You Want What?

1 Samuel 8:1-9

Have you said or has it been said to you; you want what, do you have any understanding of what you just said?  I grew up playing sandlot football and baseball, as did many my age, it was not organized it had no adult supervisors, but it worked, and we had fun.  It went something like this; the best two players picked the teams, and the best players were the pitcher or quarterback, next came the hitting order, or the running backs and so on.  If the smallest and poorest athlete ask to be the pitcher or quarterback, the others would have said; you want what?  As a parent when your child wanted to go and do something that was harmful, dangerous and even could take their life, what came from your mouth; you want what, do you have any understanding of what you just said, do you have any knowledge of the ramifications of doing that?

Chapter eight is about Israel demanding a king, Samuel is an old man, and his sons Joel, and Abijah have not modeled dad, they seem not to fear God, it is as if Samuel was so busy in the Judging of Israel that he forgot to invest in his sons.  In verse three, “Yet the sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain.  They took bribes and prevented justice.”

In Psalm 1:1-2, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night.”  But this was not the heart of the sons of Samuel, and Proverbs 29:18 states; “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law.”  So the elders gathered together, I’ve been in that small Baptist church, they had a quick prayer, that’s the religious thing to do, and then they did what was in their minds already, and fired the preacher.  That is what is taking place, Samuel, you are an old guy and its been fun but no way are we going to allow those worthless sons of yours to rule, we want a king like all the other nations.

Do you understand God appointed Samuel and placed Samuel in the position of Judge of Israel, not the elders?   And God made it very clear to Samuel, it's not you the people are rejecting but me, so listen to them and allow them to have a king like all the other nations, but make sure you share the price of their actions.

I believe we live in a time of “it is not my fault” and yet that has no relevance to the ramification of one's actions.  The Scriptures well define that we reap what we sow and today we are receiving the product of dads who did not teach and spend time in prayer for their sons.  We look to little gods, blind gods like government, and social acceptance and not to the Lord our God.  And God is telling us awake and count the cost of your sins and repent, maybe He will hear and bring us out of this slavery?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice