WHEN YOU HAVE NO KING
1 Samuel 8:4-10
TEXT: Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day; with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods; so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them. 10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king.
Judges 17:6,21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
PROPOSITION: To call the backslidden hearer back to a committed relation-ship with God.
INTRODUCTION:
I. WHEN YOU HAVE NO KING IT IS EASY TO LOSE YOUR DIRECTION
Application: Israel had left following God. Yes, they still participated in the worship services and sacrifices. They still gave their tithes and offered their prayers, but their hearts were far from God. As the scripture says: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes,
Ezekiel 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.
Psalm 107:4,5 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them.
II. WHEN YOU HAVE NO KING IT IS EASY TO LOSE YOUR PROTECTION
Application: Israel was a nation of independent colonies separated by dis-tance, by priorities, and by goals. Their one unifying force was their relation-ship with God. God had promised the be their shield and defender – all they had to do was to stay in the center of his will (under His protective wings if you will). They chose not to do this – and because of their decision, Israel was continually being harassed by the pagan countries that surrounded them. Because the children of Israel rejected God, He removed his protection from them:
2 Chronicles 24:20-24 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you. 23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had for-saken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.
Application: Gods desire is to protect those who are His, but to be protected, you must abide where the protector abides.
Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
Psalm 91:2-11 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
III. WHEN YOU HAVE NO KING IT IS EASY TO LOSE YOUR CONVICTIONS
Application: When the children of Israel first arrived in the promised land they served God with their whole hearts. Because of their commitment to God, the Israelites were able to forcefully drove out all the people who would not serve Him. They destroyed the pagans shrines and temples, they would not toler-ate anyone or anything that was displeasing to God.
At the writing of this scripture, however, the Israelites had adopted many of the customs and idols of those living around them. Because they had no King they moved away from their former commitment and convictions and began to serve other gods, their lusts, and their own desires.
Jeremiah 17:13;2:12,13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me Shall be written in the earth, Because they have forsaken the LORD, The fountain of living wa-ters. 12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate, says the LORD. 13 For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns; broken cisterns that can hold no water.
IV. WHEN YOU HAVE NO KING YOU WILL EVENTUALLY LOSE YOUR IDENTITY
Application: When the Israelites forsook God as their King they also forsook who they were as a people. They became like all the other nations around them.
• They no longer thought as the chosen people of God – they thought like everyone else.
• They no longer acted like the chosen people of God – they blended their lives into the culture of those around them.
• They were no longer Gods special people – they had become His source of pain and disappointment.
Jeremiah 11:7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, Obey My voice. 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done. 9 And the LORD said to me, A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.
Application: But Gods mercy is everlasting! He wanted His people back again. He wanted to be their King, their Defender, their Provider, their Hope.
Romans 9:25,26 As He says also in Hosea: I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, There they shall be called sons of the living God.
CONCLUSION: Is God your King or is He merely someone you recognize as important. Are you allowing God to rule in your life. Are you still submitted to His leadership? …
