1 Samuel 8-31
A Desire to Depart from God’s Plan (1 Samuel 8:4-9)
They want God as their safety net but they are still primarily trusting in their own strength. They weren’t really concerned about Samuel, they just wanted something different. In fact Samuel was too centered on God. It cramped their style. Samuel’s sons might have been corrupt, but it was really God they were going against. God was supposed to be their real King!
A Warning that Detouring from God’s Plan Causes Slavery (1 Samuel 8:10-18)
They are wanting someone they can control, but don’t realize that a king will control them. The key word in this passage is “take”. The difference between a leader and a manager is a leader gives and a manager takes. Under a manager you may say, “The day was taken from me, I did nothing productive.” Under a leader you may say, “What a great day I’ve been given, I accomplished a lot.”
Slavery can come in many forms. If you desire to be married, that desire, while good, can become an obsession. If it becomes an obsession, you may not wait on God, you might marry the first person that comes along. Marriage can either be Smooth or Slavery! Sometimes it’s both, I hear from those counselees!
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world and the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Galatians 4:8 “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to Those that by nature are not gods.”
God will Sometimes Allow Lessons to be Learned the Hard Way (1 Samuel 8:19-22)
An example of this is what Paul tells the Roman church about the immorality they were focused on. Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen“
God may allow us to suffer, undergo great judgement, because we ask for it. It may be the way He grabs our attention!
God will Sometimes Give Us What We Want in Order for Us to See What We Need (1 Samuel 9:15-17; 10:1)
God Introduces Samuel to Saul and Saul Becomes King
Saul, a man from Benjamin, from a wealthy family.
Saul- starts well, finished poorly!
Paul- also from the tribe of Benjamin, started bad, finished well!
Saul’s journey
- Defeats the Ammonites 11:11
- Improper Offering 13:12-14 (He didn’t wait)
- Improper Obedience 15:22-25 (Instead of killing everything like God had asked, Saul brought back livestock for an offering. God wants our obedience more than an offering)
- Jealousy 18:12-16
- A Plot to Kill David Ch.19 (David’s wife helps him escape and Jonathan Warns him)
- Saul Slaughters Nob 22:19 (Ahimelech’s son escapes and tells David)
- Pursues David 23 (turns away because of an attack from the Philistines. David spares Saul’s life in Ch.24 cuts off a little section of his rode. David spares his life again Ch.26)
- Consults the Witch of En-dor Ch.28 (We’ll cover this in a sermon.)
- Saul Dies 31:4-7