice, of course, BUT......!

And good, old Samuel could talk and talk, but there was no way of changing these people's minds.

Samuel had said: "Look what such a king will do with your sons and your daughters".  Well true, but what about having sons and daughters who will be taken away by the kings of other nations, anyway?  What if a strong king of a neighbouring country turns up and destroys all that we have built up with our sons and daughters in days of peace?  What's the use of prosperity IF there is NO security?"  That's the kind of reply Samuel got.

And thus they were faced with the age-old problem.  What should come first for a nation?  Prosperity, thriving business in the country, a bed of roses for the nation to laze on, and so on, and so forth........ IF there is no strong defence??

There have been plenty of arguments about this, also in our own country.  What should come first?  Our national defence or our national prosperity?  The one is in favour of this and the other of that.  Who is wise enough to solve the dilemma?

Samuel was on the one side of the argument, putting it this way: "What's the use and the fun IF everything goes into the defence of our country?"

The people argued from the opposite angle: "What's the use of prosperity if it is so terribly vulnerable?  What's the use of believing while you are living in a world where the wicked always get things going their way?  We are living in a world that cannot be trusted.  You ought to be ready for it!  A strong defence – that is what we need!"  A king who goes out before us and fights our battles.

Hours, days, weeks have been spent on this kind of argument in the parliament houses of our world over the centuries.  And it seems that most of the nations have not found the proper solution to the dilemma.

We who know our Bibles, we know that much of Samuel's side of the argument has come true.  It happened under all the kings of Israel, even the good ones.  They needed armies, those kings.  They needed people, simply because a king cannot possibly do everything on his own.  He is not supposed to, anyway.

Most of the kings turned out far from ideal.  They caused thousands and thousands of deaths in endless battles.  Many of them led their people from one defeat to the next, at tremendous expense of blood.  Until both, Israel and Judah, finished up in years of miserable exile.

However, throughout all those centuries there have been men and women in Israel, people such as Zacharias and Elisabeth, Simeon and Anna, and before them some good kings, prophets and priests, and common people who would keep believing the promise of God that HE would give His people a KING, a King after His own heart.  This King we find that beautiful song about in Psalm 72!  The King who was to bring BOTH prosperity AND defence to those who believe and put their trust in Him alone.

Israel went wrong with its expectation.  It went SO wrong that, when the REAL KING came eventually, He came to His own, but His own received Him not.  God gave them the new-born King in that Christmas-night.  But they failed to receive Him as their King.  Why?  Because He was NOT of the kind they thought He should have been.

They expected that God would give them a MAN with a capital M – A – N !!  A man who would be a kind of superman, a fabulous king who would bring prosperity as well as protection.  But that kind of MAN simply does NOT exist.

Even a strong king needs an army and depends on it.  And such an army is made up of men of the nation who have to be ready for the ultimate sacrifice for their king.  A HUMAN king must demand sacrifices.  FROM his OWN people.  He may be a good strategist, but men of his army will have to do the dirty job and fall in battle FOR him!

Yet, Israel was entitled, yes thanks to the Covenant of God, they were entitled to long for a king who would bring both, defence and prosperity.  But this could not possibly be a HUMAN king!  Even not a strong MAN, empowered from on high – such as Samson had been – to mention only one.

It is impossible to expect from a MAN what Israel expected from their ideal king.  They were looking for an IMPOSSIBLE king.

But, is not this what God actually HAS given to His people in the NEW-BORN KING, Jesus Christ: the IMPOSSIBLE KING?  Yes, Jesus Christ, HE is the King Who lays His hand on His citizens, and Who wants them totally!  King Jesus demands everything from those who believe in Him, but ONLY AFTER having GIVEN HIMSELF to them first!

He came to save us from our sins, but what He wants EVER AFTER THAT, is TOTAL SURRENDER.  We must be at His disposal all the time.  We are no longer boss in our own house, our own life.  We are SLAVES of CHRIST He paid the full price for us.  We belong to HIM.  We are His own!

AND....... we call ourselves blessed.  Just because of this.  We know that it is miles and miles better to be slaves of Christ for ever and ever than to be Satan's slaves as we were before.

There is no other choice.  We are either slaves of Christ, and thus FREE FOR EVER, or slaves of the devil, without end!

O yes, we are looking forward to the coming of our KING Who wants us together with all that we have and are.  He comes with His total demands.  And those who believe in Him are happy to receive Him, and they say to Him:

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee!
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise!
Take my hands, my feet, my voice, my lips,
             my silver, gold; my intellect, my will, heart, love, my all!!

For this is the only way for me to be and remain happy and blessed and useful, for ever.

We saw that for most of Israel the desire for a king had grown out of control.  They had the wrong picture in their minds.

What picture do WE have of King Jesus?  What do WE mean when we say that we desire HIM to be our KING?

Do we understand clearly what is involved?  Are we sure that it is good to belong to Him with our WHOLE life?  That it is the best of all things to be in HIS hands, at HIS disposal ALL the time?

Do we believe that it is good to be His own?  That this is the only way in which life is worth the living?  Have we straightened out our priorities, our dilemmas in a thoroughly Christian, Christ-controlled way?

Do we know that nothing has any value if it cannot be enjoyed in the light of Gospel of Christ and His great work of salvation and renewal?

What do WE want to have defended and protected?

What do we hang on to, if everything else falls away?

What is the content of our "Christmas-spirit”?

Do we WANT.... Jesus Christ to be our KING, for ever?

Amen.