Israel Demands a King
8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Samuel’s Warning Against Kings
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
The Lord Grants Israel’s Request
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” (ESV)
Wow! What a rich chapter… The one line that I think stood out to me the most was this one:
“But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, ‘No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’”
The main reason they want a king is to “be like all the nations.” They have the opportunity to have God as their king, and they want a man? Did they forget when the LORD went out before them and fought their battles? We just read about that yesterday! It’s easy to think “wow, how could these fools think like this?” but then again how many good gifts from God do we give up for the sake of fitting in and feeling like we belong? I need to make sure that I remind myself I belong to Christ, not other people! Therefore I’ll strive to “fit in” to his family, not the world’s!
Great Comment! this was exactly what i was thinking!
Solid comment, Evan. I was struck by the same thing,,,the weaksauceness of the Israelites rejecting God as their king to have a human king!
Yes! I was totally thinking that too!
ELLO… I read
I like verse 3,”Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.”
I like this verse because it shows what a good leader does not do. Who is a good leader? I would say no one on earth because we all make mistakes that can be very costly. The only leader that we should have is GOD. GOD never makes mistakes. I need to follow in GOD’s example of being a leader. HE doesn’t accept bribes and does not pervert justice instead HE judges each and every one of us. I need to make sure I do the same if I am ever called to lead.
CYA
Nice Tanner! God NEVER makes mistakes! Everything has been planned out according to His will!
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
I wonder what the Lord has in mind for the people. I cant wait to read the next chapter. Why did Samuel have to obey the people when they werent obeying him? I’m going to guess that God is just going to give the people what they ask for even if its bad for them to hopefully make them learn that God’s way is the best way. We will see if my guess is accurate soon.
Verses 11-18 really reflect the type of life apart from the Lord. The king here that judges them and makes them slaves sounds a lot like the Devil and living for this world. Nothing good will come from it and the only road it takes you on is to eternal destruction apart from God in His holy place. Just like the campus lunches this week showed, revival is needed in so many people. We need no longer to be slaves of sin, but to repent and be slaves to righteousness! There is no life here in this world, and it will one day be destroyed! So what are you investing your life in? The sinful world that will be destroyed, or the Lord that will reign forever and ever while we worship Him with heavenly song among the multitudes? That Day will be so amazing! MMMM Maranatha Mindset!!!
love it!!!!
amazing comment derek! It really does make you think about what your investing your life in..awesome point
awesome post!!!! you make great point
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Just like what Evan said above “be like the other nations” is a stupid thing to say eventhough we say the same exact things today! (but mom all the other kids at school get to because…) we still point the finger and are like “wow those Isrealites are being such losers! if i was in that situation i would just obey God and not want to fit in with the crowd! what a bunch of complainers!” yet while this is what we would say what is really true? we need to hava heart check and make sure that obeying God is more important to us than fitting in with the crowd. just like in 1 cor. 10:13 he calls us “aliens and strangers of this world” and that is what we are called to be!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Samuel is a good example, and he obeyed the Lord every time and did what God told him to do! There is only one God, the King of Kings and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is the ultimate judge of the world who can rescue and save! He provides everything, and he is an awesome God for he is good all the time. Why would the people want a king who is the same and like every other man, when they could have accepted God as theirs? The Lord is like no one else, he is absolutely perfect! I pray that I will continually praise God for how good he truly is, and give thanks to him under all circumstances because he deserves it! He is such a great King, an amazing example for us all!!!!!
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
We live in a stubborn world as Christians and we need to constantly be learning about God and reminding ourselves that God is our king! The people in this verse wanted a king even though they were told they would not like it they did not trust God. Sometimes God will let things happen to us that we wanted just to let it hurt us. We need to do the opposite of this verse and trust God in all circumstances even if they dont seem like they will work out for anything good. God knows everything better than we do we must trust Him with our lives!
good comment josh!
“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5
AWESOME COMMENT DUDE! Keep it up
Good Morning!!!
Verses 19 & 20
‘But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”’
This is one of the many times that the Israelites had completely rejected the idea of GOD being their king and savior. See how they are asking for a king when they already have one greater, wiser, and more powerful than any man or imagination. They are losing their way in CHRIST. After reading this passage I know that I always want to acknowledge GOD as my king and savior from evil. HE is my KING.
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Conformity, laziness, and distrusting God to deliver us from and through any circumstances. Exactly the things we are being trained to guard against in I Peter in True North on Sundays and in Small Groups…
God’s Word is consistent, relevant, and poignant. And the themes God drives home for us are rampant throughout His Word–here in the Old Testament AND in His New Testament! My prayer this morning is that His Word does not fall on our hearts without prompting us to take serious action–to be ON GUARD, if you will, as we seek Him and yield to Him only, in sheer obedience and fear in our fight against sin.
Yes! SOTD ROCKS and is a great start! Ro 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
It seems that so often in the Bible godly men did not have godly sons. I have always taken this as a warning. I have godly parents. I don’t want to be the child that “turned aside after gain.” I want to carry on my parents tradition of godliness. But there is only one way to do that. I have to obey God completely. I want to have Street Cred Christianity so that others around me will know that I’m a Christian.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them
the israelites want a king because they do not want God to reign over them, as this verse says, they have rejected Him. today many people are still rejecting the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Jesus Christ. when the isralites get their king, saul, things start going bad. so it is in the lives of those who reject God. they dont let God pilot their lives, but rather other “kings” and idols, whether it be their reputation, drugs, sex, or any other lustful desires. as Christians Christ is our Lord and our King, and we need to be obeying Him. we need to let Him reign in our lives, because we havent rejected Him. but the reality is that everyday we dont submit to our King in everything, because we sin. this chapter really made me notice that at times i am like israel. i have a King, who is God, and yet sometimes a i reject Him. i need to be following my King, like samuel did. i pray that i would not be wanting or desiring any other King but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
When I read this I was thinking, “You have a king Israelites, it’s God! Don’t be dumb.”….but how many times have I decided to take things into my own hands instead of allowing my king to take care of it? Soooooo dumb. I’m pretty sure I made more mistakes with this than the Israelites did! Luckily God forgives and has mercy on me….I need to remember that God is sovereign, and not just when I want Him to be but all the time. He rules over my heart and the hearts of all Christians. No hypocricy should be found in me…I shall do my best to be like Christ in everyway. Obeying my mama right away is where it needs to start! She is beautiful lady that deserves everything. God deserves my all sooooo I shall give Him my all. :)
I’m with you B! Good thing there is no luck and it’s God’s providence that controls our circumstances and gives us every opportunity to yield to Him through His powerful Spirit!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Samuel was a very faithful servant of the Lord. God told him to deliver this message no matter what the people thought of him (although that was one of the least worries back then, it would apply to modern days) and he did it! Samuel stuck to God’s plan to attempt to get the people to listen to the one King and although the message didn’t work, Samuel still listened to God when he told him return to the people and give them what they wanted from the start. Samuel showed great obedience and i know i could learn a lot from him!!
Yes, Jenna, good comment! I am encouraged by your faithfulness on SOTD, even when you have your most challenging final tomorrow. I will be praying for you as you memorize those 200+ vocab words.
1 Sam 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
I see discipline coming… And it won’t be fun or quick. What can we learn from God allowing the disobedient to have ‘their’ way instead of God’s? Ultimately, the country God gave them was destroyed and taken from them for 2,000 years! It sure would be better for us to yield to Him first and obey rather than go through all the pain and hurt having it our own way… Lord, let me do what You wnat today and please come soon!
18 “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
Its important to listen to God. He is all-knowing and has a way better plan than I can possibly have. This is a great example of what happens when we don’t listen and obey God, if I don’t listen to God I will suffer consequences. I need to work on following God’s plan because it is not the easiest path, and it is made to glorify Him not me. Praise God for being all-knowing!!!
!!!MARANATHA!!!
8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
God’s reply, to their request for a king, is this is nothing new, the Israelites are not rejecting Samuel, but they have been rejecting God ever since he has rescued them from Egypt. Since the beginning
This is sort of like what happened in Hosea “And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’
God is such a good God. Who could love faithfully a people like the Israelites? Or actually who could love a people like us? We are the ones who killed Jesus, who show no mercy, and have chosen the path of sin, yet God still chose to love us, and has shown us the ultimate mercy, and has given us the Holy Spirit so that we could, for the first time, choose Him.
God is good all the time!
I’m thankful for His mercy.
And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
this sounds a lot like our culture today. We want everyone to fight our battles for us and sit back watch, and dictate. But this verse could also go another way. It could be like a refrence to God. A metaphor that we need God in our lives to help us in battles and trials and to cease chaos in our lives.
MMMMMMM. These people have something coming for them! It seems the moral of the story so far is to LISTEN TO GOD.
and although we can’t listen to Him like they could in the olden days, we are left with his word of the Bible, which we should thoroughly examine and obey in order to live godly lives, and avoid the inevitable judgement.
This is a pretty legit chapter. I think we can all relate to the Israelites in this chapter. We cried out for something we dont really need, and God decided to teach us a lesson.
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6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
A few things stood out to me in verse six. First, it might not seem like a big deal that the Israelites want a king to judge them in place of Samuel’s wicked sons. But the truth is that they are showing their lack of faith in God to raise up other judges for them, as He had always done in the past. Instead of sticking with the way of God and having judges rule over them the Israelites wanted to be “like all the nations” and have a hereditary king. Yikes! They had the one, true God as their King, yet they rejected Him for some mortal man. As we will read in later chapters, that will not end well. Secondly, Samuel’s response to this situation struck me as incredibly godly. He understood that Israel’s desire for an earthly king was a rejection of God as their King and it displeased him. I like Samuel’s response, he immediately prayed to the Lord. He did not try to reason with the Israelites or yell at them for their foolish idea, he didn’t even seek out other wise me in his life. He entrusted himself and how to handle this difficult issue to God. Today I am inspired to turn first to God in any difficult situation. He is infinitely wise and can give me the wisdom to handle tough situations. I am also reminded that desiring to be the like world around me might make me fit in better with unsaved people, but that it is wrong and will only bring eternal consequences in my life. I must desire to be NOTHING like the world around me and to be like my Savior, Jesus Christ!
THis is exactly what i thought about!!!
WOW! Intense chapter!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
God is King over all. He is the King of Kings! THe fact that Samuel warned them about what would happen and that they were to be slaves and they still wanted a king is very sad. They were warned. Just like how my parents warn me about bad things. When I was little my parents always said not to play wiht fire and when we were moving to our new house, in NE, and so when we got there my sister and I ran around and went to meet with our new neighbors. We met a girl that lived behind us. She was the only one with a fence around her house and she invited us to play. She got out matches and sand and we sat/hid behind a big tree, were no one could see us and played with fire. It became very boring after awhile so my sister and I decided to go back and find our parents. Little did we know that the smell of smoke sticks to your clothes. SO our parents smelled it and we got in BIG trouble! God warns me about dangers to come and I need to listen to Him and not fall into traps. I need to obey both my parents and God for they know what is best, even though I may not think so. GOd knows all things and I need to rely on Him and not say no!
Praise the LORD!!! May His grace and love and mercy be shown to all men! :]
8 more days till WINTER REVIVAL!!! :]
***Maranatha!!!***
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”
It is such a privilege to see how God is sovereign over everything- especially sin. The people didn’t want to follow God’s rules anymore, so God let them have a different King. The rest of the Old Testament shows that this was a bad idea! EVERY human king they have after this fails in some way and does not give them the perfect justice that only God can give.
That is why the New Testament starts with Jesus. God gave the Israelites a human king, only to show us in the future that no one should be our king but God. Not only that, but by giving us generations of bad kings, Jesus can be glorified. If the people are able to see God’s grace through finally getting a perfect king through Jesus, then He will be more glorified than if God simply refused them a human king in the first place!
How awesome is our God that He eventually gave us Jesus even though we don’t deserve Him. I need to be thanking God every single day for this precious gift! Its amazing to see the hostility of the Israelites in this passage as well as the hostility in today’s society, and then see God forgive then give us something as great as salvation.
And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
What a sad chapter!!!! God is being rejected by the people. The people wanted to have a king, they did not want God to be king over their life! They decided they wanted to follow someoneelse. This made me upset when I read this but than I remembered that God allowed this!! And even I sometimes can reject God in little ways! Like when I chose to disobey my mom or I watch tv instead of having a qiuet time.
Maranatha
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
This really stood out to me this morning in a personal way because of the phrase they have not “rejected you but they have rejected me”. I began to think of how many times I have rejected God because I chose something that I thought was better over what I already had. When the Israelites asked for a king they were clearly putting there trust in the men of this world over there trust in God. Basically saying we don’t care what you say God we want it our way. I am so convicted by this because I know I have done this numerous times.
Lord, help me not be like the Israelites help me to fully trust you even when I want something more and know that your way is the best way. I know it is only when I surrender my will for yours that I will have true contentment in my life.
Alicia,
You’re so totally right. Exact same verse and point that I made in my post. Like you, I need to fully TRUST in my Lord that everything will be ok. He’s my Father, what’s NOT to trust in?
Great post!
Under His puer mercy,
Ariana Mishreki =)
Goodmorning . . .
I read . . .
1 Samuel 8 . . .
“7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”
God is taking Samuels blame. God’s saying, no Samuel, their not denying and disrespecting you, their denying and disrespecting me. Wow, how convicting and sad is that? God continues to go further and add, from the time that I brought them out of Egypt till now, they still don’t respect me. God continues to speak to Samuel and say, go tell the Israelites of the wonderful King that will soon reign over them. So Samuel did, but the people did not want that King. Lets stop right there.
They didn’t want the Lord to be the king of their nation. (their life) Sound familiar? I know it sure sounds familiar to me. When I wasn’t saved, I thought I was alright. I didn’t need God, I was good to go on my own. WROOOONG. Little did I know that if I didn’t turn to God in repentance and faith that I would burn in Hell for all of eternity. Now, that’s defintly changed. My Father deserves to control my whole life. I pray that He does whatever He wants with my life. It’s not my life anymore if I claimed to be saved. It’s now HIS life.
~+~+~+~+~+~+ FATHER COME DOWN! ~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Under His pure mercy,
Ariana Mishreki =)
What strikes me about this passage is the Lord’s humbleness and patience. If I had been in the place of God my response would have been self-pity or anger. God had every right upon hearing the Israelits request for a King to send down his immediate wrath from Heaven, but in His wisdom He decided to give them a human king. I can learn from the Lord’s example by dealing patiently with those I serve and not be so discouraged when they do not respond the way I would have liked, but instead be patient with them and not giving in to defeat. This passage is also a sober warning how if we push for something the Lord is not wanting to give us, if we keep pushing for it, sometimes in His wisdom He will let us have it, even if it was not what He saw was best for us. So we all need to be checking ourselves to see if the things we desire are what the Lord wants to give us or if we are insisting on that which the Lord has not chosen to give us.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
God took Israel’s sin very personally. Even though, in an earthly sense, it was Samuel’s leadership they were rejecting, the Lord viewed it as a direct attack on His authority over the people. In the same way, God is offended personally by every sin that we commit, especially those we commit against people he has put in authority over us – for example, parents. God’s will is for us to submit to them out of reverence for Him; but when we disobey them, we are not just disobeying them, but God. And His punishment will be worse than anything a human power could devise – sometimes, as was the case with the Israelites, God simply lets the person get what they want, and suffer the consequences for it. I need to make sure I am submitting to my parents, teachers, and all other authority figures out of reverence for God and fear of His Judgement for disobedience.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
A king in a monarchy has absolute soverighn power. He can do anything he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants, because he owns the people. He is totally the one in charge. The unfortunate rejection of the LORD as king by the Israelites is something we can all learn from. As Christians, Jesus is our King of kings and Lord of lords and thus holds this position for us. While it may be easy to see the stupidity of the Israelites rejecting the LORD for a human king, I better make sure I am not doing the same thing by rejecting Jesus as the Lord of my life. The easiest person to insert as “king” is myself. Thus I need to humbly affirm and act like Jesus is the one in charge and not me. That means that I do not do anything I want, whenever I want, to whomever I want. I must follow the Kings’ decrees!
21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.
This passage serves as a bad example on the Israelites’ part and a good example on Samuel’s part. Samuel listened to God, but the Israelites did not obey God. Instead they were blinded by their own folly. I agree with Shannon and Bethany that it seems dumb of the Israelites to disobey God, but in reality it is so easy to be stuck in our own ways and unwilling to listen. I need to always listen to God and trust that His plan is right because I can’t see what tomorrow will bring. Even if someone obedient to God like Samuel could have sons who did not follow God, how much easier is it for us to be distracted? Samuel’s response is encouraging: prayer. I need to always ask God for help in difficult situations. God has a plan:)
mhmm! I agree. This encouraged me alot :)
Samuel continues to be a great example! And what stood out to me was in verse 6, “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.” Where is says, “And Samuel prayed to the Lord.” I really love this because in Samuel’s first uncertainty and doubt, the first thing he does is go to the Lord! I just really love this! So many times I can get caught up in my doubts and uncertainties and try to rely on my own strength to help me make it through whatever it is or in Samuel’s case making an important decision…but my frist response and what Samuel’s first response was relying on the strength of God! I really admire that and I strive to continue to grow in full dependance of my God!
That is such an awesome point Hannah! I definitely dido that admiration (: Going to God first is always a good move, yet it is not usually the first that comes to mind -for me- i want to have the Lord on the forefront of my mind all of the time, so that, when a situation does come up, going to Him is the first thing i do!
awesome comment!!
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
This verse stood out to me because a lot of times when people persecute me for being a christian i may feel somewhat bad for myself. But that is not the case. For it is God who is being persecuted. And we need to stand up for Him! Jesus has always stood up for us in our times of need. And so we need to be there for Jesus and stand up for what is right! We must be proud of our faith in Jesus Christ! We need to stand out, and stand up for Christ!!! :)
8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
This is really sad. God goes back to when He brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery and into freedom to the promise land and they still forsaked Him and turned to serving other gods. There is no comparison between the one, true God and fake idols. That is really sad to see their mistakes but it is also good so that I can learn from it. They wanted to conform with the world looking around and comparing themselves to the nations who have kings when they had the best king ever and took Him for granted. That is dangerous and I’m sure they didn’t wake up one morning and ask for it but it slowly pentrated their thoughts as they began to turn away from the Lord and then serving gods becoming blinded to the truth. I know that to fight the battle against sin I have to take every thought captive and submit it obediently to the Lord!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
It is so easy to look at them and wonder what they were thinking, wanting a human as their ruler instead of the Lord so they could fit in, but I know I am faced with things like this everyday. I want to be slow to judgment of other and focus on myself. Fitting in is so NOT important! What is right is to be right with the Lord and obeying what He says!!!
I agree with Jasmine that this chapter is sad in that the Israelites betrayed God even though He did all those good things for them! How upsetting! But when I think about that, the same thing is going on today! God loved us so much that He sent His only son, so we wouldn’t have to go to hell, and people today reject that fact, or dont even respond to that or think it’s a big deal! How sad! This really put a new view on people who think like that, and don’t really talk to them about it. I need to evangelize more, and my motivation along with other things is that God did all these good things, and people aren’t responding how they should, or they don’t even know about it!
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
This is a crazy verse to think about. God decided, before man, to have everyone who chooses to love Him, love Him, and everyone who hates Him, hate Him. He did not force love upon anyone. We all want to be loved by other people, but we dont want to force love upon anyone. God takes the rejection of most everyone here on earth, but judges them in the end. God will judge the rejectors, and He will also judge us. Its easy to say I am a Christian, but one way to depict if I really am one, is to see if I am standing up for God in every way plausible. Not only preaching Gods word, but in absolutly everything I do daily should be a reflection of Jesus. If its not I need to be praying that everything is and striving to be holy and a light for Him.
15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
we should give God tenth of ower money to him and we need to ower everything to him and his works.
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
I completely agree with Evan’s earlier comment. I also think this really applies to us today as teenagers…we have a chance to stand up, and be God’s chosen people and really make a difference, and what happens? We are just like the Israelites and we want to fit in “like the other nations” (or in this case people).
Lord, I pray that you would give us the strength to stand up for you and not just fit in with the crowd.
Great to see you on SOTD. Keep it up!
I read…
In this chapter, again, the Israelites turn against God and do not trust them to be their king. They did this because they wanted to fit in with the world and because of the failures of Samuel’s sons to judge fairly. Instead they should have trusted in the Lord. I pray that I would be trusting in the Lord in every situation, even if it seems to be going wrong.
AMEN!!! Great comment! it is indeed so important to be trusting in the Lord with everything, through ups and downs. (:
3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
I agree with what Tanner said in his comment. like Samuel’s sons, no one other than God can be the perfect leader. Samuel’s sons took bribes and didn’t rightfully judge the people. Obviously they we not following the example of their father, who had followed God’s example. Like Tanner said, a good leader is a person who follows God and does what He would do.
“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
I think this is just such a conictting couple of verses!! The people of Isreal rejected God and fled toward other idols. God doesn’t say “oh, they just fell away for a little bit” but he says that they REJECTED Him! Its so powerful because its definately something i need to watch out for. I need to check myself all the time to make sure that i am following God and not the world
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
This verse really showed me how sometimes in life i either take God for granted, or choose something over him. We don’t need mens approval in the end, it won’t matter, but how it says “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me” the men think that having a man for a king instead would be better. The men are not putting their trust in God but in men, and having your trust in god is impotant because through him you can do all things. :)
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
the people of isreal wanted to be like all the other nations, and they didnt want to do what samuel told them to do. So God lets them have what they want. sometimes God lets us do things our way so that when it doesnt work out, we will be brought back to him, i think thats what he was doing here
c u all later
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
We live in a corrupt world that makes it normal to give into what other people are doing. We need to remain above the normal swing of things. The people in this verse are wanting an earthly king because all nations around them have one. God tells Samuel to obey the people’s wishes and give them a king, only because they have rejected God, the only true king. I need to focus on God being my only King and center of my life. God is too great to take for granted! Praise him for his love and compassion towards all Christians!!!
5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
This verse reminded me of someone else we read about not too long ago…ELI!! Eli’s sons also chose not to follow in their father’s footsteps!
I just do not understand the Israelites sometimes…but then there are times when we do the exact same thing. We want guidance and direction, and sometimes, we do not have enough patience to wait and see where God wants us to go so we turn to human “wisdom” to get a quick response. Patience is a virtue!! I’m going to continue to pray for patience as I wait for the Lord to answer other prayers of mine!! :D
Verses 4-9 talked about how they wanted a king so they could be “like all the nations”. They wanted to go against what God wanted just because basically it was the cool thing to do…sound familiar??? We as Christians need to remember that God has planned our lives out exactly how he wanted it to be. We are his servants…
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Samuel was Gods voice to the people, yet they did not listen to his wise council. Later, the desision to have a king will split the nation of Isreal and it will be conquered. We as Chritians need to listen to the counsel of people like Bobby and Ben who teach all of us in the ways of the Lord. If we do this, we will be able to defeat our enemy. Continue to be looking forward to His return!!!!!
And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
The people in this chapter do not realize that God is their eternal king and he is the one to help fight their battles, not some mortal man. I agree with the thought that these people wanted to “be like all nations” and therefore be part of the crowd. It’s important not to care what man thinks, but to care what God thinks, because he is the ultimate judge. If I get too caught up in what the people of this world think, then I am disobeying God and not putting him first. I should always question my actions because God is watching and because I want to practice not sinning in the same ways again. Also, I noticed that the people’s firm “no!” is like disobedience to God because they didn’t listen to his messenger, Samuel. This reminds me of how last night at small groups we talked about listening to our parents and not being disobedient :D I will keep that in mind this week too.
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
It is important to remember that when we are in distress we need to rely and pray to the Lord like Samuel.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
this verse showed me that God needs to be first in my life all the time so that i dont reject God like it these people did.
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
There are often times where we ourselves do not want to do the things God tells us to do. We are selfish and we want to do things our way. What we need to realize is that where we can only see what is infront of us, God sees everything around us. He knows what we need better then anyone and we need to trust Him at His word. We need to learn from the mistakes of Isreal and instead of crying out for things we want, we should ask God to bless us with mercy and forgiveness.
The lord is so good and is always with me .
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
I think this verse goes beyond just Israel’s stubbornness. GOD has given us warnings and promises in the bible about things to and not to do. Despite this, we, like Israel, continue to do what he has told us not to and we receive the punishment for that sin. We need to obey GOD because what he says is true.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
In my life, I need to not be like the Israelites, and reject God as the Lord of my life. He needs to be my sole purpose for living, ALL the time! I need to make sure that I never even for a moment forget this, serving him in everything I do and giving him all the glory.
MARANATHA!!!!!!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
This is everywhere. Every nation wants a ruler, doesn’t even have to be a king. I was thinking about this the other day. We are always in want of a person in command, but no one ever stands up like Samuel and says that we already have a leader and he is God. Why do we want a mortal ruler, when we already have one that is all knowing and has wisdom. He is the best there is, but some just don’t want that. I like the whole ruler thing, but I know which ruler I need for my life and the is Christ, presidants, kings and others don’t match up.
I think its interesting how God set up a sytem of Judges, and when those judges were appointed they soon faded into a trend of unrighteousness–finally leading to their hypocracy. Its also noteworthy that once they began to sin they led others with them into hypocracy. They totally exploited God’s good plan he had made to govern the people. Soon the Israelites began to think they knew better than God and desired a King. Hypocracy leads to distrust and the deterence of Gods perfect will.
Then Samuel begins to speak of howthey will receive a King; however, that King will not make the people happy, but will opress them. I think this is Gods way of putting across a important message: IF WE ARE HYPOCRITICAL, HE WILL TURN US OVER TO OUR OWN DESIRES AND LET THEM DESTROY US!
Sorry i tend to analyze alot:) haha
(ps the motivation at first was remembering i dont wanna get tossed and sauced) so Bobby it works:) haha
Yo Neakzaad, it is good to see you on here!
Great comment, Neakzaad. So far 1 Samule seems to be one big illustration of just what you’re suggesting.
In this chapter, I like how Samuel constantly trusted in and prayed to God. Whenever he was faced with trouble with the Israelites, he casted out his anxieties to the Lord. That is admirable because it is an example for those of us who think we can do things on our own without God, but that just brings worry.
9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Yeah like Evan said Israel wanted to be like the other nations so much that they were willing to reject God and instead “be like everyone else”. This has intense consequences though! The thing that Israel thought would bring security (v.20) would actually bring a bunch of other problems that would make life harder for them. God is telling me through His word that being like the world has negative consequences, and it is not worth it to believe the lie and reject Him. He is our good and faithful shepherd (Psalm 23)!
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
Samuel can be seen as a great example here. He is urgent to tell everyone what the Lord had told him. We need to be urgent like samuel and tell everyone we know about the gospel. I pray that we would have the same urgency as samuel had and we would evangelize like theres no tomorrow.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
Yeah, I need to be careful and examine what is ruling my life…is it God or are friends and events or idols ruling me?God needs to be ruling my life. I need to be content with what He has blessed me with and i need to stop looking around, and start looking up. I need to rely on Him and obey Him constantly- no matter how much satan tries to tempt me, i need to be sure Gods in control. The people did not trust God and i know that at times, when things go badly, i wonder how I can make it better…instead, i need to rely on God and see to it that i TRUST GOD FULLY and not worry…it says like 300 something times in the bible to not worry. This week, im really going to focus on making God the Ruler of my life and not myself. I need to stop making myself bigger than God and i need to start desiring a stronger, fuller relationship with Him more. I pray that I will grow stronger than ever this month and that I will focus on growing in my faith more and depending on God only!
Maranatha!!!
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
These people were being so stubborn!! But it’s so similar to how we can be sometimes… We reject what God has planned and take it into our own hands to do what we want, but that is not right!! God wants to reign as king in our lives, but we must make the choice to obey His commands.
Just what I was thinking! Great comment! :)
God is King of EVERYTHING! I should never look to anyone else to give me more tangible or perfect advice. And God gave us his Word to let us know how he wants us to live! DEFINITELY a HUGE blessing!
Laura, your comment was exactly what I was thinking. It is amazing to me that God grants the request of the Israelites for a human king. He allows their sinful desire to become a reality. Even after Samuel warns against the evil that a king would bring, the people still demand one so they can be like the other nations. While God would have been justified to inflict punishment upon Israel for their sinful desire, He doesn’t respond with wrath. This shows the patient nature of God. I want to make sure that my desires align with the Lord and that I heed the advice of godly people. I want to listen to the “Samuel’s” that God has graciously provided me.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
So this nation rejected God, and they didn’t even see the mistake they were making. God is a perfect God, and they obviously didn’t see that. They needed to open their hearts to the true King of their lives. We as Christians need to be representing Christ so that others may have the opportunity to accept Him, and we also need to pray that they DO accept HIm.
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Israel wanted a king to be like other nations. They didn’t realized they rejected God as their king. ISRAEL TRUSTED IN THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN GOD. it’s easy to trust yourself sometimes
This is a great chapter!!!! God is the King of Kings over all of us we always answer to God no matter what!! However God wants us to obey our rulers, kings, presidents whomever they are because they are in charge of us!!! However our leaders answer to God with more of a firm judgement because God put them in a position to be over everybody and that means they must set a good example!!!!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great to see you getting into God’s Word on here Mark! Keep it up!
we need to be like samuel. samuel trusted everything God told him and he did everything God commanded of him. he had faith that isreal did not need a king because God was the king. i need to pray more dilegently and make sure i have devotion to God.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
I was struck by the same thing as many of you. The people wanted to be like all the other nations. They didn’t trust in an “invisible” God, but rather wanted a human king to help them fight their battles. May I always remember that God fights battles better than ANYONE–and fully trust in Him.
I LOVE how obedient Samuel was to the Lord, and did everything he asked without question. This is without a doubt the way i need to be living my life. I keep coming back to trust….again i am going to say that i need to trust in the Lord, for he knows all things and has a plan..trust is not something to take lightly, and not something to give away easily. and who better to give it away to than the LORD! It is so exciting to grow in the Lord, and to watch all of the amazing and unexpected things he will do with your life. I need to be praying more and talking to the one i love, that is such an awesome privilege, that i need to work on doing more diligently. I want so much to grow in my devotion knowledge and love for God.
STOKED FOR REVIVAL!!!!
SO TRUE!!! One of your best comments! There is no one better to give your trust to, other than God!
GREAT COMMENT! i agree with Luke!
Allie agrees with me…..so you know it must be good!
Samuel had such a tight relationship with the Lord! He went to the Lord for everything! When he was distressed about the Israelites wanting a king, he brought it to the Lord and God told him what to do. The Israelites were definitely not seeking after the Lord. Instead of choosing Him as their king, they wanted an earthly king to judge them and be like the other nations. Like some people have said on SOTD day, they wanted to be like the world! But little did they know that choosing worldly things over the Lord does not lead to good things! Christ is the only one who should be completely Lord over us. I want to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and not on worldly desires! After all, I am not of this world. :)
8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
It’s always amazed me how little faith the people of the Old Testament had. They were saved by God when He brought them out of Egypt, and almost immediately their complaining and wishing they were back in slavery!! I need to let God take over sometimes and make sure I know that he’s in control!!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”—It is so hard to believe that anyone would want to follow anyone other than Christ but that is happening everywhere! Even a Christian like me! I need to make sure that I am not giving in to what Satan wants me to do and listen to everything Christ commands me to do. I can’t let anything else rule in my life over God and I need to get rid of any idols or addictions! I need to remember God’s grace he has had on me and how powerful he is! I just need to put all of my faith in him and live according to his purpose knowing that he does have a perfect plan and he IS in control!!
MARANATHA!!!
In this chapter, Samuel gives us a good example of how we should obey the Lord. He sacrificed the futures of his sons by doing what God told him.
But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
God did not want Israel to have a king, He knew what the outcome of that would be and He wanted them to simply follow His laws directly and not a king’s. Isreal refused and demanded to be like other nations, and they received their king which they would later regret. I pray that when God says no to something, i will have the understanding to know that it is only for my best interest.
This chapter just showed me that I should stand tall for Christ, that when someone is shooting me down they are in theory shooting God down. That really shouldn’t be allowed if God is the person I love with all of my heart, mind, and soul.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
This verse reminded me how we are constantly in the battle of sin in picking what the world wants us to do or what God wants us to do. Here they didn’t want the Lord. In our lives all the time we pick who we want to be our King in our lives and who were gonna live for, satan or God. Lets have street cred and do the will of God!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations….
This is sin in a nutshell. I always have a choice between giving into worldly ideas and desires or following God’s commandments and pursuing holiness. What’s saddest here is that the Israelites aren’t even sinning in a moment of impulse, where they don’t think through the consequences. Samuel gives them a very clear warning–from God–about what’s in store for them if they continue down this path, and then they still reject God. I pray that all of us in TN will listen to the promptings toward obedience that God provides through the Holy Spirit, His word, our friends, etc. These are all our forms of Samuel–they’re ways God makes His appeal to us to stick with Him. As we talked about at our small group last night, we always have a choice when it comes to sinning. Let’s fight hard to strike back against sin!
Can’t wait for Revival!!!
I really liked this chapter!!! But the thing that I liked and got the most out of was not a specific verse but was just an idea and action!! Samuel was faced with grave trouble and a huge decision!!! What was the first thing that he did? HE prayed to God and sought the counsel of God !!! This is an awsome example for us!!! When we are faced with trouble and decisions, What is our first instinct?? Is it to freak out and tell everyone how hard your life is, Or is it to seek counsel with God and seek what His will is in that situation. I truly think that if we all do this and seek Gods plan in adversary the outcome will truly be differnet and will benefit Christ and us personally!!!!
that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Yes even though the Israelites are rejecting God as their king and are transferring their trust from God to man. God is still sovereign and this didn’t come as a surprise to him. When Jacob blessed his son Judah back in Genesis 49 he said, The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff between his feet. So God knew from the beginning this time would come and its all part of his plan. That why as Christians in seeminly bad times, just take confidence in the fact that God is fully aware of what is going on and his purposes cannot be thwarted.
My grandpa has had a stroke and may die, please pray he won’t die without
Christ as his Saviour.
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
This is a powerful statement from the Lord: if we choose to go against his warnings and then cry out to Him, He will not be there. Even though God is loving and patient and forgiving, He is also holy and just, disciplining those who sin against him. I pray that I would be constantly staying in the presence of the Lord and would always be living for his glory and how he wants me to live.
8 Days Til Revival!
As many of you have commented, it is sad to see the Israelites want to be like everyone else. They do not realize how awesome they had it to have God as their king! Yet, if we are honest, many of us are tempted to do this today. We want to be like the world and forget how awesome it is that we are God’s people!
I am praying that I will be satisfied with the Lordship of Jesus Christ and ready to follow him as the King of Kings!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
Verses 19-20 remind me of the prophecy the bible has about the end of the world and the rise of the Anti-christ. Much like the Israelites were looking for a king, there will be a turning point after the Rapture when the world will look towards a central figure for authority. The bible talks about how that powerful king (the anti-christ) will seem to bring peace when in reality he brings death. The problem with the Israelites is that they didn’t obey the LORD as their king. This chapter makes me want to serve and worship our God for the mighty King he is! He is worthy of our praise!!
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MARANATHA!!!!!! 8 Days ’till Winter REVIVAL!!!
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
Echoing Beth’s comment here, the Israelites wanted to be like all the other nations and have a kind instead of their holy God rule them. They wanted things of this world and wanted something that was “here and now”. I find myself doing that also though. Instead of trusting in God for everything and to take care of everything I trust in myself and am tempted by the world. It also stuck out to me how Samuel went straight to the Lord in prayer and not to others first. This reminds me of a past Girl’s Workshop about how I need to go to God with everything first in prayer and not go and confide in someone else first. I want to be going to the Lord first in everything.
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
The part of this verse that caught my eye was the “that we also may be like all the nations,”. This is definitely not what I want to be like….in fact, we were just talking about it in church! This is an example that I need to *not* follow. I am not of this world, and I better not act like I am!
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
The Israelites showed here their desire to conform. They had looked and seen how the other countries of the world conducted themselves. They saw how other countries had an appointed king, one human that would reign sovereign over all the rest of the people. And so the Israelites grew tired and impatient of relying on God as their sole leader. They wanted to change their government from a divine theocracy into that of the human-corrupted monarchy. I need to be careful of the desires of my flesh, that they are driving me to conform to the rest of the world. But I need to be actively fighting against all that is trying to bring me down. I need to seek to live a life totally apart from the world, that I am standing out as different. Just because everyone else is doing something, or because it is the popular thing to do, that doesn’t mean that I give in to following after it. All the days of my life, I need to be fighting against the conformity of the world, the cookie cutter that it is trying to use to shape me. I need to stand strong for God and what I know is right, that I won’t be pulled into the world, but that God may use me to pull others out of it!
this chapter reminded me of how Christians will try to blend in with the world…whether it is doing the same things, looking the same way, haveing the same desires…christians can for whatever reason, maybe to be cool or accepted, blend in….But we as believers are called to stand out…the truth is that we are not like the rest of the world and will/could never be…because we have something that they will never have…a relationship with the God of all creation….instead of trying to look like the world let us be holy, set apart…let us stand alone, seperated from this world, even while we are still living in it…that is my goal…to be holy
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
This verse shows me that God has a specific plan for us and knows what he wants us to do. Disobeying God obviously led the Israelites into some rough situations, and the results of going against God’s advice don’t change for us. our punishment would be the same as the Israelites’. This is a good reminder for me whenever I am tempted to sin. I cannot escape from sin unscathed.
3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
In addition to the main disappointing event of the chapter (Israel asking for a king), this verse stood out to me. Samuel’s sons were not motivated by honoring God. They wanted gain for themselves. This is always such a temptation in so many ways. I can be tempted to use my money for myself. I can be tempted to do things so people will notice me instead of the Lord. So much of what we keep reading draws me back to the verse in chapter 2, where God says, “The one that honors me I will honor.”
I should not seek honor or gain. I should seek to honor God.
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
What first strikes me about the Israelits is their stubbornness and even stupidity. Despite the judge system working out fine for them, they demand a king just like all the surrounding nations have. And even though Samuel (with a message from God) warns them that it will not be good, they stubbornly persist in their desire for a king. It is not surprising that the Lord was angry with them so much.
But when I take a step back, looking at their behavior, I have to ask myself whether I myself am any different. Although the Israelites’ situation was vastly different than mine, I find that sometimes I too act in the same way. I want something my way and–even though my conscience tells me no–I go ahead with it. Or, sometimes, when I’m presented with a warning, command, or good advice, I do not take heed, just as the Israelites did not there.
Having already read 1 and 2 Samuel (and 1 & 2 Kings), I know the outcome of their decision to have kings. Overall, it was not good! Understanding this from history (and all of this actually did happen), the wise choice for me to make would be to take the warning, to listen to the advice, to follow the Lord!
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
TALK ABOUT STUPID! Samuel tells Israel all of the things that will happen if they have a king, but the STILL insist on having one! This is sort of like how God warns us about what sin will do to out life, but we still continue to do it. Israel was granted their request in the end, and they got what they deserved…….we can look at this example of “not listening to God” and learn what happens when we dont obey Him.
“Trust in the LORD with all of your Heart and lean not on your own understanding…”
GREAT COMMENT LUKE! (:
And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
This really stood out to me. Samuel went STRAIGHT to the Lord to deal with his problems. I need to be more like Him and when i have an issue or i am in sin, i need to go directly to God with my problems and pray to Him. I cant go telling everyone and complaining to people, i must go to God! God will take care of my problems and he has a specific plan for my life and how i am going to live it. Praise the Lord for having a specific plan for my life. I need to go to God with my problems and trials in life. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 10:13. God will never let me be tempted beyond what i can bear so i must also trust Him with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.
8 days till revival! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:)
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
I love how Samuel goes straight to the Lord when he is displeased by the actions of the Israelites. He doesn’t argue, stop and gossip, or even seek counsel from others before he immediately turns to the Lord. Like others said, I want this atittude of COMPLETE dependence. I want my turning to God to be the first stop. If something comes up, I’m immediately going before the Lord in prayer. May I follow the example of Samuel and be completely dependent on my Lord.
1 Samuel 8
It’s unbelievable to think that after all the great deeds the Lord had done for Israel that they would turn from Him so easily. The people of Israel sought to be just like the rest of the world.
5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Not much has changed from the time of Samuel to today. The world has turned their backs to God to seek the world and all of its allure.
Like we see here with Samuel’s sons their street cred was lost because they chose a life of sin over God. Samuel’s sons betrayed their fathers teaching to also seek the world and its pleasures. I think that it’s quite ironic that the People of Israel wanted the very same thing that they were running from. They obviously did not trust God to deliver them from evil. I pray that those who are following sound teaching will head the warning here and not turn from God to the seduction of the world. I also pray that we would not defame the name of Christ by our actions and leading others astray.
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Only 1 and only God is our Lord and Savior He is the only one that can ever judge us and that will be on judgement day. They people did not listen to Samiel which was very bad and they didn’t listen to Him on what He said about what will happen. Obey the Lord in everything and listen to Him always.
Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them
i thought this verse was so interesting because today in age there are so few who are willing to accept christ and its so so sad to me to see all these people going to hell for eternity. I believe as christians today we need to more than EVER make deciples for christ because that is what our purpose in life is.