In today’s passage we have the people of Israel rejecting God as their king, desiring instead to have a human king so that they can be like the people around them. To what degree do we as Christians seek to have a human king (our government) do the things that God has tasked us to do as His servants? Do we strive to get laws passed to coerce people to follow God’s commands rather than relying on His Spirit to change their hearts so that they desire to do His will? Do I act as if God is my king, to whom I owe total fealty?
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. However, his sons were greedy and accepted bribes to pervert justice. This led the leaders of Israel to come to Samuel to ask him to appoint a king over Israel, so that they could be like other nations. Samuel was unhappy about this request and sought the Lord’s guidance about how to respond. God answered Samuel that the request was not a rejection of Samuel, but a rejection of God as their king. God told Samuel to do as they ask, but to warn them about how a king would rule over them. Samuel then tells the people of Israel that a king will take their freedom from them, taking the best for his own use (the best people, the best land, the best produce, etc).
When I read this I am struck by how often we as Christians in democratic nations have chosen to turn to the government to address problems that we should turn to God to deal with. We, like the Israelites, are seeking a king to lead us rather than accepting God as our King. In the same way as Samuel warned the Israelites, when we ask the government to take on roles beyond those ordained for it by God, we subject ourselves to restrictions on our liberty. When we ask the government to care for the poor, we are rejecting God as our king and His call for us to do that ourselves. When we as Christians get involved in politics and attempt to get laws passed to force our non-Christian neighbors to follow God’s commands, we are rejecting God as king and His call for us to bring His transforming Spirit to our neighbors so that they will choose of their own free will to follow His commands. In what ways am I rejecting God as my king? There is one last piece to the Israelites request for a king. They wanted a king in order to be like everyone else. Am I willing to be different and have only God as my king?
The passage goes on to tell the story of how the Lord led Saul to meet Samuel. The story is a classic example of how God uses the mundane events of our lives to guide us to the place He wants us to be at the time He wants us to be there.
In the morning the crowd that Jesus had fed realized that Jesus was not there any longer, even though they knew that He had not gotten into the boat with His disciples. So, they crossed over the lake to Capernaum to look for Him. When they found Him, they asked when He had gotten there. Jesus responded that they were looking for Him, not because they understood His message, but because He had fed them. He told them (and us) that they should not put so much effort into things which will perish, rather they should focus on things which would endure. We should focus on that which feeds our spirits eternal life.
The people responded that they wished to perform the works of God and asked Jesus what they needed to do in order to do so? Jesus answered that God desired that they believe in the one He has sent. The crowd clearly understood that Jesus was saying that He was the one that God had sent because they asked Him for a sign that He was indeed the one sent by God. I find it very interesting that they use the Exodus story of the manna from heaven to justify their demand for a sign, the day after Jesus had miraculously provided food for them.
Jesus then tells them that it was not Moses who gave them bread from heaven, but God the Father. He goes on to say that now God is offering them the bread of God which gives life to the world. The crowd immediately asked Jesus to give them this bread all the time. To which Jesus replies that He is the bread of life. Those who come to Him will never be hungry, those who believe in Him will never be thirsty. He then tells them that they do not believe in Him, even though they have seen Him. But those whom the Father has given to Him will come to Him and He will not reject them. Jesus said that He had come down from heaven to do the will of God. It is the Father’s will that all who see the Son and believe in Him have eternal life. When Jesus said this the people began to mutter, “How can this be? We know his father and mother.”
How often do we reject something as being from God because we know the back story? Do we see how God is working through the mundane events in our life, or do we dismiss that as being merely coincidence? When someone tells us that God has shown them some revelation we would rather not hear, do we dismiss it because we know their background>
As I continue reading Psalm 106 today, the psalmist continues to talk about how the people of Israel sinned against God repeatedly, yet every time they cried out to Him He rescued them. In this section the psalmist tells us that the people worshiped idols, going so far as to sacrifice their sons and daughters to those idols; that they shed innocent blood. He goes on to tell us that because of this God’s anger burned against His people. Whenever I read such passages I cannot help but think of abortion in the United States. If God’s anger burned against His chosen people for sacrificing their innocent children to their idols, how much more will His anger burn against us for sacrificing our children to our idols? Abortion is infanticide. Our society sacrifices over one million innocent babies a year on the altars of the gods we worship (convenience, self interest, materialism, the list goes on). How long will God withhold His judgment for the shedding of innocent blood? How long will we as Christians turn to an earthly king (our government) to stop this evil before we turn to the King whom we claim to serve? The answer to stopping abortion is not earthly laws making it illegal. The answer is the Spirit of God moving in people’s hearts to change the way they view the world.
Despite their many sins, the psalmist tells us that when the people of God turned back to Him, He heard their cries and delivered them. It is not too late for us to repent of our sins, both as individuals and as a nation, and turn back to God. If we repent of our sins and turn to Him, He will hear our cry and redeem us. I will praise His name for He has redeemed me? Are you willing to serve Him, and Him alone, as your king?
What more can I say? This proverb fits right into what I wrote about the psalm. The only true measure of a nation’s greatness is its godliness. Greatness is not measured by military might, nor is it measured by wealth. True greatness is measured by how closely a person or nation heeds the will of God. Such behavior cannot be enforced by laws, but only by the choice of each individual who composes that nation to strive to do God’s will. Am I striving to do God’s will in all aspects of my life? Do I spend enough time listening to His commands?
If God is my king, as I say He is, am I a wise servant who causes Him to rejoice? Or am I a servant who brings disgrace to His name?