1 Sam. 8:7-227And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. 11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. 22And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. (1 Samuel 8:7‑22).
THE Lord told Samuel to do something that he had never done before. And that was, to “hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they said unto him.” His ear had been trained to listen only to Jehovah’s voice, and we are not surprised that the Lord has to tell him three times in this chapter to hearken to their voice. It is always right to listen to what others say and be obedient to them, providing God has so commanded us. We know He has commanded us to be attentive to what our parents say to us, for He has set them over us to command us and to train us up in the way that we should go.
Any boy or girl who does not obey his father and mother, upon such an one God has pronounced a terrible judgment. “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” Prov. 30:1717The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. (Proverbs 30:17). But the boys and girls who obey their parents, surely please the Lord, for He says, “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” Col. 3:2020Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:20). So we are obeying the Lord when we obey our parents, just as Samuel obeyed Him when he hearkened to the voice of the people.
But, dear children, let us not forget that the “voice of the people” was not God’s voice, any more than it was when they cried out against Jesus, saying, “Away with Rim: let Him be crucified.”
We may inquire then, Why was Samuel told to hearken to them, if they were asking contrary to the Lord’s desire? Well, we may learn a most solemn and also profitable lesson in this course that God took with His people. When He saw that they had completely rejected Him, as they did Samuel also, and turned away from Him, He allowed them to go on and fulfill their own heart’s desire. He was about to grant them what their lust was craving for, although Samuel must solemnly protest against them, and show them what manner of king should reign over them. He would be a proud, selfish man. And the Lord sought, by thus foretelling them of their misery and unhappiness, to draw His dear people back to Himself.
But a mere wish or desire, if interfered with, easily develops into will. So the people said, “Nay, but we will have a king over us.” How these words remind us of the rejection of Another, whom the people refused as their king when they said, “We will not have this Man to reign over us.” Luke 19:1414But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. (Luke 19:14).
Ah, dear children, a willful people must have a willful king. And the description of the king in this chapter, doubtless, describes the one Israel will have at a later day– a king that will do according to his own will— the Antichrist. God’s Bing is described in Zech. 9:99Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9). “He is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Now, if we compare this verse with Matt. 21:9,9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9) we shall see who that King was.
The question of having a king was now fairly raised and settled. Perhaps Samuel felt the need of being alone with God; perhaps, he knew that the people’s evil desire would only increase by their being assembled together. He sent every man to his own city (v. 22). And this again reminds us of another scene which we find in John 7:45-5345Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 47Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? 48Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. 50Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? 52They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 53And every man went unto his own house. (John 7:45‑53) & 8:1.
The question was there settled by the Pharisees that Jesus could not be the rightful king; and so every man went unto his own house, but Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives to be alone with His Father.
It is well then, children, for us to remember that, if we persist in following a wrong course, God may give us up to pursue that course, and allow us to prove how sad and bitter is the way in which He is not acknowledged. He says, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Prov. 3:66In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:6).
If we deny our own wills, and seek to do His will, then we shall truly find that His ways are ways of pleasantness and all His paths are peace. (Prov. 3:1717Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. (Proverbs 3:17).)
ML 07/06/1902