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Give Us a King
 


1 Samuel 8
19   Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
20   That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

Of course we know that God viewed this demand by Israel as a rejection of Himself.  After all God was their King, as he is ours.  When we view the reasoning behind the demand there are two misconceptions, two contradictions to God's vision for His people.  First, they wanted to be like the other nations.  God's people are always to be a distinctive people.  " But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;"  (1 Pt 2: 9).  This is the lesson that we usually focus upon.  God's people are not to be religious copycats. 

The second lesson, however, is equally important.  They wanted a king to fight their battles.  Nobody can fight our battles for us.  Elders and Deacons, while important to the success of the body, should not be appointed to do our work for us.  If we see a work of the Lord that needs doing, we should do it, and not simply look around for somebody to do it for us.  So, if we ever feel inclined to make that often heard statement "Somebody should do something about that!”  Maybe the somebody is us.
 

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