1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,640 All right, let's go ahead and start our Bible study here this evening. 10 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:29,200 We're in First Samuel, chapter eight. 11 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:31,560 First Samuel, chapter eight. 12 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,320 And if you were with us last week, you'll remember, hopefully. 13 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,160 And if you weren't, I'll recap with you the best that I can, that 14 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,640 Israel had a battle, that they were fighting against the Philistines. 15 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:48,040 And because of God's power and because ultimately God's protection 16 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,440 and provision, they were able to win that battle. 17 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,800 And there was great celebration and there was a great 18 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,800 turn to the truth there. 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:56,480 And. 20 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:58,520 And one might think that that's where they would stay. 21 00:00:59,240 --> 00:00:59,560 And. 22 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:04,360 And actually verses 15, 16 and 17 of chapter 7 give us good news 23 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,600 that Samuel was judging Israel all the days of his life, and it 24 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,720 seemed like everything was running well, and they built an altar 25 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,680 unto the Lord, and all's well that ends well. 26 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,400 But the truth is, is that it didn't end well there at that point 27 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,120 in time, because the very next chapter, we see that Samuel makes 28 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:20,600 a decision. 29 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,840 And though Samuel is a very godly man throughout the Scriptures, 30 00:01:25,430 --> 00:01:29,190 he does make a poor decision by allowing his sons to judge. 31 00:01:29,670 --> 00:01:32,070 His sons were not qualified to be judges. 32 00:01:32,390 --> 00:01:34,990 And there's going to be some issues with that which is going to 33 00:01:34,990 --> 00:01:39,070 lead to the people of Israel being discontented with the situation 34 00:01:39,070 --> 00:01:41,389 that they're in, which is going to lead the people to seek 35 00:01:41,389 --> 00:01:42,950 after their will and not God's will. 36 00:01:42,950 --> 00:01:43,790 So let's look at that here. 37 00:01:43,790 --> 00:01:46,910 First Samuel, chapter eight says, and it came to pass when Samuel 38 00:01:46,910 --> 00:01:50,150 was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 39 00:01:50,150 --> 00:01:53,860 And so at this point in time, Samuel had been judging Israel for 40 00:01:53,860 --> 00:01:54,780 a very long time. 41 00:01:54,860 --> 00:01:57,980 And remember, with a judge, it's not the same as a king. 42 00:01:58,220 --> 00:02:01,780 A king holds leadership when it comes to political things, or 43 00:02:01,780 --> 00:02:04,540 in this case, a judge was just there to help them with certain things, 44 00:02:04,940 --> 00:02:06,780 rule over some spiritual matters. 45 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:10,820 And so at this point in time, Samuel is trusting his sons with 46 00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:13,500 that same role, that same leadership over Israel. 47 00:02:13,660 --> 00:02:17,300 But verse two tells us the name of his firstborn was Joel and 48 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:21,700 the name of his second, Abaya, and they were judges in Beersheba. 49 00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:25,060 Verse 3, though, tells us, okay, they were there. 50 00:02:25,700 --> 00:02:28,820 They were doing the work of a judge, but they were doing it in 51 00:02:28,820 --> 00:02:29,620 a corrupt way. 52 00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:30,340 Verse 3. 53 00:02:30,340 --> 00:02:32,340 And his sons walk not in his way. 54 00:02:32,340 --> 00:02:34,420 So they didn't follow the path of Samuel. 55 00:02:34,820 --> 00:02:37,420 And I've heard a lot of sermons preached about how maybe 56 00:02:37,420 --> 00:02:38,660 Samuel was a bad father. 57 00:02:38,660 --> 00:02:39,940 We don't know for sure. 58 00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:42,740 Ultimately we don't have all of that. 59 00:02:43,140 --> 00:02:45,220 Fill in the blanks there throughout the. 60 00:02:45,220 --> 00:02:45,860 The Scriptures. 61 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:48,420 But all we do know is that they weren't following the way of 62 00:02:48,420 --> 00:02:48,820 their father. 63 00:02:48,820 --> 00:02:52,420 They didn't follow God, they didn't seek God's counsel, they weren't 64 00:02:52,420 --> 00:02:53,540 walking in the truth. 65 00:02:53,700 --> 00:02:56,380 And it says that specifically what they fell into. 66 00:02:56,380 --> 00:03:00,020 And this is often what spiritual leaders do fall into. 67 00:03:00,020 --> 00:03:03,500 And it's these things that we see over and over again plaguing 68 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:04,460 individuals in Scripture. 69 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:07,380 And he says, his son's not walked in his ways, but turned aside 70 00:03:07,380 --> 00:03:08,420 after lucre. 71 00:03:08,740 --> 00:03:11,460 And so remember we talked about the New Testament principle, 72 00:03:11,460 --> 00:03:13,820 for the love of money is the root of all evil. 73 00:03:13,820 --> 00:03:15,660 And so they, they're desiring this money. 74 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:18,860 They love the money, and therefore they were corrupted with 75 00:03:18,860 --> 00:03:19,140 the money. 76 00:03:19,140 --> 00:03:22,740 And it says, and they took bribes and perverted judgment. 77 00:03:23,220 --> 00:03:26,180 And so the Bible tells us very clearly here where their heart was. 78 00:03:26,180 --> 00:03:28,300 It wasn't like they had good hearts and they just weren't good 79 00:03:28,300 --> 00:03:28,580 leaders. 80 00:03:29,220 --> 00:03:31,460 Their hearts were turned over to sin. 81 00:03:31,460 --> 00:03:34,140 And so he was wrong for appointing his sons. 82 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:34,340 Why? 83 00:03:34,340 --> 00:03:34,980 Because they. 84 00:03:35,380 --> 00:03:38,700 Maybe Samuel wasn't objectively looking at his sons or 85 00:03:38,700 --> 00:03:41,380 he excused their sin, but nonetheless they were not qualified. 86 00:03:41,950 --> 00:03:45,830 And so what's happened here in their sin has allowed the people 87 00:03:45,830 --> 00:03:48,510 of Israel to be discontented with the leadership. 88 00:03:48,590 --> 00:03:52,190 And where there's discontent, comes opportunities to clamor, comes 89 00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:56,110 opportunities to complain, comes opportunities to fall into 90 00:03:56,110 --> 00:03:56,990 discontentment. 91 00:03:56,990 --> 00:03:59,070 So let's see what happens in verse number four. 92 00:03:59,070 --> 00:04:01,950 Says, then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together 93 00:04:02,430 --> 00:04:04,510 and came to Samuel unto Ramah. 94 00:04:05,070 --> 00:04:08,870 And so all the elders, all the leaders of Israel, all the different 95 00:04:08,870 --> 00:04:11,270 folks that have been there for a long time come together and they 96 00:04:11,270 --> 00:04:11,950 say, you know what? 97 00:04:12,300 --> 00:04:13,780 These guys are not fit to lead. 98 00:04:13,780 --> 00:04:14,340 Verse 5. 99 00:04:14,340 --> 00:04:18,340 And said unto him, behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not 100 00:04:18,340 --> 00:04:18,980 in thy ways. 101 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:22,420 So they basically say this to Samuel, you're not capable of leading 102 00:04:22,420 --> 00:04:24,380 and your sons are not capable of leading. 103 00:04:24,860 --> 00:04:30,460 And then they say this, now make us a king to judge us like all 104 00:04:30,460 --> 00:04:31,340 the nations. 105 00:04:31,740 --> 00:04:35,100 Now, there's a lot to be said here, because while it might have 106 00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:39,500 been wise for the elders to reject Samuel's sons as leaders, 107 00:04:39,980 --> 00:04:43,300 it was wrong for them to say in this motivation because essentially 108 00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:43,980 it's not this. 109 00:04:44,060 --> 00:04:46,060 We want godly men leading us. 110 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:49,500 They say, we want to have a king like all the other nations. 111 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:52,300 And so essentially what the Israelites are doing is they're wanting 112 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:55,900 to assimilate to be like all the other nations that are around 113 00:04:55,900 --> 00:04:56,220 them. 114 00:04:56,220 --> 00:04:57,780 They say we want to be like them. 115 00:04:57,780 --> 00:05:02,100 We see them having success, we see them having victories, even though 116 00:05:02,100 --> 00:05:04,060 they just came off of a huge victory. 117 00:05:04,300 --> 00:05:05,980 And we want what they have. 118 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:10,300 And so ultimately we see that God does have a plan to bring a king 119 00:05:10,380 --> 00:05:12,300 into the nation of Israel. 120 00:05:12,300 --> 00:05:14,220 But they want to get ahead of the game. 121 00:05:14,300 --> 00:05:15,740 They want to do it their way. 122 00:05:16,060 --> 00:05:19,860 And so the reason Israel wanted a king was wrong. 123 00:05:19,860 --> 00:05:22,820 It wasn't that they wanted the king, it was the reason they wanted 124 00:05:22,820 --> 00:05:23,260 the king. 125 00:05:23,580 --> 00:05:26,420 And so obviously if they sought after God's king, it would 126 00:05:26,420 --> 00:05:27,660 have been fine, it would have been great. 127 00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:31,090 But instead of saying, God, we want you to bring us a king that 128 00:05:31,090 --> 00:05:33,770 you want for us, they said, we want our king. 129 00:05:34,090 --> 00:05:36,730 And so it's the motivation behind it. 130 00:05:37,530 --> 00:05:41,690 And so we, we often get in trouble in our lives when we want 131 00:05:41,690 --> 00:05:44,170 to be like the world, when we want to have the same things that 132 00:05:44,170 --> 00:05:44,730 the world has. 133 00:05:44,730 --> 00:05:48,250 And it basically assimilate them into our culture, into our thought 134 00:05:48,250 --> 00:05:51,010 process, into our actions, into our lifestyles. 135 00:05:51,010 --> 00:05:54,130 And so essentially what we see is the nation of Israel wants to 136 00:05:54,130 --> 00:05:55,130 be like the world. 137 00:05:55,130 --> 00:05:59,550 And we see over and over again in scripture the call to be away 138 00:05:59,550 --> 00:06:00,230 from the world. 139 00:06:00,470 --> 00:06:02,510 Romans chapter 12 tells us to. 140 00:06:02,510 --> 00:06:06,630 To be transformed, not conformed to the image of this world. 141 00:06:06,870 --> 00:06:09,950 And so the Bible tells us clearly that they are wrong because 142 00:06:09,950 --> 00:06:11,590 they want to be like everybody else. 143 00:06:11,990 --> 00:06:14,430 Now it would be one thing of all the nations around them were 144 00:06:14,430 --> 00:06:15,310 honoring the true God. 145 00:06:15,310 --> 00:06:18,270 But all the nations around them were living in materialistic 146 00:06:18,270 --> 00:06:18,510 ways. 147 00:06:18,510 --> 00:06:20,190 They were living in pagan society. 148 00:06:20,190 --> 00:06:21,710 They were living with violence. 149 00:06:21,710 --> 00:06:23,070 They were living for themselves. 150 00:06:23,070 --> 00:06:25,590 And so they wanted to be just like the world. 151 00:06:25,590 --> 00:06:27,190 And so they said, we want a king. 152 00:06:27,990 --> 00:06:30,110 And they wanted more than a judge. 153 00:06:30,110 --> 00:06:32,070 They wanted more than what God was giving them. 154 00:06:32,230 --> 00:06:33,510 They wanted something different. 155 00:06:33,510 --> 00:06:37,710 They become distaste, distasteful in their desires. 156 00:06:37,710 --> 00:06:39,670 And I think that that's sometimes what we do with our. 157 00:06:39,750 --> 00:06:40,750 With our Christian walk. 158 00:06:40,750 --> 00:06:44,230 We think, lord, you've given us this, but I'm discontent. 159 00:06:44,230 --> 00:06:44,790 I want this. 160 00:06:44,950 --> 00:06:46,870 I want something better, I want something more. 161 00:06:46,870 --> 00:06:47,750 I want something different. 162 00:06:47,910 --> 00:06:51,910 And the Bible speaks of how we should be content, even in Philippians 163 00:06:51,910 --> 00:06:55,230 chapter four, Paul, that speaks of the blessing of being content 164 00:06:55,230 --> 00:06:56,670 in all things that God gives us. 165 00:06:56,670 --> 00:06:59,790 But nonetheless, the Israelites are not content with what 166 00:06:59,790 --> 00:07:01,390 God had given them. 167 00:07:01,390 --> 00:07:03,710 And so we move a little bit further here, Verse six. 168 00:07:03,710 --> 00:07:05,310 But the thing displeased Samuel. 169 00:07:05,310 --> 00:07:08,350 So obviously Samuel recognizes that this is a bad decision. 170 00:07:09,230 --> 00:07:14,190 Samuel is still spiritually focused enough to see that these 171 00:07:14,190 --> 00:07:17,230 people wanting this type of king with this type of motivation 172 00:07:17,390 --> 00:07:18,990 is a completely wrong decision. 173 00:07:19,430 --> 00:07:22,630 And they're going to fall into a trap of pride, they're going to 174 00:07:22,630 --> 00:07:24,550 fall into a trap of destruction. 175 00:07:24,710 --> 00:07:26,110 So he says they're this. 176 00:07:26,110 --> 00:07:30,070 It displeased Samuel when they say, give us a king to judge us. 177 00:07:30,230 --> 00:07:33,230 And Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and so Samuel does the right 178 00:07:33,230 --> 00:07:33,590 thing. 179 00:07:34,310 --> 00:07:37,030 So when the people come to Samuel and say, samuel, we want a 180 00:07:37,030 --> 00:07:37,430 king. 181 00:07:37,750 --> 00:07:39,750 We want to be like everybody else. 182 00:07:39,750 --> 00:07:42,830 Instead of Samuel just telling them no, or instead of Samuel just 183 00:07:42,830 --> 00:07:45,670 doing it for them, he goes and he prays to the Lord. 184 00:07:45,670 --> 00:07:47,240 And so he does the right thing. 185 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:51,720 Anytime someone else is displeased, or this is actually a 186 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,440 lesson for all of us, even when we're displeased, the first 187 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,240 place that we should go is to the place of prayer. 188 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,800 And that's what he does there in verse number six. 189 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:00,680 He's displeased. 190 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,720 Instead of complaining, instead of losing his control, instead 191 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,760 of doing anything, he goes to the Lord. 192 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,480 And I think that that's an important lesson for all of us to 193 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:10,040 learn in our life. 194 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,800 Because for me, when I'm displeased, I often don't go to the 195 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:13,160 Lord. 196 00:08:13,420 --> 00:08:15,420 When I'm displeased, I often go to my feelings. 197 00:08:15,580 --> 00:08:17,020 I go to my circumstances. 198 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:20,740 I might want to complain to someone around me so that they'll 199 00:08:20,740 --> 00:08:21,740 complain with me. 200 00:08:21,820 --> 00:08:25,100 But the idea would be here is that when someone displeases me by 201 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:28,220 their actions, I should turn to the Lord and ask the Lord to give 202 00:08:28,220 --> 00:08:30,140 me wisdom on how to deal with this. 203 00:08:30,220 --> 00:08:34,180 This discomfort that they're bringing me or this anger that they're 204 00:08:34,180 --> 00:08:34,580 bringing me. 205 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:37,220 Or just in general, maybe, maybe I'm the wrong one. 206 00:08:37,220 --> 00:08:39,860 Maybe I'm the one that's in sin and maybe I need to get this 207 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:40,060 right. 208 00:08:40,060 --> 00:08:42,590 So coming to the Lord is really the best answer here. 209 00:08:42,590 --> 00:08:44,990 And so he says here, I'm going to come to the Lord. 210 00:08:44,990 --> 00:08:48,150 I'm going to ask the Lord to give me strength and give me wisdom 211 00:08:48,230 --> 00:08:49,910 on what to do next. 212 00:08:50,470 --> 00:08:51,950 Verse number seven. 213 00:08:51,950 --> 00:08:55,590 And the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people 214 00:08:55,590 --> 00:09:00,230 in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected 215 00:09:00,230 --> 00:09:00,630 thee. 216 00:09:00,710 --> 00:09:05,390 So, so remember, Samuel's upset that basically they rejected 217 00:09:05,390 --> 00:09:06,310 him and his decisions. 218 00:09:06,310 --> 00:09:08,160 Like, we don't want you to judge us anymore. 219 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:09,400 We don't want your sons to judge us. 220 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:10,160 We want a king. 221 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:11,440 So Samuel's upset. 222 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:11,680 He. 223 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:13,840 He's taking this personal, right? 224 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,480 If, if we were going to put it in our words today, he's taking this 225 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:16,800 personal. 226 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,400 And then verse number seven, God tells him, hey, let them have 227 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:21,680 what they're asking for. 228 00:09:22,639 --> 00:09:23,000 Why? 229 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,880 Because they're not rejecting you. 230 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,520 But they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 231 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,080 And so God told Samuel to let the people have what they want. 232 00:09:34,700 --> 00:09:37,980 And this was not because their request was a good thing or part 233 00:09:37,980 --> 00:09:41,700 of the, the good, obedient path that God had intended them to 234 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:44,620 follow, but essentially it's to teach them a lesson. 235 00:09:44,620 --> 00:09:45,740 And that's what God does. 236 00:09:46,060 --> 00:09:49,100 Sometimes we insist to have something against God's will, and 237 00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:52,220 as the Bible teaches us in the Old and the New Testament, that God 238 00:09:52,220 --> 00:09:54,700 will eventually turn us over to the things that we desire. 239 00:09:54,700 --> 00:09:55,900 And that's what's happening here. 240 00:09:56,540 --> 00:09:59,620 God does have a plan for a king in the right way at the right 241 00:09:59,620 --> 00:09:59,820 time. 242 00:09:59,820 --> 00:10:01,600 But they want something now. 243 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:02,560 They're not patient. 244 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:04,160 They're not wanting God's timing. 245 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,000 They're not wanting God's way. 246 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:06,960 They're wanting their way. 247 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,120 So God says to Samuel, don't take it personal. 248 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:10,040 They're coming against me. 249 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,120 They're not coming against you. 250 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,240 They're rejecting me. 251 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:13,280 They're not rejecting you. 252 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,640 And then that reminds me of one of the teachings that Jesus gives 253 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,360 in the New Testament when he says, hey, don't worry about when 254 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,080 they hate you, because really they're not hating you. 255 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:22,960 They're hating me. 256 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:24,240 And you're just with me. 257 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,320 And that's really the idea here, is that God is giving comfort 258 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,680 to Samuel, saying, Samuel, don't take this personally. 259 00:10:30,350 --> 00:10:32,070 Don't take this in a way that they hate you. 260 00:10:32,070 --> 00:10:32,310 They. 261 00:10:32,310 --> 00:10:33,630 They are against me. 262 00:10:33,790 --> 00:10:34,990 They're rejecting me. 263 00:10:35,310 --> 00:10:38,110 And so God tells them, hey, you can have that. 264 00:10:38,110 --> 00:10:38,350 You. 265 00:10:38,350 --> 00:10:39,950 If you want a king, you can have a king. 266 00:10:40,510 --> 00:10:41,950 And so it's to teach them a lesson. 267 00:10:41,950 --> 00:10:45,150 It's to allow them to see the fleshly path and what that brings 268 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:45,430 for them. 269 00:10:45,430 --> 00:10:48,030 And so in many ways, this is a matter of, of timing. 270 00:10:48,190 --> 00:10:52,510 God knew Israel would have a king, but he wanted to give them 271 00:10:52,510 --> 00:10:53,710 a king in his own way. 272 00:10:53,710 --> 00:10:58,440 But because Israel demanded a king out of fleshly reasons, God 273 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,200 allows them to have a bad king. 274 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:02,760 And we're going to see that the, the first king is a bad king. 275 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,200 Saul is not a king that seeks after the will of God. 276 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,120 And so Israel will get what they want and it will hurt them. 277 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,960 And that's what happens with us in our own life, when we desire 278 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,920 our own way, we're going to eventually find that that way is 279 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,040 not going to be satisfying. 280 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,080 That way is not going to bring us the type of contentment that we 281 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:22,360 think that it's going to bring. 282 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,030 And so the Bible very clearly teaches here that they had went astray 283 00:11:26,030 --> 00:11:28,670 and God had allowed them to turn over to that path. 284 00:11:28,910 --> 00:11:30,350 It's not that God's limited. 285 00:11:30,350 --> 00:11:32,750 It's not like God's limited by any of our decisions. 286 00:11:32,990 --> 00:11:35,790 Ultimately, God can do whatever he wants to do. 287 00:11:35,790 --> 00:11:37,390 And, and we, we are limited. 288 00:11:37,390 --> 00:11:38,350 He's not limited. 289 00:11:38,590 --> 00:11:43,030 But there are times when God does allow for an individual to fall 290 00:11:43,030 --> 00:11:45,590 into a place of sin because that's where their heart is going 291 00:11:45,590 --> 00:11:45,910 after. 292 00:11:45,910 --> 00:11:47,310 That's what they're desiring. 293 00:11:47,550 --> 00:11:51,630 And so God had a purpose in not giving a king at that point. 294 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,800 But again, it's God's timing. 295 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:56,040 God's timing is the best. 296 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,320 And sometimes I will even in my life struggle to certain capacities 297 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,240 because I say, lord, I know that you want me to do this, but 298 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:04,200 I don't want to wait. 299 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:05,400 I want it now. 300 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:06,880 I want it to come my way. 301 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,880 I want it to come with my framework of thinking. 302 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,280 And the Bible says that sometimes God does have a good plan 303 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,320 for us, but it might mean that we have to wait, that we have to 304 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,480 be patient, that we have to wait upon the Lord. 305 00:12:18,350 --> 00:12:19,310 And so he. 306 00:12:19,310 --> 00:12:23,150 He says, samuel, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting 307 00:12:23,150 --> 00:12:23,470 me. 308 00:12:24,030 --> 00:12:27,750 And so Israel forgot about God by asking for a king. 309 00:12:27,750 --> 00:12:30,230 They turned their backs against the Lord and said, we want 310 00:12:30,230 --> 00:12:32,030 something that you're not giving us. 311 00:12:32,190 --> 00:12:34,910 Verse 8, according to all the works which they have done since 312 00:12:34,910 --> 00:12:39,070 the day that I brought them up out of Egypt unto this day. 313 00:12:40,350 --> 00:12:44,800 And so he says here, they've rejected me, they've rejected me 314 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,800 that verse seven, and that I should not reign over them. 315 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,720 And then what he's basically saying in verse 8 is this, after 316 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,280 all that I've done for them, after everything that I've done, 317 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:59,560 time after time being faithful, time after time with delivering 318 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,200 them, they still don't want me to reign over them because they think 319 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:03,240 they have a better plan. 320 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:05,960 You see that there in verse eight, he says, according to all 321 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,840 the works which they have done since the day that I brought them 322 00:13:09,270 --> 00:13:11,430 up out of Egypt unto this day. 323 00:13:11,910 --> 00:13:14,950 And so he reminds Samuel, this very thing, I brought them out of 324 00:13:14,950 --> 00:13:15,310 Egypt. 325 00:13:15,310 --> 00:13:19,270 But again, that's not enough for them, wherewith they have forsaken 326 00:13:19,270 --> 00:13:21,310 me and served other gods. 327 00:13:21,310 --> 00:13:23,190 So do they also unto Thee. 328 00:13:23,190 --> 00:13:23,910 So he says this. 329 00:13:23,990 --> 00:13:26,230 Don't be surprised when they turn their backs against you and 330 00:13:26,230 --> 00:13:28,030 go to somebody else, because that's what they've done against 331 00:13:28,030 --> 00:13:28,390 me. 332 00:13:29,030 --> 00:13:32,590 Basically, Israel time and time again had been unfaithful to 333 00:13:32,590 --> 00:13:33,030 the Lord. 334 00:13:33,670 --> 00:13:36,030 They, they had committed spiritual adultery. 335 00:13:36,030 --> 00:13:40,500 The whole book of Hosea talks about that, about how God is the 336 00:13:40,500 --> 00:13:44,540 faithful bridegroom, and the bride, who at that time was Israel, 337 00:13:44,540 --> 00:13:48,140 was unfaithful to her husband and therefore turned their backs 338 00:13:48,140 --> 00:13:49,740 and turned to the ways of the world. 339 00:13:49,900 --> 00:13:50,940 And that's what they do. 340 00:13:50,940 --> 00:13:52,580 They turn to the pagan gods. 341 00:13:52,580 --> 00:13:54,940 They serve other gods instead of serving the Lord. 342 00:13:55,820 --> 00:13:59,740 And so there, there is this sense of how they reject the Lord 343 00:13:59,740 --> 00:14:02,900 and the Lord does what he does to them by allowing them to have 344 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:03,620 their wants. 345 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:05,260 And we'll see how that goes. 346 00:14:05,260 --> 00:14:05,700 Verse 9. 347 00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:07,420 Now, therefore, hearken unto their voice. 348 00:14:07,750 --> 00:14:11,310 Howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner 349 00:14:11,310 --> 00:14:13,510 of the king that shall reign over them. 350 00:14:13,510 --> 00:14:17,790 So here is the again, an amazing truth about who God is is 351 00:14:17,790 --> 00:14:21,950 that even in his condemnation against the nation of Israel, he's 352 00:14:21,950 --> 00:14:24,470 allowing them to have a place of repentance. 353 00:14:24,870 --> 00:14:26,670 He says, okay, they want a king. 354 00:14:26,670 --> 00:14:28,110 Tell them what that king will be like. 355 00:14:28,110 --> 00:14:29,990 Give them a chance to turn away from it. 356 00:14:30,310 --> 00:14:33,830 God is merciful and he's gracious and he's patient. 357 00:14:34,070 --> 00:14:37,910 And time after time he should be giving the judgment to Israel. 358 00:14:37,910 --> 00:14:40,830 But yet he says there, protest solemnly unto them and show them 359 00:14:40,830 --> 00:14:42,870 the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 360 00:14:42,870 --> 00:14:45,110 He says, give them a chance to turn away from this. 361 00:14:45,270 --> 00:14:46,870 Give them a chance to repent. 362 00:14:47,430 --> 00:14:48,950 And, and we know that they don't. 363 00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:53,190 But obviously the information that Samuel is going to give to the 364 00:14:53,190 --> 00:14:54,470 people doesn't change their heart. 365 00:14:54,470 --> 00:14:56,150 It doesn't change what they want. 366 00:14:56,150 --> 00:14:57,270 They want what they want. 367 00:14:57,270 --> 00:14:59,510 And they're going to give, and they're going to give, and they're 368 00:14:59,510 --> 00:15:01,920 going to give everything, every reason why they think they 369 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:02,400 should have this. 370 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,320 But ultimately God is going to give them what they deserve. 371 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,000 And so if Israel chose this course, God says, hey there, you 372 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,080 need to be informed with this. 373 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:10,320 You. 374 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,320 You need to know what you're going to get into. 375 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,760 And they are forewarned. 376 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:15,960 And so he says, warn them. 377 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,600 Protest solemnly unto them. 378 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,440 And so God always warns us about the dangers of our decisions. 379 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,120 God always warns us about what the fruit will be when we turn to 380 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,750 the fleshly desires and be assimilated to the world and conform 381 00:15:28,750 --> 00:15:31,830 to the world and really compromise ourselves to the ways 382 00:15:31,830 --> 00:15:32,230 of the world. 383 00:15:32,230 --> 00:15:35,350 And I. I could pause there and, and I Want to think about it 384 00:15:35,350 --> 00:15:35,990 for a minute? 385 00:15:36,310 --> 00:15:37,390 What does that look like today? 386 00:15:37,390 --> 00:15:40,190 Because obviously sometimes we look at the nation of Israel and 387 00:15:40,190 --> 00:15:41,350 we think, well, that was them. 388 00:15:41,510 --> 00:15:42,790 We would never do that. 389 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:44,390 We don't struggle with this. 390 00:15:44,470 --> 00:15:47,230 But what we see is that sometimes as Christians within the 391 00:15:47,230 --> 00:15:48,990 church, we want the things that the world has. 392 00:15:48,990 --> 00:15:51,710 And so we're willing to compromise our Christian values. 393 00:15:51,710 --> 00:15:54,710 We're willing to compromise the word of God so that we can have 394 00:15:54,710 --> 00:15:58,430 the things that everyone else has, so that we can seem to be as 395 00:15:58,430 --> 00:15:59,830 successful as everybody else. 396 00:16:00,470 --> 00:16:03,390 And the truth is, is that many times we do the very same thing that 397 00:16:03,390 --> 00:16:04,150 Israel does. 398 00:16:04,390 --> 00:16:08,430 We say, lord, we know that you have a plan for us, but we have a 399 00:16:08,430 --> 00:16:08,910 better plan. 400 00:16:08,910 --> 00:16:09,230 We. 401 00:16:09,230 --> 00:16:10,910 We think that we can handle it this way. 402 00:16:10,910 --> 00:16:14,070 And instead of searching after God's will, we basically do this. 403 00:16:14,310 --> 00:16:15,350 This is what we want. 404 00:16:15,350 --> 00:16:16,230 God bless it. 405 00:16:17,030 --> 00:16:17,670 So some. 406 00:16:17,750 --> 00:16:19,950 Some of us have done that, maybe in our own life. 407 00:16:19,950 --> 00:16:22,190 We've just said, I know that this is the right decision. 408 00:16:22,430 --> 00:16:25,110 I haven't sought the Lord's Prayer in prayer with this. 409 00:16:25,110 --> 00:16:26,510 I haven't sought God's will in this. 410 00:16:26,590 --> 00:16:28,750 But I believe that God will bless me in this decision. 411 00:16:28,750 --> 00:16:30,710 But God has no right to. 412 00:16:30,710 --> 00:16:35,910 And really, he has no way to bless us when we're walking in our 413 00:16:35,910 --> 00:16:37,710 sin, when we're walking in rebellion to Him. 414 00:16:37,710 --> 00:16:40,870 Now, he could bless us in that, but that's not the principle 415 00:16:40,870 --> 00:16:41,710 that he works on. 416 00:16:41,710 --> 00:16:45,390 Even though sometimes in our unfaithful lives, he is faithful 417 00:16:45,390 --> 00:16:45,870 to us. 418 00:16:46,190 --> 00:16:48,590 And really all the time he's faithful to us on our salvation. 419 00:16:48,940 --> 00:16:51,420 But there are also decisions that we make in our life that God 420 00:16:51,420 --> 00:16:54,700 is gracious and he doesn't allow us to have harm and evil in 421 00:16:54,700 --> 00:16:54,820 it. 422 00:16:54,820 --> 00:16:57,220 But ultimately what he's saying here is what you're sowing 423 00:16:57,220 --> 00:16:58,220 is what you're going to reap. 424 00:16:58,300 --> 00:17:00,780 If you're wanting to sow this fleshly way of the world, you're 425 00:17:00,780 --> 00:17:02,540 going to reap the things of the world. 426 00:17:02,540 --> 00:17:05,460 And that's exactly what we see when they select a king. 427 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:08,580 So verse 10, and Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the 428 00:17:08,580 --> 00:17:10,140 people that asked of him a king. 429 00:17:10,540 --> 00:17:15,950 So he turns around faithfully and basically relays the message 430 00:17:15,950 --> 00:17:17,550 to the nation of Israel. 431 00:17:17,870 --> 00:17:21,030 And verse 11, he said, this will be the manner of the king that 432 00:17:21,030 --> 00:17:21,950 shall reign over you. 433 00:17:22,190 --> 00:17:26,070 He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, and for 434 00:17:26,070 --> 00:17:27,870 his chariots to be his horsemen. 435 00:17:27,950 --> 00:17:30,190 And some shall run before his chariots. 436 00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:33,870 And he will appoint unto him captains over thousands and captains 437 00:17:33,870 --> 00:17:38,670 over 50s, and will set them to ear his ground and to reap his harvest 438 00:17:38,670 --> 00:17:42,030 and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of chariots. 439 00:17:42,630 --> 00:17:43,670 So what is he saying here? 440 00:17:43,910 --> 00:17:46,870 He's basically saying, if you get this type of king that you're 441 00:17:46,870 --> 00:17:49,910 wanting, like all the other world has, he's going to take from 442 00:17:49,910 --> 00:17:50,230 you. 443 00:17:51,030 --> 00:17:51,830 He's gonna. 444 00:17:51,990 --> 00:17:53,430 He's giving them a fair warning. 445 00:17:53,430 --> 00:17:55,270 He says, most kings are takers. 446 00:17:55,590 --> 00:17:57,030 They're not going to give to you anything. 447 00:17:57,030 --> 00:17:58,550 He's just going to want your resources. 448 00:17:58,550 --> 00:17:59,830 He's going to steal from you. 449 00:18:00,310 --> 00:18:02,270 If Israel wanted a king, they. 450 00:18:02,270 --> 00:18:04,710 They had to realize that he was going to take things from them. 451 00:18:04,710 --> 00:18:06,030 And that's the reality of it. 452 00:18:06,030 --> 00:18:08,310 And he says that's what's going to happen here if you do that. 453 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:08,960 Verse 13. 454 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,840 He will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks 455 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:12,600 and to be bakers. 456 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,760 And he says he's not only going to take your sons and your 457 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,480 land, but he's also going to take your daughters. 458 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:18,200 And. 459 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,960 And so this is a big decision that they have to make. 460 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:22,480 Are they willing to give that up? 461 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,360 Are they willing to sacrifice what God has blessed them? 462 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:28,320 And so essentially what we see here is that they're sacrificing 463 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,840 the gifts that God has given them so that they can give what they 464 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:31,120 want. 465 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,440 And it would be like today, God blessing us with so much, and 466 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,310 we say, lord, we don't want those gifts. 467 00:18:36,700 --> 00:18:37,740 We want something else. 468 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:40,380 And God says, well, if you go that way with those. 469 00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:44,540 Those fleshly decisions, those other gifts that I've given you, 470 00:18:44,540 --> 00:18:46,580 you're not going to be able to experience to the. 471 00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:47,260 To the fullest. 472 00:18:47,260 --> 00:18:47,500 And. 473 00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:49,380 And that's what they decide. 474 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:50,780 They decide to go the way of the world. 475 00:18:51,180 --> 00:18:53,020 So verse number 19. 476 00:18:53,820 --> 00:18:54,940 Let's go to verse number 14. 477 00:18:54,940 --> 00:18:57,380 And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive 478 00:18:57,380 --> 00:19:00,140 yards and the best of them and give them to his servants. 479 00:19:00,220 --> 00:19:03,190 And he will take the 10th of your seed and of your vineyards and 480 00:19:03,190 --> 00:19:05,270 give to his officers and to his servants. 481 00:19:05,270 --> 00:19:07,430 And he will take your men, servants, and your maid servants, 482 00:19:07,430 --> 00:19:10,870 and your good, goodliest young men and your asses, and put them 483 00:19:10,950 --> 00:19:11,750 to his work. 484 00:19:12,230 --> 00:19:16,310 He will take a tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants. 485 00:19:16,710 --> 00:19:20,230 And ye shall cry out in the day because of your king, which ye 486 00:19:20,230 --> 00:19:21,510 shall have chosen you. 487 00:19:21,750 --> 00:19:23,870 And the Lord will not hear you in that day. 488 00:19:23,870 --> 00:19:25,310 So what does he essentially say here? 489 00:19:25,310 --> 00:19:27,110 He says, here's a prophecy. 490 00:19:27,190 --> 00:19:30,600 When, after he does all this, when he does all these things, you 491 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:31,440 will cry out. 492 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:31,760 You. 493 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,520 You will be upset about your decision. 494 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,280 But at that point God is giving you what you've wanted and 495 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:38,800 so God has warning you about this. 496 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,480 And so if Israel wanted to have a king, they should have done 497 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:44,240 it the way of the Lord. 498 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,400 They should have waited on God's king and they would not have 499 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,760 to cry out and feel the pain and suffering of this fleshly decision. 500 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,200 But they do go the way of the fleshly decision. 501 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,440 So they're going to find this coming to pass through the life of 502 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:57,840 Saul. 503 00:19:58,310 --> 00:19:58,790 Verse 19. 504 00:19:58,790 --> 00:20:01,750 Nevertheless, the people, now they could have responded in a lot 505 00:20:01,750 --> 00:20:02,230 of ways. 506 00:20:02,630 --> 00:20:04,950 One of the ways they could have responded is, is a heart of 507 00:20:04,950 --> 00:20:05,510 repentance. 508 00:20:05,670 --> 00:20:08,310 They could have responded with saying, well, maybe we should ask 509 00:20:08,310 --> 00:20:11,830 the Lord, maybe we should, you know, go to the Lord in our prayer. 510 00:20:12,310 --> 00:20:13,030 It says here. 511 00:20:13,030 --> 00:20:15,590 No, the nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice 512 00:20:15,590 --> 00:20:16,230 of Samuel. 513 00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:20,070 And at that time, as Samuel was the man that he was, when they 514 00:20:20,150 --> 00:20:23,230 disobeyed the voice of Samuel, they disobeyed the voice of God. 515 00:20:23,230 --> 00:20:27,630 And so we see that this decision is not a decision of, well, 516 00:20:27,630 --> 00:20:28,750 this is just a better way. 517 00:20:28,750 --> 00:20:31,350 No, this is a decision that they willingly are knowing that they're 518 00:20:31,350 --> 00:20:33,150 refusing to obey the voice of God. 519 00:20:33,230 --> 00:20:36,550 And anytime we're in a place where willing to disobey the voice 520 00:20:36,550 --> 00:20:38,510 of God, that's a dangerous place to be. 521 00:20:38,510 --> 00:20:42,710 Because clearly here they're knowingly getting to a place in their 522 00:20:42,710 --> 00:20:45,470 life where they decide to make their decision over God's decision. 523 00:20:45,870 --> 00:20:50,750 And they said, nay, but we will have a king over us. 524 00:20:51,820 --> 00:20:54,500 And so you see their obstinate, you see their rebellion, 525 00:20:54,500 --> 00:20:55,660 you see their hard heartedness. 526 00:20:55,660 --> 00:20:58,060 Here nothing will satisfy. 527 00:20:58,620 --> 00:21:03,220 And again there's verse after verse about how we as humans in our 528 00:21:03,220 --> 00:21:04,780 flesh will never be satisfied. 529 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:08,620 And so God will give Israel their king that they wanted. 530 00:21:09,660 --> 00:21:11,420 They want it, God gives it to them. 531 00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:14,780 But we know that later Saul fails as their king. 532 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:19,110 God does eventually give them his king, which is David, which we'll 533 00:21:19,110 --> 00:21:20,190 get to later on. 534 00:21:20,510 --> 00:21:25,030 But we know that God ultimately wanted Israel to be under 535 00:21:25,030 --> 00:21:26,510 a leader that he selected. 536 00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:28,310 But again they get ahead of themselves. 537 00:21:28,310 --> 00:21:34,190 And so they, they repeat again their heart, they repeat again their 538 00:21:34,190 --> 00:21:34,750 motivation. 539 00:21:34,750 --> 00:21:40,470 Verse 21, or excuse me, verse 20, that we also may be like all 540 00:21:40,470 --> 00:21:45,360 the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us 541 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:46,480 and fight our battles. 542 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,960 And so they reiterate their motivation. 543 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:51,880 We want to be like everybody else. 544 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,080 You know, any of you that have had kids know that that's a struggle. 545 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,560 Sometimes when you know you, you see them doing something and 546 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,000 you say no, like we don't want you doing that, and they go yeah, 547 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,240 but everybody, everybody's doing that. 548 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:06,640 That's what everyone else has. 549 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:07,800 And so I don't want to miss out. 550 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:09,440 We had that opportunity recently. 551 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,920 I don't want to say who it was or how it went about, but let's just 552 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:13,600 say it this way. 553 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,080 It was like, hey, everyone's doing it this way. 554 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:16,960 Everyone's going to do that. 555 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:17,880 You got to let me do that. 556 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,600 And I said no, no, I, I'm have to think about that. 557 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,160 We'll have to ask the Lord for prayer on that. 558 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,760 All my friends, parents will say yes. 559 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,560 I guarantee you they're all going to say yes. 560 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,120 So okay, but I'm not everyone else's parent. 561 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,000 And, and then, you know, next day had a conversation and it was 562 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:33,840 like, hey, you know what? 563 00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:36,180 Everyone else's parents also wasn't good with that. 564 00:22:36,180 --> 00:22:37,300 I say exactly, that's right. 565 00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:38,260 That's exactly what happened. 566 00:22:38,260 --> 00:22:41,980 Because the reality is, is that sometimes children will think 567 00:22:41,980 --> 00:22:45,060 that they know what's best for them and discredit their parents 568 00:22:45,060 --> 00:22:45,420 decision. 569 00:22:46,620 --> 00:22:50,940 They'll discredit their parents wisdom or, or guidance. 570 00:22:50,940 --> 00:22:54,660 But at the end of the day, we as, as, as Christians sometimes do 571 00:22:54,660 --> 00:22:54,860 that. 572 00:22:54,860 --> 00:22:57,140 Sometimes we look to our heavenly Father and we think, well, 573 00:22:57,140 --> 00:22:58,300 you know, we have a better plan. 574 00:22:58,300 --> 00:22:59,580 We want to be like everybody else. 575 00:22:59,580 --> 00:23:02,320 Everyone else is doing something and we know how terrible 576 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,000 of an excuse that is, but that's exactly what Israel's doing 577 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:05,160 here. 578 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,800 They said we want to be like all the nations and that our king 579 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:10,440 may judge us. 580 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:11,880 They're like, we don't want God to judge us. 581 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,120 We want this king to judge us. 582 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,480 We want him to go before us, not God. 583 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,400 Now if you remember just in the chapter before, it was God who 584 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,560 went before them and gave that loud noise and gave them that victory. 585 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,280 So God has just finished proving that he goes before them 586 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:26,760 in battle. 587 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,070 But no, they want, they're king to go before them in battle. 588 00:23:30,310 --> 00:23:33,430 They said we, we want him to judge us, we want him to go before 589 00:23:33,430 --> 00:23:35,750 us, we want him to fight our battles. 590 00:23:35,830 --> 00:23:38,150 Instead of saying I want God to fight my battle. 591 00:23:38,470 --> 00:23:42,070 I, I want this, I want this material thing, I want this fleshly 592 00:23:42,070 --> 00:23:43,310 thing to fight my battle for me. 593 00:23:43,310 --> 00:23:47,350 And that looks like, for, for us as humans today, as Christians 594 00:23:47,350 --> 00:23:50,230 today, it looks like, well, you know, I'll trust God when everything 595 00:23:50,230 --> 00:23:54,950 lines up for me when it comes to my finances or my health or my 596 00:23:54,950 --> 00:23:55,270 life. 597 00:23:55,270 --> 00:23:59,340 And like we all find things that we find comfort in as you know, 598 00:23:59,340 --> 00:23:59,940 humanity. 599 00:24:00,020 --> 00:24:02,980 But at the same time it's really God who's fighting the battle 600 00:24:02,980 --> 00:24:03,380 for us. 601 00:24:03,860 --> 00:24:08,140 You know, I. I think a lot of times we feel the vulnerability when 602 00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:09,380 we're going through the struggle. 603 00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:10,820 So, for example. 604 00:24:10,820 --> 00:24:14,060 So all of you know that maybe you're going through a place of pain, 605 00:24:14,060 --> 00:24:17,220 or maybe you're going through a place of loss, or maybe you're 606 00:24:17,220 --> 00:24:19,140 just going through a place of just brokenness. 607 00:24:19,140 --> 00:24:20,620 And, you know, you say, you know what? 608 00:24:20,620 --> 00:24:20,940 I just. 609 00:24:20,940 --> 00:24:21,860 I feel out of control. 610 00:24:21,860 --> 00:24:22,500 I feel. 611 00:24:22,990 --> 00:24:24,590 I feel as if I can't do this. 612 00:24:24,590 --> 00:24:26,350 I feel like I'm overwhelmed. 613 00:24:26,590 --> 00:24:29,150 But, you know, what happens sometimes is us as. 614 00:24:29,230 --> 00:24:33,710 As humans, we think in times where we seemingly are having everything 615 00:24:33,710 --> 00:24:35,310 in order, that we've got it under control. 616 00:24:35,470 --> 00:24:36,710 But let me give you a little hint. 617 00:24:36,710 --> 00:24:38,190 We're never completely in control. 618 00:24:38,909 --> 00:24:40,030 We think we're in control. 619 00:24:40,190 --> 00:24:42,750 When everything's going well with our health, we think, hey, you 620 00:24:42,750 --> 00:24:43,470 know, everything's great. 621 00:24:43,950 --> 00:24:46,470 You know, it's only when we're feeling the pain that we call out 622 00:24:46,470 --> 00:24:48,190 to God saying, God, I can't do this. 623 00:24:48,470 --> 00:24:51,030 But the reality is, is even when we're feeling good, we can't 624 00:24:51,030 --> 00:24:51,430 do it. 625 00:24:51,430 --> 00:24:54,390 It's ultimately on the Lord, and life is but a vapor. 626 00:24:54,390 --> 00:24:57,830 Life is so fragile, it can be taken away from us so quickly. 627 00:24:57,910 --> 00:24:59,270 Our health can be taken away. 628 00:24:59,270 --> 00:25:01,190 Our finances can be taken away. 629 00:25:01,910 --> 00:25:02,550 Really, our. 630 00:25:02,550 --> 00:25:04,470 Our security can be taken away. 631 00:25:04,870 --> 00:25:08,270 And often we link those things to God's favor in our life. 632 00:25:08,270 --> 00:25:11,750 But what we see is that ultimately God allows certain things 633 00:25:11,750 --> 00:25:14,760 to happen so that we can be reminded that no matter what might 634 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,720 be the case around us, he's ultimately in control, and we want 635 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:18,800 him to fight our battles. 636 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,680 I don't want to fight my battles on my own. 637 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:21,320 I can tell you that. 638 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:22,880 I learned that a long time ago. 639 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,320 I cannot fight those battles on my own. 640 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:26,000 My own strength. 641 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:26,720 I will fail. 642 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,400 I remember times in my life crying out to the Lord, saying, I 643 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:31,440 can't do this anymore. 644 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,960 And that's, I think, when we start to realize that we were never 645 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,280 able to do it, it's ultimately God who is fighting all of our battles 646 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:38,720 for us. 647 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,280 And sometimes we feel like we're. 648 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:40,800 We're winning. 649 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,210 Like, you know, like when I sat on my dad's lap and I was driving 650 00:25:44,210 --> 00:25:47,370 the truck when I was a little kid, I thought I was driving the 651 00:25:47,370 --> 00:25:47,610 truck. 652 00:25:47,610 --> 00:25:48,570 I thought I was in control. 653 00:25:48,570 --> 00:25:49,210 I thought I was. 654 00:25:49,530 --> 00:25:51,130 But my dad was the one pushing the gas. 655 00:25:51,130 --> 00:25:52,650 My dad was the one turning the wheel. 656 00:25:52,730 --> 00:25:54,290 I just thought that I was in control. 657 00:25:54,290 --> 00:25:56,650 And that's essentially what's happening with us in the Lord. 658 00:25:56,650 --> 00:25:59,690 So they say we don't want God to fight our battles. 659 00:25:59,690 --> 00:26:00,250 We want. 660 00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:02,330 We want our new king to fight our battle. 661 00:26:02,970 --> 00:26:03,730 Verse 21. 662 00:26:03,730 --> 00:26:06,890 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them 663 00:26:06,890 --> 00:26:08,090 in the ears of the Lord. 664 00:26:08,780 --> 00:26:12,500 And the Lord said to Samuel, hearken unto their voice and make 665 00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:13,260 them a king. 666 00:26:13,340 --> 00:26:17,100 And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, go ye every man unto his 667 00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:17,420 city. 668 00:26:17,660 --> 00:26:20,980 So he essentially says, okay, they've doubled down. 669 00:26:20,980 --> 00:26:22,380 They want what they want. 670 00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:23,900 And God says, okay, give. 671 00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:24,940 Give that to them. 672 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:28,020 And so this was not God's plan. 673 00:26:28,020 --> 00:26:32,220 This was not part of what God intended for the nation of Israel 674 00:26:32,220 --> 00:26:32,860 at this time. 675 00:26:33,580 --> 00:26:37,180 They had just won a spectacular battle there in Samuel, 676 00:26:37,180 --> 00:26:38,180 1st Samuel 7. 677 00:26:38,900 --> 00:26:41,460 So Israel had a king, but the king was the Lord. 678 00:26:42,340 --> 00:26:42,900 They, they. 679 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:44,780 They had a judge, and the judge was the Lord. 680 00:26:44,780 --> 00:26:45,020 They. 681 00:26:45,020 --> 00:26:47,020 They had someone that would fight their battles, and that was 682 00:26:47,020 --> 00:26:47,460 the Lord. 683 00:26:47,620 --> 00:26:48,660 But they wanted. 684 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:50,340 It wasn't what they wanted. 685 00:26:50,340 --> 00:26:52,660 It wasn't what they thought a king should look like. 686 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:56,900 And for us in our life, who are we following? 687 00:26:57,300 --> 00:27:01,740 They wanted to follow someone that fit their story, their narrative, 688 00:27:01,740 --> 00:27:03,220 that could fit into their box. 689 00:27:03,910 --> 00:27:04,470 But it's. 690 00:27:04,470 --> 00:27:08,270 It's almost to the place where God says, okay, if Israel wants this, 691 00:27:08,270 --> 00:27:09,510 this is what they can have. 692 00:27:09,910 --> 00:27:12,870 And some of you that know the story know that Saul comes in and, 693 00:27:12,870 --> 00:27:14,550 and Saul is to. 694 00:27:15,190 --> 00:27:16,870 We're going to talk more about this next week. 695 00:27:16,870 --> 00:27:20,790 But visually, Saul is the one that you would pick. 696 00:27:20,950 --> 00:27:23,270 I mean, he's head and shoulders above all the others. 697 00:27:23,750 --> 00:27:26,150 He's strong, he's attractive. 698 00:27:26,630 --> 00:27:30,200 Everyone saw, saw, saw, and they were like, he's the man, he's 699 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:30,720 the king. 700 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,800 But in reality, that's not God's king. 701 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:34,960 Remember who God's king was? 702 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,280 He was the young shepherd boy out on the field that his own parents 703 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:38,880 forgot. 704 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:40,600 And that's how God selects people. 705 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,680 It's not always about the outward appearance. 706 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,680 It's not always about what public opinion is, because God's 707 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:50,040 going to choose individuals that might be inadequate, that will 708 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,040 be inadequate. 709 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,440 And then when we try to fight our battles in a way that makes sense 710 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,120 to us, God is always going to remind us that that is a wrong path. 711 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:00,800 And so, you know, Saul, eventually Saul is. 712 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:07,040 He has moments, glimpses of following God. 713 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,960 But ultimately, Saul has a lot of pitfalls when it comes to his 714 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:11,360 flesh. 715 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,160 And we're going to talk more about that. 716 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,840 But I do believe that that's an indication of the heart of Israel. 717 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,240 The heart of Israel was to find the ways of the world. 718 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:21,880 And eventually that's what they're going to do. 719 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,560 By finding a king of their own choosing. 720 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,280 So there's a lot of things that we could apply from this passage 721 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,760 of scripture, but I would want to just maybe highlight a few. 722 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,280 One, obviously, would be this, starting from the very beginning, 723 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:43,680 that Samuel's poor decision by selecting his sons that were bought 724 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,040 over to sin, and as I said, their lucre and took bribes and perverted 725 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,240 judgment, allowed the people to lose sight of the eyes of God. 726 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,100 So it shows you that bad decisions within the camp, within 727 00:28:55,420 --> 00:28:58,740 the family of God, can lead other people to be dissatisfied with 728 00:28:58,740 --> 00:29:01,980 the truth of God because they misrepresent the truth of God. 729 00:29:01,980 --> 00:29:05,700 So that would look like this someone going to a church, and there 730 00:29:05,700 --> 00:29:08,860 was a leader at the church who acted in sin. 731 00:29:08,860 --> 00:29:11,340 And then therefore, that person said, well, you know what? 732 00:29:11,340 --> 00:29:14,900 Because of that leader being a sinful person, I'm no longer going 733 00:29:14,900 --> 00:29:15,420 to church. 734 00:29:15,660 --> 00:29:16,940 You see the disconnect there? 735 00:29:16,940 --> 00:29:17,220 It's. 736 00:29:17,220 --> 00:29:19,030 It's not strong logic. 737 00:29:19,030 --> 00:29:22,950 But what happens is, is that oftentimes people associate a person 738 00:29:22,950 --> 00:29:24,230 with the presence of God. 739 00:29:24,630 --> 00:29:27,510 And what the people of Israel should have done was this. 740 00:29:27,750 --> 00:29:29,190 Samuel, sons are in sin. 741 00:29:29,510 --> 00:29:30,750 We need to call that sin. 742 00:29:30,750 --> 00:29:32,910 We need to deal with that sin, and we need to turn to the Lord. 743 00:29:32,910 --> 00:29:35,750 We need to pull them up in front of the Lord and allow the Lord 744 00:29:35,750 --> 00:29:36,310 to deal with them. 745 00:29:36,310 --> 00:29:37,670 Instead, they said, you know what? 746 00:29:37,670 --> 00:29:38,550 They're sinning. 747 00:29:38,550 --> 00:29:40,110 Obviously, God's failing. 748 00:29:40,110 --> 00:29:41,350 So we want our own king. 749 00:29:41,750 --> 00:29:45,750 And so we see, we don't associate ourselves as believers 750 00:29:45,750 --> 00:29:45,910 to. 751 00:29:46,060 --> 00:29:48,540 To other people who are living in rebellion and sin. 752 00:29:48,700 --> 00:29:49,220 We don't. 753 00:29:49,220 --> 00:29:51,700 We don't look at someone else's failures and equate them to 754 00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:52,380 our failures. 755 00:29:52,460 --> 00:29:55,740 We can live independently with the Lord and walk with him and fellowship 756 00:29:55,740 --> 00:29:58,340 and do the right thing, even when other people around us are doing 757 00:29:58,340 --> 00:29:59,020 the wrong thing. 758 00:29:59,100 --> 00:30:02,860 But then secondly, I want you to see that in this case, they. 759 00:30:03,020 --> 00:30:05,020 They desired the. 760 00:30:05,020 --> 00:30:06,100 What the world had. 761 00:30:06,100 --> 00:30:06,660 There was a. 762 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:08,380 There was a worldly desire. 763 00:30:08,380 --> 00:30:12,910 They wanted their king, their way and their timing. 764 00:30:13,620 --> 00:30:17,140 And so the caution would be for us as Christians is, are we seeking 765 00:30:17,460 --> 00:30:18,820 God's plan for our life? 766 00:30:18,820 --> 00:30:22,500 And when we seek God's plan, are we okay with waiting on it? 767 00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:24,980 Are we okay with it being different than the world? 768 00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:28,900 Or are we desiring the things of God but our way? 769 00:30:29,460 --> 00:30:32,540 And I think that's often what happens is that we look to the things 770 00:30:32,540 --> 00:30:35,620 we say, okay, yeah, I want to go to church, I want to serve in 771 00:30:35,620 --> 00:30:36,180 ministry. 772 00:30:36,340 --> 00:30:37,860 I want to see fruit in my life. 773 00:30:37,860 --> 00:30:41,020 I want to see people come to Christ, but I want to do it My way. 774 00:30:41,020 --> 00:30:43,940 And the way that adds up for me, like how the world's doing it. 775 00:30:44,100 --> 00:30:47,300 You know, I've often heard people say we just got to run a church 776 00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:47,820 like a business. 777 00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:49,740 Like, how are these businesses bringing people in? 778 00:30:49,740 --> 00:30:51,060 Well, that's what we have to do here. 779 00:30:51,220 --> 00:30:52,980 But the truth is, is that we're doing something different. 780 00:30:53,220 --> 00:30:54,820 We're not doing the business of the world. 781 00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:56,100 We're doing God's work. 782 00:30:56,260 --> 00:30:59,180 And God's work has specific marching orders to be different than 783 00:30:59,180 --> 00:31:02,020 the world, to not treat people the same way that the world treats 784 00:31:02,020 --> 00:31:02,260 people. 785 00:31:02,580 --> 00:31:05,780 And so that was their major issue, is that they wanted their 786 00:31:06,530 --> 00:31:12,410 king, their way and their timing and in their avenue of their 787 00:31:12,410 --> 00:31:16,770 type of fleshly worldliness, essentially is what we see there. 788 00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:19,850 And then we see God condemning their faithlessness. 789 00:31:19,850 --> 00:31:24,250 Even after all, verse eight, even after all that God had done 790 00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:26,610 for them, they still wanted their own way. 791 00:31:27,170 --> 00:31:30,570 So I think that that's a reminder for us that when we're falling 792 00:31:30,570 --> 00:31:34,050 into the trap of wanting the things of the world, what should 793 00:31:34,050 --> 00:31:34,490 we do? 794 00:31:34,490 --> 00:31:36,450 Well, we shouldn't stay in our discontentment. 795 00:31:36,450 --> 00:31:40,450 We should go back and rehearse the faithfulness of who God is and 796 00:31:40,450 --> 00:31:42,010 what he has done for us throughout our life. 797 00:31:42,250 --> 00:31:44,170 You know, if we're tempted to think that God's not going to be 798 00:31:44,170 --> 00:31:46,930 faithful tomorrow, we need to go back to yesterday to make sure 799 00:31:46,930 --> 00:31:50,970 we recognize and realize that God has been faithful to us, to recount 800 00:31:50,970 --> 00:31:53,850 those blessings, to be thankful in everything. 801 00:31:53,930 --> 00:31:57,610 Because that thankfulness, that gratitude will stem and show 802 00:31:57,610 --> 00:31:59,870 more faith and gratitude in the future. 803 00:32:00,350 --> 00:32:02,950 But what happened here is they forgot that God had brought them 804 00:32:02,950 --> 00:32:03,750 out of Egypt. 805 00:32:03,750 --> 00:32:04,030 That. 806 00:32:04,030 --> 00:32:04,270 That. 807 00:32:04,270 --> 00:32:05,870 That God had delivered them. 808 00:32:05,950 --> 00:32:06,310 They. 809 00:32:06,310 --> 00:32:08,270 They thought that God had forgotten about them. 810 00:32:08,270 --> 00:32:11,230 But yet we have to be reminded that God has not forgotten about 811 00:32:11,230 --> 00:32:11,550 us. 812 00:32:11,550 --> 00:32:12,910 Even if we feel like he has. 813 00:32:13,070 --> 00:32:14,990 We have to go back and we have to recount. 814 00:32:15,150 --> 00:32:16,590 God brought us out of Egypt. 815 00:32:16,590 --> 00:32:17,630 Now, he didn't bring. 816 00:32:17,710 --> 00:32:20,110 I don't think he brought any of you literally out of Egypt. 817 00:32:20,270 --> 00:32:22,070 Maybe some of you have been there and you've left Egypt. 818 00:32:22,070 --> 00:32:23,230 That's not what I'm talking about. 819 00:32:23,390 --> 00:32:24,710 Talking about Egypt for, for. 820 00:32:24,710 --> 00:32:26,030 We talked about this on Sunday morning. 821 00:32:26,030 --> 00:32:28,830 Egypt is a picture of sin e. Egypt is a picture of the world. 822 00:32:29,660 --> 00:32:31,980 And God has taken all of you. 823 00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:35,300 If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, he has taken you out of Egypt 824 00:32:35,300 --> 00:32:37,180 and he's delivered you into the promised land. 825 00:32:37,580 --> 00:32:39,060 And so it's that thankfulness that's. 826 00:32:39,060 --> 00:32:39,900 It's really salvation. 827 00:32:39,900 --> 00:32:44,460 Because if I look at my life and I say, okay, Lord, I You didn't 828 00:32:44,460 --> 00:32:45,820 give me everything I wanted this year. 829 00:32:46,460 --> 00:32:49,060 Well, yeah, there, there were some things, I, I'll be honest, there 830 00:32:49,060 --> 00:32:50,620 are some things that I prayed for. 831 00:32:50,620 --> 00:32:53,940 There were some things that I wanted in my, in my own personal 832 00:32:53,940 --> 00:32:56,060 desires that God didn't answer in the affirmative. 833 00:32:56,150 --> 00:32:58,270 I don't think all of us could understand that Sometimes God answers 834 00:32:58,270 --> 00:32:58,870 us no. 835 00:32:59,350 --> 00:33:02,350 And instead of getting mad at God's nose, we say, okay, Lord, I'm 836 00:33:02,350 --> 00:33:06,150 not going to base my faithfulness to you off of the things 837 00:33:06,150 --> 00:33:07,030 that I have received. 838 00:33:07,670 --> 00:33:10,950 When it comes to my desires, my faithfulness should always stem 839 00:33:10,950 --> 00:33:13,750 back to the truth of what God has done for me and salvation. 840 00:33:13,910 --> 00:33:17,030 Because I've said this before and this is a hard statement to say, 841 00:33:17,110 --> 00:33:20,950 but even if God took away everything, we still have our salvation. 842 00:33:21,110 --> 00:33:23,750 And if God would have just saved us, that would have been enough 843 00:33:23,750 --> 00:33:25,430 for us to worship him for eternity. 844 00:33:26,020 --> 00:33:28,780 But at the same time, he does give us gift after gift after gift 845 00:33:28,780 --> 00:33:31,380 if we're honest with ourselves, even though sometimes 846 00:33:31,380 --> 00:33:34,460 it doesn't happen in the timing or the way that we expect 847 00:33:34,460 --> 00:33:35,140 it to be. 848 00:33:35,140 --> 00:33:37,660 So I would encourage you to think about that and I would encourage 849 00:33:37,660 --> 00:33:39,860 you not to get into the place that Israel got into. 850 00:33:40,660 --> 00:33:43,420 I would encourage myself not to fall into that hard heartedness 851 00:33:43,420 --> 00:33:46,700 and saying, okay Lord, you clearly laid out for me all the problems 852 00:33:46,700 --> 00:33:48,980 that this will bring, but I still want it. 853 00:33:49,860 --> 00:33:53,980 And so let's be aware of the teaching and the conviction of the 854 00:33:53,980 --> 00:33:54,740 Lord in our life. 855 00:33:55,250 --> 00:33:57,570 And God gives us all these warnings for a purpose. 856 00:33:57,810 --> 00:34:01,210 He gives us the story of Samuel and Saul and all the rest 857 00:34:01,210 --> 00:34:03,410 of the folks there in the Old Testament and those people in the 858 00:34:03,410 --> 00:34:07,010 New Testament not so that just we can have Bible knowledge, but 859 00:34:07,010 --> 00:34:10,090 that we can learn lessons from them and that we can apply them to 860 00:34:10,090 --> 00:34:13,010 our lives and so that we can see that God was faithful to these 861 00:34:13,010 --> 00:34:13,330 people. 862 00:34:13,490 --> 00:34:16,410 But the blessing is really truly this too, I think, is that 863 00:34:16,410 --> 00:34:21,910 even in verse number nine, even in the midst of their hard heartedness, 864 00:34:21,910 --> 00:34:24,230 God gives them a chance to turn back. 865 00:34:24,950 --> 00:34:29,750 And if you know the rest of the story, God does bring David and 866 00:34:29,750 --> 00:34:31,030 God does bring his king. 867 00:34:31,030 --> 00:34:34,830 And so even people that are unfaithful, God still can work with 868 00:34:34,830 --> 00:34:37,270 the unfaithful because he is ultimately faithful. 869 00:34:37,990 --> 00:34:41,550 And so it's not a death sentence, so to speak, when we do 870 00:34:41,550 --> 00:34:45,070 make a mistake, God has grace and he has mercy and he's allowing 871 00:34:45,070 --> 00:34:46,390 us to turn back to Him. 872 00:34:47,150 --> 00:34:48,990 Someone told me, when is it too late? 873 00:34:49,710 --> 00:34:50,790 I think I'm too far gone. 874 00:34:50,790 --> 00:34:51,870 I said, are you drawing air? 875 00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:53,710 Yeah, I'M breathing today. 876 00:34:53,710 --> 00:34:55,230 It's not too late to turn back to him. 877 00:34:55,870 --> 00:34:59,070 That's, that's the idea is if I've had some people say to me, you 878 00:34:59,070 --> 00:35:02,230 know, I haven't been faithful for a very long time, I've really 879 00:35:02,230 --> 00:35:03,950 turned my back against him for a long time. 880 00:35:03,950 --> 00:35:06,710 The truth is, is that if you're here, God still has a purpose 881 00:35:06,710 --> 00:35:07,150 for you. 882 00:35:07,230 --> 00:35:09,150 If you're alive, God still has a plan for you. 883 00:35:09,150 --> 00:35:10,510 So turn your hearts back to him. 884 00:35:11,230 --> 00:35:14,270 I think that that's something that all of us need to remind ourselves 885 00:35:14,270 --> 00:35:16,430 about, is like, lord, what do you want from me today? 886 00:35:16,510 --> 00:35:21,420 Not what you wanted me to do 20 years ago, because a lot of times 887 00:35:21,420 --> 00:35:22,620 we get stuck in the past. 888 00:35:22,940 --> 00:35:26,900 But what, what do you want me to do today, Lord, for you and, and 889 00:35:26,900 --> 00:35:28,300 be patient and wait upon the Lord. 890 00:35:28,540 --> 00:35:30,220 Be still and know that he is God. 891 00:35:30,460 --> 00:35:31,980 I think that's one of the hardest things for me. 892 00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:36,100 We live in a smartphone microwave society, right? 893 00:35:36,100 --> 00:35:37,660 It's all about having it now. 894 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:41,540 But oftentimes you'll see in scripture that God makes people wait 895 00:35:41,540 --> 00:35:42,220 a long time. 896 00:35:42,860 --> 00:35:45,150 I mean, example after example. 897 00:35:45,150 --> 00:35:46,670 You guys could think of some of these examples. 898 00:35:46,670 --> 00:35:51,710 I mean, God allows people to hear the promise, and he promises 899 00:35:51,790 --> 00:35:54,830 his presence and provisions in the midst of the promise. 900 00:35:54,830 --> 00:35:57,790 But he doesn't always promise that it's going to happen right away. 901 00:35:58,030 --> 00:36:00,750 And I mean, you guys got got like, Abraham, remember Abraham, 902 00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:02,350 you're going to have the child of promise. 903 00:36:03,070 --> 00:36:05,150 Well, doesn't seem like it's adding up. 904 00:36:05,150 --> 00:36:07,230 Lord, I'm getting old, My wife's getting old. 905 00:36:07,390 --> 00:36:09,870 And then he says, well, you know what, maybe he meant this. 906 00:36:10,740 --> 00:36:14,620 And so he goes the route of Ishmael and going that route, right? 907 00:36:14,620 --> 00:36:16,820 And that was obviously not the right path for him to take. 908 00:36:16,820 --> 00:36:19,700 And God, just when we think that God can't do what he's going 909 00:36:19,700 --> 00:36:20,980 to do, God does what he does. 910 00:36:21,220 --> 00:36:22,940 And so that's the promise of God. 911 00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:25,140 And so you see that over and over again. 912 00:36:25,220 --> 00:36:27,380 Think about Noah, Noah, the rain's going to come. 913 00:36:27,700 --> 00:36:28,900 You better build an ark. 914 00:36:29,140 --> 00:36:29,620 Okay? 915 00:36:29,620 --> 00:36:31,540 Centuries later, then it comes, right? 916 00:36:31,540 --> 00:36:34,100 So I'm not saying that you're going to have to wait a century. 917 00:36:34,420 --> 00:36:36,820 But what I am saying is that it's in God's timing. 918 00:36:37,110 --> 00:36:40,390 And the best blessing that we can find is finding our Lord and 919 00:36:40,390 --> 00:36:43,830 Savior and satisfaction in him and him alone. 920 00:36:43,910 --> 00:36:49,070 So God does bring a king named David, but even in a better and greater 921 00:36:49,070 --> 00:36:52,070 way, he brings a king named Jesus Christ, our Messiah. 922 00:36:52,310 --> 00:36:55,430 And no longer do we have to look to the things of this world, 923 00:36:55,430 --> 00:36:57,750 we can look to our King, we can follow him. 924 00:36:57,990 --> 00:37:03,000 And that's really where the heart of a believer should be, that, 925 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,680 hey, look, I've got people around me I have to deal with. 926 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:07,840 I've got a place that I'm living. 927 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:09,120 I got a job that I got to do. 928 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,280 But ultimately, Jesus is my king. 929 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,360 Ultimately, I follow his orders. 930 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,080 He's the one fighting the battle before me. 931 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:16,400 He's the one preparing the way. 932 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:17,560 He's the one judging me. 933 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:18,680 He's the one guiding me. 934 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,000 And I think when we think about it from that perspective, it 935 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,520 changes the way that we deal with everything in our lives. 936 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:25,720 And so we'll come back next week and we'll look at the selection 937 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:26,320 of Saul. 938 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,040 And Saul is a pretty impressive individual. 939 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:35,820 And he gets selected by the people and Saul then is anointed. 940 00:37:36,220 --> 00:37:39,220 And obviously you are aware of that story. 941 00:37:39,220 --> 00:37:42,020 If you're not aware of that story, you're in for a treat because 942 00:37:42,020 --> 00:37:44,380 it's first and second Samuel are pretty, pretty. 943 00:37:45,260 --> 00:37:46,300 What's the word for it? 944 00:37:46,300 --> 00:37:47,020 Pretty active. 945 00:37:47,020 --> 00:37:50,420 Okay, thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist 946 00:37:50,420 --> 00:37:51,340 Church podcast. 947 00:37:51,580 --> 00:37:53,980 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 948 00:37:54,700 --> 00:37:56,910 You would like to find out more information about our church 949 00:37:56,910 --> 00:38:00,390 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 950 00:38:00,630 --> 00:38:03,190 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 951 00:38:03,990 --> 00:38:08,430 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 952 00:38:08,430 --> 00:38:11,030 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast. 953 00:38:11,270 --> 00:38:15,670 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates. 954 00:38:16,310 --> 00:38:17,270 Thank you so much. 955 00:38:17,510 --> 00:38:18,230 God bless. 956 00:38:18,470 --> 00:38:19,750 Have a wonderful day.