1 Samuel 8

1 Samuel 8

Morgan - Make us a king to judge us like all the nations.—1 Sam. 8.5. In this chapter we come to the dividing-line in the national history of the children of Israel. They had been created by God a Theocracy. That was the peculiar character and glory of their national life. They had no king other than Jehovah. In proportion as they had realized the ideal, they had witnessed to other nations as to the perfection of His government. Their realization had been, so far as they were concerned, most imperfect. Through persistent deflections, they had created the necessity for the raising up of the judges, and thus had approximated towards a human king. Now the hour came when they definitely asked for such a king. The very terms of their request revealed the evil of it. They asked for a king like the nations. Their glory and their power had 'consisted in their unlikeness to the nations in this very fact. By reason of their failure to submit them-selves completely to the rule of God, they had failed, themselves, to realize all the breadth and beneficence of that rule. And so they sought conformity to the ways of the nations. It was a sad fall. There is but one King who is able to govern humanity perfectly, and that is God. Man's only hope of realizing all freedom and all fulness of life is that of return to the Kingdom of God. Never will there be final peace and prosperity on earth, until humanity has rid itself of all human kings, and yielded to God as the one and only King. God has appeared in human history as Man, and He has appointed a day in which He will govern the world in righteousness through that Man. That is the fact which makes it certain that men will find liberty and life in all strength and fulness. (Borrow Life applications from every chapter of the Bible) 1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. BGT 1 Samuel 8:6 καὶ ἦν πονηρὸν τὸ ῥῆμα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς Σαμουηλ ὡς εἶπαν δὸς ἡμῖν βασιλέα δικάζειν ἡμᾶς καὶ προσηύξατο Σαμουηλ πρὸς κύριον KJV 1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. NET 1 Samuel 8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for they said, "Give us a king to lead us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. CSB 1 Samuel 8:6 When they said, "Give us a king to judge us," Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the LORD. ESV 1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. NIV 1 Samuel 8:6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. NLT 1 Samuel 8:6 Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance. NRS 1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." Samuel prayed to the LORD, displeasing: Heb. was evil in the eyes of, 1Sa 12:17 prayed: 1Sa 15:11 Ex 32:21,32 Nu 16:15,22,46 Ezr 9:3-5 Ps 109:4 Lu 6:11,12 Php 4:6 Jas 1:5 1 Samuel 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries' Related Passage: Psalm 95:1-3 O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, SAMUEL UPSET BY REQUEST FOR KING But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us" - Literally this says, “the thing was evil in Samuel’s eyes.” (1Sa 8:6YLT) Samuel was the judge of Israel (1Sa 7:15-17+), so this request is somewhat of a personal affront! "The Discerning Ear of the Prophet of God Immediately Recognizes Deviation from God’s Program." (Apple) Remember that these are the tail end of the days of Judges where the "national motto" had been "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Jdg 21:25) It was not that the people really needed a king to "judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles" (1Sa 8:20). God Himself had been their King, and had gone before them and fought their battles whenever they were faithful to Him. But they deliberately rejected this theocratic kingdom, and the judges that God had raised up, in order that they "may be like all the nations" (1Sa 8:20). As a result of their complaining, God "gave them their request; but sent leanness into their souls" (Ps 106:15), just as He had done in the wilderness when they complained about their food. Discontent often leads to disobedience. Wycliffe Bible Commentary (borrow) comments that "Samuel was personally affected by the request. To be told, after a lifetime of service, that his sons were unworthy to succeed him was most distressing. And to be superseded by another after years of faithful service was a terrific blow to his sensitive spirit." John Walton - The leaders of Israel have decided that they want a permanent head of government empowered with centralized authority over the tribes and commanding a standing army. They have concluded that their organization as a federation of tribes has put them at a military disadvantage. They believe that a king with a trained standing army at his command will level the playing field and enable them to successfully defend their land. They have been mistaken in assessing their problem as a political problem and consequently opting for a political solution. What Samuel seeks to clarify for them is that their problem is not political but spiritual. Their political solution will solve nothing unless it is accompanied by a spiritual solution. (IVPBBC - OT) Brian Bell - Forced retirement because of his age. No one ever had a complaint about him(1Sa 12:2-5). He had faithfully discharged his duties. What ingratitude! The thing displeased Samuel - How do you handle rejection? How would you forced retirement? Let’s draw the comparison between how 2 bible characters handled rejection!1 Cain - The Wrong response to Rejection! Some common responses to rejection are: aggression, resentment, negative attitudes. God approved Abel’s sacrifice but did not accept what Cain had offered to him. He gave Cain the opportunity of discussing his feelings. Gen.4:6,7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” By doing this God gave him the chance to benefit from talking matters out & settings things right. “Cain, you can deal w/your resentment. You can offer the proper sacrifices & enjoy My acceptance as before.” But, Cain would not admit his error, nor offer the proper sacrifices. He wanted acceptance on his own terms. (def. for religion) Cain had 3 courses of action before him: (1) Go-In! (Internalize) - Bottle it. Turn the hurt of rejection inward & inflict punishment for his feelings of guilt upon himself. This self-inflicted hurt might have made him feel (temporarily) that he had atoned for the wrong he had done. It sounds like this…“I feel bad, what else do you want from me?” (2) Go-Out! (Externalize) - Blame others. This is when you project your attitude outward. He could have blamed his damaged emotions on someone/something else. (3) Go-Up! (Revitalize) - See himself as God sees him. Cain could have sought to restore his relationship with the Lord. Cain choose curtain #2 - He chose to project his anger outward. The person who is angry is always right in his/her own eyes. The final act of the drama takes place when God appeared & asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said he didn’t know, but then projected his blame for Abel’s death on God, “Am I my brothers keeper?” meaning, “aren’t you supposed to be?” Brian Bell - Samuel - The Right response to Rejection! This displeased Samuel...so Samuel prayed! He immediately took matters to the Lord. He didn’t argue w/them & pray afterwards! He 1st retreated where he laid the whole matter before the One who had commissioned him to lead his people. By praying he was able to let go of the problem, reassure himself of his standing before the Lord, & receive a new perspective on the situation. In Samuel’s attitude & actions we have the secret of overcoming the debilitating effects of rejection! (1) By prayer we are able to discuss everything w/the Lord. By prayer we are able to tell him exactly how we feel & why. (3) By prayer we are able to receive an entirely new perspective that keeps us from harboring resentment & blaming others for our situations. (4) By prayer we are able to receive new direction. As Samuel prayed, the Lord was able to encourage him. (See 1Sa 8:7) This new perspective took the sting out of what had happened & kept Samuel from nursing a grievance. Samuel also received explicit instructions from the Lord (1Sa 8:9) 3. All too often we argue first & pray later! And Samuel prayed to the LORD - Instead of arguing with the people, Samuel “prayed to the LORD” Samuel was a man of prayer as we have seen and so he speaks to the heavenly King about Israel's request for an earthly king. Samuel did was what his mother did, what he saw his mother do, and what he had learned to do all his life -- he prayed - when he led the revival early in his ministry (1Sa 7:5), when he underwent this crisis midway in his ministry (1Sa 8:6), and when he bid them farewell in his twilight years (1Sa 12:19, 23). Samuel was attested by prophet Jeremiah as a great man of prayer (Jer 15:1). THOUGHT - What an example Samuel presents! When you don't know what to do, who do you go to? Do you go to other men or do you go to God? What do you do when someone argues with you over a relatively "big" decision (buying a house in a certain neighborhood, etc). Next time why don't you (and I).....Practice the prophet's pattern - pray to the LORD! F B