WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.040 Okay, so we're going to go back this morning to the chapter that we read in 1 Samuel chapter 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:12.359 10, because we're looking at different kind of steps in the Old Testament, some of the 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:17.440 major steps in the Old Testament, and we're looking at why really God has given us the 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:21.960 Old Testament and how it leads up to the coming of Jesus. 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:28.320 And recognizing the importance of the whole Bible and including the Old Testament, we 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:33.520 know that it's there partly because it gives us beginnings, it tells us about beginnings, 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.960 and we all need to know where we come from. 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:40.439 And that's important in an individual and in a cosmic way. 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.359 And he tells us about that and who created this world, we saw that with the kids. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.560 And also he explains from the beginning, God does in His word, where it all went wrong. 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:53.880 And we know that, don't we, from the early chapters of Genesis and what that means for 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:59.400 us, and the reality of good and evil in the world in which we live. 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:04.000 But it also speaks about the unmistakable plan that God always was involved with His 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.960 people, that He breaks into history, that He reveals His purposes and His commitment to 00:01:09.960 --> 00:01:18.240 save people, to redeem people, to destroy the power of evil and death in our lives. 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:23.840 And it's also about preparing for the coming of Jesus, who would be the one who would enable 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.439 that to happen. 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:33.040 So for me, this is, you may find this a really poor example, but it's a little bit like the 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:37.240 cooking of a really tremendous dish, okay? 00:01:37.240 --> 00:01:42.960 Which I receive when it's all prepared and I sit down at a table to eat. 00:01:42.960 --> 00:01:48.439 Now, I don't know all the individual ingredients that have gone into preparing that dish and 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:52.159 when they were added and why they were added, what flavor they bring. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:57.439 I don't know how long the dish was cooked, but I do know it all comes together to make 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:04.079 a fantastic tasting meal, and it tells me about my needs to eat, my appetites and the 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.560 things that I long for and love and desire. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:12.240 Now, that's a very imperfect illustration, but maybe it begins to help us understand 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.800 that the Old Testament is like the preparation of a beautiful meal, and Jesus Himself is 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:23.400 that meal that it prepares us and it readies us for the coming of Jesus. 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.920 Now, we don't necessarily understand all the different ingredients of the Old Testament 00:02:27.920 --> 00:02:34.760 or the timings of God or the necessity for every part of that story to be in the Old 00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:40.200 Testament, but we do know that it points us forward and prepares us for the coming of 00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:41.200 Jesus. 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:48.200 We do know that it tells us about God as the Creator, as the maker of the meal as it were, 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:54.679 and it also tells us about myself and about my own appetites and needs, and it reflects 00:02:54.679 --> 00:02:57.599 my need of a Savior and of His grace. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:02.079 So in many ways, the Old Testament teaches about God and about the coming of Jesus and 00:03:02.079 --> 00:03:04.399 about myself, and it tells you about your... 00:03:04.399 --> 00:03:08.719 You might think there's not much in the Old Testament for you, but you know, people in 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:13.599 the Old Testament are no different from people today, and so there's... it has a great deal 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:15.759 to teach us. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.239 And up till now in the series, we've looked at beginnings where it went wrong. 00:03:19.239 --> 00:03:23.719 We've looked at the covenant with Abraham, God's commitment to redeem a people. 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.399 We've seen the slavery in Egypt, the Exodus, with the Passover, with the shedding of blood, 00:03:29.399 --> 00:03:33.199 pointing forward to Jesus and His shedding of blood. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:39.120 We've got the promise of a homeland, land flowing with milk and honey, the ten words of the commandments 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.280 of how to live as those who are rescued and redeemed by God's people. 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:47.599 And we've got the story of the judges, which John looked at last week, with all the chaos 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:55.199 of the judges and the people just like a rollercoaster, they were near God far away from Him. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.199 It was chaos. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:05.639 And then, and now, we come to the kings, okay? 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:14.399 And what this reveals is about us and about the Old Testament people, humanity needs a 00:04:14.399 --> 00:04:15.399 king, okay? 00:04:15.399 --> 00:04:16.399 Humanity needs a king. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:17.800 Every person needs a king. 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:22.519 Now, I'm not speaking in narrow, monarchial terms per se. 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:28.399 It was always very evident maybe this week with all the news about the royal family and 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:30.240 the sadness of their experiences. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:37.000 But I'm speaking in broader terms about your need and my need and society's need and individual's 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:43.400 needs and the Old Testament people's needs for an inspirational leader, for a champion, 00:04:43.400 --> 00:04:48.360 for a Lord, for a king, for a God, for a father figure. 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:50.280 And that's really what this is all about. 00:04:50.280 --> 00:04:53.560 It's about humanity needing a king. 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:59.280 And the paradoxical story of the Old Testament and of God's people in the Old Testament is 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:05.799 that they rebelled against their king, God, who was their lord and who was their redeemer. 00:05:05.799 --> 00:05:13.359 And they constantly set up idols and earthly kings made in the image that they wanted all 00:05:13.359 --> 00:05:15.000 through their history. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.000 And they often rejected God's model for them. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.359 We're going to look at that a little bit this morning. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:31.439 Because we recognize that it was always actually, it was always God's plan for His people to 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.000 have a king. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.879 It was always God's plan. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:38.240 He wanted and He would provide them with a king. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.920 In Genesis 29, He made this promise when He was talking about the various tribes, the 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:48.280 scepter, that is the king scepter, will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:53.519 beneath his feet until he to whom it belongs shall come, and the obedience of the nation 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:54.519 shall be his. 00:05:54.519 --> 00:06:01.919 So it points to Judah being the tribe which have a king, and that points forward to Jesus, 00:06:01.919 --> 00:06:06.559 who would be the king and who usher in his kingdom. 00:06:06.559 --> 00:06:12.679 And we also know in Deuteronomy, as God speaks here to the people, God says to them, when 00:06:12.679 --> 00:06:17.879 you enter the land, the Lord your God is giving you, you shall take possession of it and be 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:22.040 settled in it and you shall say, let us have a king over us, like all the nations around 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:23.040 us. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:28.240 Be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.759 He must be from your own fellow Israelites, not a foreigner and so on. 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.759 Then He says, when He takes the throne of the kingdom, He is to write for Himself in a scroll 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:41.439 a copy of this law taken from that of the Levitical priests. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:46.240 So God even gave instructions about the kind of king that they should have. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:54.079 And He was to be a vice king, not like all the different kings around them that were despotic 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.720 and demanded all the power and glory. 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:03.600 Their king was to be a king under God's authority, different from all the nations around them. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.879 He was not to, there's a great chapter that I'll mention later, where it explains all 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.879 the wrong things that a king would do, and He was not to abuse His power. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:15.000 He was not to return people to slavery. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:16.680 He wasn't to have many wives. 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:19.079 He wasn't to enrich Himself. 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:24.199 He was to have a heart for God, and He was to be equal with His brothers. 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:29.000 So the model that God had was very different from the nations around them. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.800 And you know that speaks forward for us. 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:38.279 I'm going to apply it as we go along today, that we have come as Christians to know the 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.600 King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:47.120 And we are His people, and we are His family with God as our heavenly Father. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.879 And that's the ultimate fulfillment of what God has always wanted for His people, always 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:57.960 His plan that we would know Jesus as the King of our hearts, the King of our lives, and 00:07:57.960 --> 00:08:01.520 the King of our church. 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:03.520 And He's a different kind of king, isn't He? 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:08.200 Just like God wanted the Old Testament kings of Israel to be different. 00:08:08.200 --> 00:08:10.879 Jesus is different, a million fold, isn't He? 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:15.680 He's not like any other power broker that we know. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.120 He's the King that came to die. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.680 He's the King that came to serve. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:27.199 And as His people, we also should be different because we follow the King of Kings, different 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.800 from all the nations around us. 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:34.840 So God always planned a king for His people. 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:39.720 But the people of Israel at this point in the story we read, and we only read a bit 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:44.279 of it, they wanted a king for all the wrong reasons. 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:48.680 See in the chapter before, two chapters before we read, so the elders of Israel gathered 00:08:48.680 --> 00:08:53.360 together and saw that Ramah, they said to Him, You're old and Your sons don't follow 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:54.800 our ways, Your ways. 00:08:54.800 --> 00:08:59.600 Now appoint as a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:10.159 And we also read in chapter 10, verse 23 and 24, that they said, then they ran to Samuel, 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:14.440 the prophet, and said to Him, they introduced Him to Saul. 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:18.399 And when He stood among the people, He was taller than any of the other people, but from 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.840 the shoulders upwards. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:23.159 And Samuel said to the people, Do you see whom the Lord has chosen? 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:25.720 There is none like Him among all the people. 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:28.879 And all the people shouted, Long live the King! 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:34.559 And so we find that the people wanted a king for all the wrong reasons. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:38.960 They said, Look, the judges period has been a nightmare. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.439 And Samuel, you're an old prophet, you're not going to be here much longer and we don't 00:09:42.439 --> 00:09:49.279 like Your sons, we want a king, a king like all the other nations around us have. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:55.879 And the reality was that they were rejecting God as their king. 00:09:55.879 --> 00:09:59.759 God goes on to speak about that, and Samuel does as well, we'll mention that later as 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:00.759 well. 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:04.519 But they rejected God's rule and authority over them. 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:11.799 They thought a monarch, a king, other than God, would give them prosperity, protection, 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:17.879 and the power that they didn't think God could give them. 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.960 And what's interesting is that they were, in other words, they were wanting what God 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:29.639 already promised them, but they wanted it on their own terms, with their own king, just 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:32.040 like the nations around them. 00:10:32.040 --> 00:10:36.879 God wasn't good enough. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:41.280 They spoke to Samuel about that, and Samuel warned them in chapter 8, you can go and read 00:10:41.280 --> 00:10:44.280 it at some time when you have time, verses 10 to 18. 00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:50.040 He tells them, if they want a king like everyone else, this is what their king will do. 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:55.199 They demanded a king, even though it was for the wrong reasons. 00:10:55.199 --> 00:11:00.480 And you know there's a great lesson there for us in terms of our relationship with God, 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.879 is that we too can want to be like all the other nations, like everybody else around 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.120 us and not trust God. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.240 We think God's not enough for us, that we need to do things our own way. 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:13.000 We need to make our own plans. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:19.679 We need to have authority over our own lives, and that God isn't really worth trusting. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:28.959 We want the prosperity and the protection and the power to live our lives, but God isn't 00:11:28.959 --> 00:11:31.439 doing it for us. 00:11:31.439 --> 00:11:36.159 We want to do it our own way. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:44.479 But in so doing, all the desires we have, God will give us them as we align ourselves 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:51.920 to His will, and all the things we're looking for in life without God, God promises when 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:55.360 we follow Him and do things His way. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:59.120 Sinful selfishness is never good for us at whatever level. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:03.600 You might shrink this right down to macro level in your own life. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:13.159 It might not be in the same context as the kings, but it's so easy for us to want something 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:18.519 that God promises, but want it for the wrong reasons and the wrong time and in the wrong 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:19.839 way. 00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:25.159 But listen, this is very interesting. 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:28.839 God gave them what they wanted. 00:12:28.839 --> 00:12:32.679 God gave them what they wanted. 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:39.879 Do you see verse 24, whom the Lord has chosen, there is none like Him among the people, long 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:42.720 live the King. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:50.040 God gave them what they wanted, even though their motives for wanting a king at this time 00:12:50.040 --> 00:12:52.160 was wrong. 00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:55.879 He gave them someone who was impressive on the outside. 00:12:55.879 --> 00:13:02.840 Because you had a son named Saul, a handsome young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:05.960 and he was a head taller than everyone else. 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:06.960 That's what they wanted. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:11.879 They wanted someone who was big and strong and had a six pack and was going to lead the 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.320 world and was taller than everyone else, a really impressive leader. 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:19.840 That's what they wanted, and that's what He gave them. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.679 That's what He gave them. 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:29.080 And he's anointed at the beginning of chapter 10 by God. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:31.000 God anoints him. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:35.919 And in chapter 12, when Samuel's last speech, it's interesting, Samuel kind of sums it up 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:36.919 beautifully. 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:41.840 He says, when you saw Nehash, king of the Ammonites, was moving against him, you said to me, no, 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:46.440 we want a king to rule over us, even though the Lord your God was your king. 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:49.639 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:52.840 See, the Lord has set a king over you. 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:55.160 You see that? 00:13:55.160 --> 00:14:00.399 Samuel speaks about the fact their desire was wrong for having a king, and yet God gave 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.560 them a king, and this was the one that he appointed. 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:07.000 The kind of king they wanted, he gave them. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:12.360 This is interesting, I think, for us, because it didn't mean that he approved of what they 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:14.279 were doing at that time. 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:19.639 It didn't mean they approved of their motives, but he gave them what they wanted. 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:25.960 And in his mercy, he used Saul as a king for them to defeat the Philistines and to protect 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:32.360 them and to give them that kingdom that they wanted. 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:33.879 God gave them what they wanted. 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:40.279 Now, I'm going to apply that again as we go through in our own lives, you know? 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:46.439 God sometimes gives us what we want. 00:14:46.439 --> 00:14:51.360 We can be impressed by things, impressive things on the outside. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.360 That's what they were. 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.960 They were impressed with what Saul was like on the outside. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:00.799 It's actually very interesting to compare them with their next king, David, don't we? 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:06.559 He was a little squirt, he was a little shepherd boy, he wasn't strong and muscly, and yet he 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.120 was the man after God's own heart. 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:12.399 But we haven't, Thomas will probably deal with that next week when we look at David. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:19.159 But we can also be really impressed with what we see on the outside and wanting to be like 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:20.159 everyone else. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.120 And sometimes we chase after that. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:27.399 What's really impressive to everybody else and what looks good. 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:35.480 And we might even pray for that, but at the same time be rejecting God's way and rejecting 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:36.480 God's purposes. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:45.319 But can I say, be very careful what you ask for and even what you pray for, because God 00:15:45.319 --> 00:15:51.199 granting your request, God answering your prayer, isn't always about Him blessing what 00:15:51.199 --> 00:15:53.079 you're asking for. 00:15:53.080 --> 00:16:01.080 It might be to expose your obstinacy and it might be that He wants to show you your heart 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:06.560 and expose that your way isn't the best way. 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:10.520 And that's a really great Old Testament lesson that we can take for our own lives. 00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:13.400 I remember years ago watching a film. 00:16:13.400 --> 00:16:16.800 I don't know what film it was, can't remember anything else about it. 00:16:16.800 --> 00:16:21.960 But all I remember was there was a little boy in this film, probably about 10 or 11 years 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:27.879 old, and he was smoking a cigarette and his dad caught him smoking a cigarette in the 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:30.080 back garden. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.200 And he thought he was really going to be up for it. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:37.440 He was going to get punished for smoking a cigarette in the back garden. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.800 But his dad said, come on in, son. 00:16:39.800 --> 00:16:41.800 No, come on in by the fire. 00:16:41.800 --> 00:16:46.759 And he took him down by the fire side, he sat him down and he said, now you're like 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:52.480 a young man here and he broke out two big fat cigars. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.559 And he said, now you're a man and you're smoking a cigarette. 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.240 Why don't you smoke a cigar with me by the fire side? 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:02.639 And he cut off the front of it and he gave his son a big fat cigar, this 12-year-old 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.599 son, and he lit it up and his son said, no, I don't want to. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.720 No, no, no, you smoke the cigarette. 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.000 Give you a big cigar to smoke. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.559 And he lit it up and he said, now take a good big suck here. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:19.440 And of course the father was smoking a cigar, isn't this beautiful, isn't this great? 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:24.639 And the boy was going greener and greener and feeling sicker and sicker, he said, I 00:17:24.639 --> 00:17:25.639 can't smoke anymore. 00:17:25.639 --> 00:17:27.759 You go on, finish it off. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:34.919 And of course the moral of that story is, of course, that the child never smoked again 00:17:34.919 --> 00:17:39.200 because his father gave him what he thought he wanted, what he thought was cool and what 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.919 looked good on the outside. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.880 But of course it was a disaster. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:49.640 But as parents we know that sometimes, don't we? 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:54.640 Sometimes we step back and we have to give our, I'll be careful what I say here, but 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:00.160 sometimes we have to, we just recognize that people need to make their own mistakes and 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.680 really that's what God is saying here. 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:08.680 But He doesn't want that for us, but that is sometimes the only way we learn. 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:10.560 God gave them what they wanted. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:15.399 And we see the kind of king that Saul was in the story of Saul as it unfolds. 00:18:15.399 --> 00:18:17.440 We don't have time to look at that today. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:18.919 If you have time go and read it. 00:18:18.919 --> 00:18:25.919 It's very interesting because we see that God grieves ultimately over Saul and over 00:18:25.919 --> 00:18:27.519 his life. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.119 God does use him, it's amazing. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:34.839 But I wonder if we get a hint about the character of Saul in verse 22, even in this chapter 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:35.839 when he's anointed. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:41.319 In verse 22 it says, So they inquired again of the Lord, is there a man still to come 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:46.599 when the Lord said, Behold, he's hidden himself among the luggage. 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:50.639 Now it's just a hint, isn't it? 00:18:50.639 --> 00:18:53.839 But here's this impressive six-pack tall big man. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:00.879 And yet when he's been asked to, as anointed as king, he's timid and he's afraid and he's 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:10.760 hiding and he lacks the identity and the trust in God to take up this mantle. 00:19:10.760 --> 00:19:18.840 And what we see in poor Saul's life is he's vain and he modelled himself exactly on all 00:19:18.840 --> 00:19:24.600 the other kings who demand popularity, who demand to be well known, who craves to be 00:19:24.600 --> 00:19:26.200 accepted. 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:29.400 He lacks the confidence of being anointed by God. 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:34.880 He lacks the trust in God and he tries to do things his own way and then tries to patch 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.960 up and say, No, I was trying to obey God honestly. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:45.640 You know, in chapter 13, when they're facing the Philistines, he doesn't wait for Samuel 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:49.080 to come and offer sacrifice, which was the priestly role. 00:19:49.080 --> 00:19:53.519 He does it himself, knocks Samuel out of the way and say, I'll be the priest, I'll do 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:54.519 it. 00:19:54.519 --> 00:20:02.000 And then he makes a foolish vow later on that is crazy and then in chapter 15, when he's 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.480 tasked to lead the Israelites to destroy the Amalekites in that solemn and frightening 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.920 chapter, he doesn't do what God commands. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:15.680 He leaves bits out and he tries to patch up by saying, Oh, I was really, I was really 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:17.359 just worshiping God. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.960 But God's grieved by him because he doesn't have a new heart. 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:28.120 And when David comes along, we know that he's murderously jealous, isn't he? 00:20:28.120 --> 00:20:29.880 He's become that tyrant. 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.319 He always demands to be accepted. 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:35.920 He reminds me a little bit of Prince Charming in Shrek. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:43.000 You know, with Prince Charming, who's always, his plans are being thwarted and the people 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.319 don't really like him and Shrek keeps getting in the way and all these kind of things. 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:56.119 And I think there's that insecurity about Saul as well at a much deeper level. 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:58.559 And that speaks about human nature, doesn't it? 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:07.079 And it speaks about us when we love ourselves and when we try and usurp God and try and 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:14.359 even please God by, but at the same time by being disobedient, by rejecting his salvation 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:20.759 in Christ, when we're pursuing popularity at the expense of obedience to God, when we 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:27.599 know better than God, when obedience is well down the list of our priorities, we can learn 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:29.399 from Saul. 00:21:29.399 --> 00:21:31.719 God was grieved by Saul's life. 00:21:31.719 --> 00:21:36.719 He ripped the kingdom from him, said the kingdom will not be established with your children 00:21:36.719 --> 00:21:38.279 and your generation. 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:39.279 He was grieved. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:46.279 He repented of him, that just means he was deeply grieved and yet we see how patient and 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:56.000 merciful and time patient he was with Saul, but he ultimately seems to be rejected. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:02.000 But the Old Testament gives us pictures of people that's a mirror to our own hearts, 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:07.519 the sinfulness of our own hearts that needs to be changed and transformed so that obedience 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.639 to our Savior and Lord and Jesus matters. 00:22:10.639 --> 00:22:13.079 Okay, we come to the last point. 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:19.160 You've done very well in sticking with me in a difficult passage when we're only giving 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:21.879 a very brief summary. 00:22:21.879 --> 00:22:26.680 Is that we see that in this passage also, or in the whole story of the Kings, particularly 00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:32.480 Saul, God weaves his own purposes into their desires. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:38.200 So he takes this, the desires of the Old Testament people, he's a one-eyed king like all the 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:43.000 other kings around us, which was a wrong desire at the wrong time and in the wrong way. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:49.360 He weaves his own purposes into that and he over rules them. 00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:54.440 And he uses Saul to defeat Israel's enemies, the Philistines and the Amalekites. 00:22:54.440 --> 00:23:01.920 He empowers him, as we saw in that passage, that he was anointed and he was given, his 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:09.759 heart was changed at one point by the spirit of God that he was given, and he had many 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:16.480 opportunities to return to his God. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:23.600 But he uses the Israelites' wrong motives for seeking a king at that time to prepare 00:23:23.600 --> 00:23:30.880 them for a king after their own heart, after his own heart, the shepherd boy. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:36.360 To show them a better way, a servant, shepherd, king. 00:23:36.360 --> 00:23:41.360 But ultimately even the shepherd boy would fail them. 00:23:41.360 --> 00:23:49.160 And that was to prepare them for the best king, the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:52.840 the shepherd, servant, king. 00:23:52.839 --> 00:24:01.039 So we see that the Old Testament in all its progressive steps is teaching us about ourselves, 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:06.439 it's teaching us about God, it's teaching us about its purpose and plan, and ultimately 00:24:06.439 --> 00:24:09.839 bringing us to recognize the centrality of Jesus. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:14.639 So all through that early history of humanity, it's not all of the history of humanity, it's 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:20.839 just the history of God's working among His people, but it brings us to recognize Jesus. 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:26.559 And the intention then of the Old Testament is to expose your need and mind of a Savior, 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:32.240 that our hearts, without Christ, are no different from the Israelites or from Saul, that our 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:33.599 hearts need to be changed. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:42.359 We often just look on what's nice on the outside, but we're to seek the God who wants us to 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:48.599 recognize our hearts need to be changed, and that is a gift that comes from Him as we put 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:54.559 our trust in Him to change the sinfulness of our hearts because of what Jesus has done 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:55.919 on our behalf. 00:24:55.919 --> 00:25:02.000 It's to question who rules your life today. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:07.359 Think about it, you know, okay, we don't have a king, maybe we don't even think the politicians 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.079 rule over us and that's fair enough, but who rules your heart? 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:13.799 Who rules your decision making and mine? 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:15.439 Who is it? 00:25:15.439 --> 00:25:17.240 Is it King Jesus? 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:24.319 How high up the priorities of your life is King Jesus? 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:30.519 The Old Testament reveals our longings for protection, for prosperity, and for power 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:31.920 to change. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:39.440 And very often we grab these things or grab what we think will give us these things, but 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:47.880 at the same time reject God who promises these things as we entrust our hearts and lives 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.160 to Him. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:55.000 You might find your sinful cravings unsatisfied. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:02.039 That's because God wants to change your cravings and He wants to give you desires that He promises 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:03.519 to satisfy. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:10.960 Life promises, not death promises, and our sinful cravings always lead to death. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:18.079 So we need to be aware of mimicking the world, the unbelieving world around us. 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.960 As individuals, isn't that so easy for us to do? 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.240 I just want to be like everybody else. 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:27.720 I want all the kind of things that they want. 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:36.839 We've got to be aware of mimicking the world as a church and by coveting things that are 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:42.440 not the priority that God has for us as a church. 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:49.160 And we have to understand God's mercy and His patience as He dealt with Saul, but not 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:50.759 presume on it. 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.000 Not go from here and say, well, it doesn't matter, I live. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:54.279 God will forgive me anyway. 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.000 Isn't that what we say sometimes? 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:58.359 God will forgive me anyway. 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:05.359 And we presume on His goodness and don't recognize that He empowers us by His Holy Spirit to 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:12.880 be changed, to be constantly forgiven, moving forward, transformed into His likeness. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.720 We've moved from death to life as Christians. 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:19.240 Christ is the King of kings of our lives and we're called to live it. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:26.839 And if you're not a Christian, can I ask you to consider who is King of your life, to whom 00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:28.720 you give obedience? 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.920 And that might well be just, you might just be self enthroned. 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:37.120 You might not think that there's anyone else that you particularly care about or respond 00:27:37.120 --> 00:27:40.720 to, but it could be just that self enthronement, is it? 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.120 Couldn't it be? 00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:43.559 Just that I'm the most important. 00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:44.720 I just make the decisions. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:51.400 I don't rely on anyone else and he says, no, you're created to rely and love and serve 00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:59.880 the King of kings who left Lory and the throne room and was nailed to a tree to take the 00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:04.640 wrath and the sin and the death that we deserve. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:09.440 I do think we can learn from the kings in the Old Testament and there's a lot of complexity 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:17.279 in it, but yet there's a clear purpose and progression and plan in God's revelation to 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:18.279 us. 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:19.279 Amen. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:23.519 Let's bow our heads briefly in prayer. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:30.759 Lord God, we pray today that you would take your word and that you would bless it to us. 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:37.120 We thank you for it and we know that it is your breathed word, your living word. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.439 It is difficult, sometimes you don't understand it, it seems culturally so far away from 00:28:41.439 --> 00:28:45.719 us and yet we see you working your purposes and your plan. 00:28:45.719 --> 00:28:52.319 Bless it to us we pray, anoint us with your spirit as we seek to live your way, not our 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:55.679 own way and we know that takes a whole transformation. 00:28:55.679 --> 00:29:00.719 Lord, I thank you today for this last week that has passed for the seven days of prayer 00:29:00.719 --> 00:29:06.119 that we've enjoyed every morning and for the times together, sweet and refreshing. 00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:10.719 We pray that you would bless these times, that you would help us to persevere in prayer 00:29:10.719 --> 00:29:13.759 and that we would see answers to our prayers. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:20.000 I pray Lord God today also and we pray today for trouble in this world that we see so much 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:25.439 from people and from nations and kingdoms that have rejected the kingship of Jesus and 00:29:25.439 --> 00:29:27.839 are going their own way. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:34.639 And the trouble individually and in families and in communities and in nations, we think 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.000 of the trouble in Northern Ireland in these days, the renewed trouble. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:43.240 I grew up in this church, sitting in this church with my dad praying every day and all 00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:50.200 the ministers in all the churches in the 70s and 80s pleading for peace in Northern Ireland. 00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:54.400 And now we find ourselves again praying for an upsurge in the violence they are praying 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:57.840 against it and praying for new peace. 00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:03.520 Pray for what's happening in Myanmar and in Hong Kong and in North Korea where there's 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:09.000 just seems to be deep, deep poverty and starvation and despair. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:12.079 Where evil seems to reign in these places. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:18.759 We pray for King Jesus and for the patience of God as the sovereign. 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:24.279 We pray for the gospel to break out in these places and we thank you that one day there 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:29.319 will be justice served and righteousness will reign. 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:35.439 And may we be part of that as God's children who have entered God's kingdom through the 00:30:35.439 --> 00:30:38.399 only way through Jesus Christ. 00:30:38.399 --> 00:30:40.159 We ask it in His precious name. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:59.720 Amen.