Indeed, we are fed by our Father through His Word. As we prepare again to listen to God's Word read, let us bow our heads in prayer. Our Father, again, as we come to You this evening to hear Your Word read and proclaimed, we ask that Your Spirit be with us, that we may be fed indeed, that our souls may be nourished, That we may once again be reminded of the glories of the gospel. That we may be reminded that we are your people. That you are our God and our King, whom we serve with great delight. Father, may we rejoice that you have preserved your word for us. May you bless it unto our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. This evening we'll be looking at 1 Samuel chapter 8. You'll turn there with me as we look at God's word. You may remember some of the story of Samuel, how he was, in a sense, a judge over Israel. How he was appointed at a young age to serve the Lord. And here we're coming to the close of his time as a judge. a turning point, actually, in Israel's history, as they ask for a king. 1 Samuel 8, we'll read the entire chapter. When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. And they served at Beersheba. His sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel. So he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told them, Listen to all that the people are saying to you. It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them, but warn them solemnly, and let them know that the king who will reign over them, and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king. He said, This is what the king who will reign over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve his chariots and horses and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his tendons. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendons. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen and the Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No, they said, we want a king over us. Then we will be like the other nations. with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, Listen to them and give them a king. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Everyone go back to his town. Indeed, a monumental story, a turning point in Israel's history. People of God, have you ever done something that you knew you were going to regret? Perhaps you were warned of the consequences. You knew that in the end, you would have to pay the price for your decision. You knew full well what was in store for you. Well, in a similar way, this is the case with Israel. The elders of Israel came before Samuel and said, We want a king to rule over us. So Samuel, speaking for the Lord, told them, If you want a king, you're going to have to pay the price. And in doing so, as Israel asked for a king, they were forsaking God. But, in spite of Israel's sinful request, God gave them a king. And he instituted the earthly monarchy. And through it, his plan of redemption was worked out. And this plan culminated in the coming of Christ, the King of Kings. So as we look at this story this evening, as we look at God's inspired word, we're first going to consider Israel's rebellious request. Secondly, Yahweh's questionable consent. And then finally, we'll look at Christ's saving sacrifice. Well, as we read this story again, as we look at some of these verses, it should pop off the page right away that when Israel is asking for a king, this is an affront to God. If you think about it, God is Israel's king. Remember how he would reign over them. He alone is their king. See, Israel is a theocracy, ruled directly by God. You could think of the book of Exodus, How in chapters 19 and 20, God says that Israel will be for him a treasured possession. And so he institutes the Mosaic Covenant, providing stipulations for them. They'd be obedient and they would be his people. Because he was their king, he delivered them from Egypt, he promised them a land, and he was going to do it. The book of Deuteronomy also sheds a lot of light on this, in this idea of God as the king of Israel. Because God here is a suzerain, the great king, and Israel is his vassal. It's this great king and these lower people. But with this relationship comes certain stipulations. There's blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. There's blessing for loyalty and curses for disloyalty. But most importantly, as God is king in relation to this story, God promises His people protection. As any great king or suzerain would over His people, if they are His people, He's going to protect them. He's going to provide for them. It's interesting in Deuteronomy 20, how God lays out for them, as their king, what He will do for them. I'll just read a few verses, Deuteronomy 20, 1 through 4. When you go to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, Do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say, Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be faint-hearted or afraid. Do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. And then verse 4. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. Indeed, God, as the great king of Israel, their only king, provided victory for them over their enemies. But he did use mediators. As you know, probably the history of Israel. He called out Moses to mediate between him and the people. And then Joshua, his replacement. Then later on, lots of judges through the book of Judges. But then Eli, and then finally Samuel. But now, at this point in history, Israel's calling for change. They want a king. So they come to Samuel with a couple excuses. If you look at the text again, verse 1, when Samuel grew old. So that's their first excuse. Samuel, you're getting old. We want somebody else. And then secondly, Samuel had appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of the firstborn was Joel, and the name of the second was Abijah, and they served in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. Samuel, we want a king. You're old and your sons don't follow in your ways. This is no good. We need something different. We need something else. We want a king. but as i said these were just excuses the real reason that they're after a king comes in verse five we just start to get a glimpse of it look at verse five they said to him you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways now appoint for us a king to lead us such as the other nations have we start to get a glimpse of why they really want a king but now if you go down to verse 20 Here you really see how emphatic they are about wanting a king and the reason as well. We'll pick it up in verse 19. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No, they said, we want a king over us. Then we will be like the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. It's not just that Israel wanted a king, that their request was rebellious, but it's that they wanted a king to be like the other nations. They forgot who they were as God's treasured possession. They forgot that God had promised them to protect them, to provide for them, to give them the victory over their enemies. And so they're turning, they're looking at these other nations and saying, hey, they have kings. It seems to work for them. We want one too. Again, Samuel's old. The sons are appointed as judges. And what's interesting, even these sons of Samuel, you know, their names are pretty significant. But they themselves are corrupt. Joel, you might know, means Yahweh is God. And Abijah, my father, or my divine father, is God. Or is Yahweh. But these sons of Samuel, they're rebellious. They sought dishonest gain. They accepted bribes. They perverted justice. Not the kind of judge you would want. Not the quality of character that you would want in a judge. So again, the elders demand a king. It's emphatic. They must have a king. No, they say, we will have a king over us to lead us, to fight our battles. It's striking that they say they want a king to lead them and to fight their battles, considering especially the context in which we find this chapter. If you look just one chapter before this, 1 Samuel 7, and we'll read just verses 10 through 14, because here, just a couple verses before Israel asks for a king, we see the deliverance that God brings to Israel. 1 Samuel 7, verse 10. While Samuel is sacrificing the burnt offering, The Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth-kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, Thus far, the Lord helped us. So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. In the context, Israel's request for king is staggering. It's shocking. It's an affront to God. Indeed. Sure, Israel may have had some enemies that they were facing. They'd been battling the Philistines. They had skirmishes with the Arameans and the Ammonites. But God had been their king. He had provided them with victory. It's also striking that they say they want a king to fight their battles. They say, we want a king, Samuel, to fight our battles. They had forgotten that they weren't their battles. But they were Yahweh's battles. They were his suzerain. They were his vassals. He was the great king. They were nothing compared to this great king. And yet, they say, we want a king to fight our battles. You can sense the pride and the arrogance of these Israelites coming through a little bit. But think also of the history of Israel. How they have so quickly forgotten what God has done for them. You could think of their deliverance from Egypt. Or how he has driven out the nations before them, giving them the land of Canaan. So by their request, forgetting what God has given to them, forgetting who they are in his sight, they're chasing after what the nations have. They're not satisfied with who they are. And so they're asking for a king to be like the other nations. They are, by asking for such a request, they're forsaking God as their king. And again, the heart of the rebellion is to be like the other nations. And Samuel, Samuel is displeased with this. He says, this is no good, so he prays to the Lord. But God's response to Samuel is quite interesting. If you look at verses 7 and 8, 1 Samuel 8, 7 and 8, And the Lord told him, Listen to all that the people are saying to you. It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king, as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. So they are doing to you. God's not surprised. He knows the hearts of the people of Israel. He's called them stiff-necked people, stubborn people, forsaking him, running after other gods. Such is the case. And so the request is not surprising. But as we read this story, as New Covenant people, as people who serve a risen king, this story affords us a little bit of an opportunity to examine ourselves, to ask ourselves the question, are we forsaking God? Have we seen the pleasures that the nations around us, that the world around us has to offer? Are we discontent with who we are as God's covenant people? As his treasured possession? Are we looking to find satisfaction in the things of the world? In the pleasures of the world? In the wealth, in the prosperity? We're just content to be living in the status quo. Just living the Southern California dream. Not realizing that we are indeed a people set apart. A people of God's own choosing. but also you can ask yourself the question do you believe that God is powerful enough that God is strong enough to deliver you from our enemies to deliver you from sin to deliver you from the power of Satan and will he will he carry out and will he follow through on his promises of eternal life in some ways our situation is similar to that of Israel. We serve a king we do not see. We serve a God who we know about and we read about but we cannot see. It's easy to get distracted. It's easy to look around us and see all that those around us see what they have and to be dissatisfied. But God is indeed faithful. God is indeed powerful enough to deliver on his promises. But you may be asking, as we read through this story and look at it, if God is the sovereign king of Israel, why didn't he just put down this rebellion? Why did he acquiesce to the request of the people? Why did he give them a king? Even if their rebellion was sinful, why did God do it? Why did he give them the king at their request? Sometimes we often ask these questions. Why did things happen? Why does God allow certain things to happen? Why does God permit sin? And so asking these questions, we transition to our second point. Yahweh's questionable consent. Why did Yahweh, God, the God of Israel, why did he consent to give them a king if he was their king? Well, again, just putting this in context a little bit, it's maybe helpful to see that even in the book of Deuteronomy, there's provisions given for a king. We'll just read a couple verses there. Deuteronomy 17, just earlier than we'd read before. In verses 14 to 20. When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, let us set a king over us, like the nations around us. Be sure to point over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more for them. For the Lord has told you, you are not to go back that way again. He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver or gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a scroll, a copy of the law taken from that of the priests who are Levites. It is to be with him and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord, his God, and follow carefully all the words of his law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Again, this prescription of the king is given before Israel even asks. So it seems like there's some foreseen desire for a king. The Lord knows it's coming. As you read through Judges, too, and maybe Ruth, you see these anticipated appointments. If you remember Judges, you know, everything's in chaos. And there's a specific tagline that says, And there was no king in Israel. And everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. And then the book of Ruth, just before 1 Samuel, ends with a genealogy. A genealogy that points to the king of Israel, David, the second king. So, here again, we're asking these questions. Why does God permit this king through this rebellious request? Well, this request is not granted without a severe warning. Look at verses 11 through 18. We won't read them right now again, but if you scan through them, the warning is staggering. The burden that this king will place on the people is very, very severe. And it's interesting too, just a little wordplay that Samuel brings out here. He says, Men of Israel, you have asked for a king to judge over you. Well, these are going to be the judgments of the king. These are going to be his ways. He's going to take your men and women. He's going to take your children to serve in his army. He's going to take your women to serve in his courts. You can consider the cost of having a standing army or the cost in terms of life at court, all the food that his officials would need. So this king is just taking and taking and taking from the people of Israel. Indeed, his reign would be a heavy burden upon them. In fact, it would be so severe that Israel would, in fact, become slaves of their own desire. But perhaps the most severe warning, or the harshest point in this, comes in verse 18. The Lord says, Because Israel has desired a king to be like the nations. And they have forsaken God as their king. The Lord says, When they finally cry out for relief, God will not hear them. He will not respond. Such is the warning that God gives to them. but he still permits the request. It's interesting. We always struggle with this tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. And when we think about it in terms of God's will or God's providence, we can think about it in terms of God's not the author of sin. God permits sin. Man's responsible for the sinful behavior, even though God decrees it. It's a tension that we're not comfortable with. It's a tension that we wrestle with. But that's the way it's revealed to us in God's word. To illustrate that, you could think of the story of the Garden of Eden. You know, here is the story of creation and then the fall. Decreed by God, but yet man himself is responsible for sinful behavior. And so here, Israel asks for a king. A sinful request, because they want to be like the other nations. And yet, God grants the request. He says to Samuel, listen to the request. Give them a king. How come? Why? Well, it's because God works through this to bring his redemption, to bring his plan of redemption into fruition. Because in these kings of Israel, we have foils, antitype and type, that we can compare Christ to these kings. These kings of Israel who just take and take and take, who are faithless, provide a great contrast for the great king of kings. But it's also through this institution of the earthly monarchy that the Lord brings Christ, the descendant of David, the king of kings who will save his people. But while God allows and permits this sinful request, it doesn't mean that his permissiveness is contrary to his justice. No, God is not like Samuel's sons. He doesn't turn a blind eye to justice. He doesn't wink at sin. Though God permits sin, we are held responsible for our sins. And the penalty for sin needs to be paid. Because sins committed against the Most High Majesty of God need to be satisfied for. And so this brings us to our third point, Christ's saving sacrifice. For here we find in one person, here we find in the Lord Jesus Christ, both the King of Israel and God forsaken. As we consider Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, We must first think about him in terms of the history of redemption. He is the son of David, according to his human nature. But also, as God, he demands the throne. He has got a double claim to the throne of Israel, which is really quite interesting. As the son of David and as God, he lays a double claim to the throne. So indeed, he is the king of Israel. Not the king that Israel hoped for, perhaps, but the king of Israel that they needed. If you think back again to Israel's history, looking to the prophet of Isaiah for a moment, we'll consider what he has to say about this coming Christ, this suffering servant. As we consider God forsaken, Isaiah helps us understand what is meant by this. First of all, we consider Christ as rejected by man, a man of sorrows. No one to be really concerned with. Isaiah 53.3 But on the other hand, he's smitten, stricken by God. Smitten and afflicted to pay the penalty for our sins. Indeed, here we have God forsaken. God forsaken by Israel again. John 1 tells us that Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him. But even more poignantly, if you turn over to Matthew 27, we'll spend a little time there showing how Jesus Christ, this King of Israel, was forsaken by his own. Picking out a few verses here, verse 37, Above his head they placed the written charge against him. This is Jesus, King of the Jews. Dropping down a little bit, we also read about how they taunted him and mocked him. Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God. Other sayings, he saved others, but he cannot save himself. He's the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him. Indeed, Christ, the King of Israel, is God forsaken, rejected by his own. A king of great worth who his people did not recognize. But on the other hand, Jesus Christ is also God-forsaken in the sense that he's forsaken by God. And as Jesus Christ quotes Psalm 22, he cries out from the cross in Matthew 27, 46, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Brothers and sisters, as we contemplate Christ's saving sacrifice in connection to Israel's request for a king. Israel was warned that because of their request for a king God would not hear their request when they cried out to him. When they cried for relief God would not hear them. And now here it is the king of Israel Jesus Christ crying out on the cross My God, my God why have you forsaken me? The Lord did not answer Christ's call so that the Lord could answer us when we call. Christ is our substitute. He's taken our place on the cross. The Lord did not answer Christ's cry. But you and I both know that when we cry out to the Lord in repentance, when we call on His name, He is glad to hear us because we cry out in Christ's name. For Christ has paid the penalty. Christ has paid the price that our sins have incurred. Also relating Christ to the King of Israel. And even in Deuteronomy, it says that the Lord will go before them to fight for them, to give them the victory over their enemies. And it's here on the cross that Christ has gone before us. Christ has gone before us to fight our foe, to fight for life, to conquer his enemy, Satan, and to give us the victory, so that if we believe in his name, we might have life and have it to the full. Again, this is a great and glorious king who has conquered his enemies. But he is not just a suffering servant. Isaiah 53 also points forward to Christ exalted. And even as we celebrated Ascension Day last Thursday, and we heard of the great riches of this king, who has ascended on high, leading captives in his train, giving gifts to men. Indeed, it is this king whom we serve, Christ exalted, reigning over his church, delivering us, not from the tyranny of Egypt, but from the tyranny of slavery to sin. Christ going before us, fighting against our foes, fighting against death, fighting against sin, fighting against Satan. He has conquered our foes for us. He has fought for us and has given us the victory. Indeed, our King is a great King. He does not take and take from us. He demands our service. But at the same time, His yoke is easy and His burden is light, as Matthew 11 tells us. And so, we as his people are willing servants, serving our king with grateful and glad hearts, knowing that indeed we have a king who has gone before us to lead us, to win for us the victory. We are his people. We are his new covenant people. He is our king. He has won the victory. 1 Samuel tells us about how Israel sinfully rejected God, forsaking him to be like the world. But the good news of the gospel is that it was Christ himself who was forsaken by God so that we can go to our Father and have our prayers answered. We can know that he hears our prayers because Christ took our place. He has paid the penalty. Indeed, we serve a great King who has gone out before us, who has won the victory and now gives us great gifts. He does not demand much from us, just our lives, and we give them to Him in willing service, praising Him for the salvation that we have through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Our dear Lord God and Heavenly Father, we again come to you, praising you as our great God and King, worshiping you as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The King who has gone out victoriously and has conquered all of our enemies has brought us the victory. The victory that has given us life. A victory that we proclaim to the nations. Indeed, Lord, also we come to you knowing that because Christ was not answered as he hung on that cross, we have the comfort and the assurance that you will hear us when we pray. That when we cry out to you, that when we cry out for forgiveness, you will hear our prayers. That when we turn from our sins, you will forgive us for them. Lord, indeed, it is a wonderful thing to live in the light of this forgiveness, to bask in the glories of Christ's redemption. So, Father, even though we do not see you, though we serve an invisible king, help us to be steadfast, to forsake the ways of the world, and to have our hearts and our minds fixed on serving you alone. May we worship you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And may we take delight in the riches and the glories of our salvation. We pray this in Jesus Christ's name, knowing that you hear our prayers. Amen.