Well, this morning's message is going to be a little bit of an oddball compared to some
of the ones that we've had in the past couple of weeks.
We've been working through some of Jesus' parables about the kingdom of heaven, all in Matthew
chapter 13.
And the last one, which I was going to do today, is the parable of the net and the fish,
and very much has the same meaning or interpretation as the parable of the weeds, which we looked
at already.
Different, same meaning, just a different analogy.
So we're going to do something a little different this morning.
We just wrapped up our last Sunday school as we break for summer here, and in Sunday school
we've been looking at the story of Samuel, King Saul, David.
And in two weeks we're going to be starting a new summer series during our morning services.
I'm titling it Man on the Run, and we're going to look specifically at the psalms that David
composed while he was on the run.
And just what was going on in his head and his heart as he did.
And so what I'd like to do this morning is to just tie all of these things together a little bit.
Because all of these things have one thing in common.
And that's the thread or the theme of kingdom.
The parables of the kingdom.
We've been looking at the rise of the first human king of the nation of Israel in Sunday school.
It's been really good to work our way through that book in 1 Samuel.
Especially with those who have been regular with the class, you'll know the story and what
we've discovered there.
But where is it all going?
My text this morning is the whole book of 1 Samuel, so it would be a little hard to follow
along.
But it's in there.
Those of you who have been in Sunday school will know what most of the things I'm referring
to are.
Where is it all going, though?
What's the point of this story?
It's quite the story.
I'll start off with just kind of reminding us of a little bit of how the story goes.
It begins with the people of Israel in times of trouble.
Things are not going well.
They're living in the land of Canaan, the promised land, along with all of the Canaanites that
they failed to conquer.
And over the generations, since they first entered the promised land, they have slowly just
moved back into worshiping the gods of the people that were there in the land, doing the kind
of things that they've been doing.
The spiritual condition of the people is not well.
Many have forgotten about the Lord, the God who brought them out of Egypt, rescued them
from slavery.
Many are worshiping idols, false gods.
And the Lord has been gracious.
He's given them leaders.
Every time they've called out to him because their enemies are closing in or coming to attack,
he's given them these leaders who have been a help.
They've had victory over their enemies for a period of time.
But then as soon as that leader would die or that judge would die, men like Samson and
Gideon and others, they would slowly just go back to their old ways, forgetting the Lord
and worshiping other gods.
The history of this period is found in the book of Judges, of course, and it ends on a
really ominous note.
In those days, there was no king.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
To make matters worse, even the religious leaders are corrupt and immoral.
And that's what we saw at the beginning of 1 Samuel.
Those entrusted with the tabernacle and the priesthood, they're using their positions to
take advantage of the people.
The people would come to bring sacrifices to the Lord and the priests, they were to get a
portion of the sacrifice for themselves, but they were treating the sacrifice with contempt.
They were demanding parts that weren't theirs or parts for themselves before they were supposed
to get them.
And if you're not going to give it to me, I'll take it by force.
They were doing...
Some of the men, the priests, were sleeping with the women at the entrance of the tent of
meeting.
There was all kinds of things going on.
The leadership, the spiritual leadership was corrupt and immoral.
And these were the sons of Eli and their father on the whole.
He knew it was wrong, but he pretty much turned a blind eye.
He had the odd conversation, the odd rebuke.
What are you guys doing?
But he didn't do anything to stop it.
And so the question that we're faced with, with this story of 1 Samuel that we've been
looking at is, what is God going to do about all of this, about this mess that his people
are in?
He's made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob about building a people, a great nation through
whom he will bless the world, even a kingdom.
And yet, the people of this nation, this kingdom, are a mess.
Their leadership is corrupt.
Well, God's grace and mercy oftentimes comes in small and unexpected ways.
A woman named Hannah was barren.
She was brokenhearted because of her barrenness.
And she prayed and asked the Lord to give her a son.
And the Lord did.
He gave her a baby boy, and his name was Samuel.
She promised God that if he gave her a son, she would give her son back to the Lord.
And she did that.
When he was born and after he had been weaned, she dropped him off at the tabernacle, and he
grew up serving the Lord there.
And God did something amazing with this little boy, Samuel.
He revealed himself to this boy.
He revealed himself through this boy.
Samuel became the Lord's prophet, the person through whom God would speak to his people.
For any who were willing to listen, God's grace was there.
His counsel was there.
His guidance was there in these perilous times.
God established Samuel as both a prophet and a leader in Israel.
He cleaned house on the nation.
As we read in Sunday school, in one fell swoop, he removed Eli and his sons, this corrupt religious
leadership from power.
He gave them into the hands of the Philistines who defeated them in battle.
Eli and his sons died.
And then the unthinkable happened.
The Ark of the Covenant was captured.
It took all this for God to get through to Israel, to finally get their attention, that
they would come to the place where they would stop and turn back to him and acknowledge their
sin, be ready to get rid of their idols.
And Samuel was the Lord's man that he had raised up for that very moment to guide the people
and counsel them and help them know, how do we do this?
How do we turn back to the Lord?
What does he require of us?
Things went well for a time.
Israel was at peace with her enemies.
But then the cycle began to repeat itself all over again.
Samuel grew old.
His own sons became corrupt, just like Eli's.
The people of Israel altogether decided that their solution to this problem was a change
of government.
We've seen how things go.
What's really going to solve our problems is this.
We need a king.
Just like the other nations around us.
They have kings.
Things seem to go well for them.
We need a king.
That's going to make the difference here for us.
We need someone who will lead our men out into battle.
That's going to solve our problems.
But sadly, the Lord had made it clear to Samuel that the reason they wanted a king was because
they had rejected him, the Lord, as their king.
The Lord warned the people through Samuel that a king was not what they needed.
They had him as their king.
And that if they went through with this, this would have awful consequences.
Eventually, it would come to the day where they cried out to the Lord for relief from
the king himself that they had chosen.
But they didn't listen.
They said, we want a king anyway.
Give it to us anyway.
So the Lord agreed to give them what they wanted.
He gave them a king.
He had Samuel anoint a man, the first ever human king of Israel, Saul.
And this is how the nation of Israel became the kingdom of Israel for the first time.
It was a sad day for Israel because it was a day in which God's people rejected the words
that he gave them through his prophet.
It was a day on which they rejected their true king, the Lord, and sought a man,
someone that they could look to and see to be their leader in his place.
And yet, even here, we saw God's grace.
God was, not only gave them a king, but he was with that king.
He gave grace to Saul.
He did some work in Saul's heart and changed his heart, it says.
He gave him his spirit, an unexpected gift of mercy for an undeserving people.
Well, how did Saul do as the first king of Israel?
At first, things went really well.
He won a couple battles for the people.
Everyone seemed to recognize and affirm that he was the guy.
He stood a head taller than the rest of other people.
He was a good-looking guy.
Loyalty was there.
God even put it in the hearts of some men to follow him and to be loyal to him.
At first, things went really well.
But then Saul's true colors began to show.
And he disobeyed the Lord.
And he did it again.
And this became a pattern.
As a consequence for Saul's disobedience, God promised to take the kingdom,
first from his family line and then out of Saul's own hand.
Saul cared more about what other people thought about than what God thought of him.
He didn't listen to Samuel, God's prophet.
And so he didn't listen to God.
He was so concerned with his own reputation.
He was determined to hold on to the power and the position that he had risen to.
And he began to do everything to protect his rule and to hang on to this kingdom.
He made rash decisions.
He used threats of violence to motivate his people and his men to do what he wanted them to do.
And he was just eaten up with anxiety trying to protect his kingdom.
Already what the Lord had warned the people about was coming true.
The king that they had chosen for themselves was making life difficult for them.
They didn't trust him.
They didn't trust his judgment.
But they had to obey because they were afraid of the consequences if they didn't.
And here again we find Israel in a mess.
A mess of their own making.
So what is God going to do to fix this?
How is he going to get his people out of this mess?
Well the Lord had a plan.
Not just to take away the kingdom from Saul.
But to give his people a new king.
A man after his own heart.
With a heart like God's.
A man who would do what God wanted him to do and what he asked him to do.
And that young man was David.
The young shepherd from Bethlehem.
The youngest of his brothers.
By the Lord's wise working he brought David into the king's palace.
To become a servant of the king.
He got David into the military.
David had victory as we all know against Goliath.
The Lord gave success to David in all the battles that he went to fight.
And eventually Saul realized just what the Lord was doing.
He was giving.
Taking the kingdom from Saul.
And giving it to David.
This man.
Who was rising up in prominence.
And popularity with the people right before his eyes.
But rather than humble himself before God.
Saul was consumed with holding on to his kingdom.
To this power and position.
And so he went after David.
He went after the one whom the Lord had anointed.
And he tried to use any and every means to get to him.
He slaughtered innocent women and children.
He was willing even to kill his own son.
For taking David's side.
And pleading David's case.
He hunted David.
He chased him through the hill country.
He chased him to the outskirts of the desert.
Even after David and his little band of outlaws.
Went and rescued one of the Israelite towns.
When it was being raided by the Philistines.
Saul was ready right after that to just pounce on him.
And kill him.
Yet he escaped.
Saul became this obsessed.
Murderous.
Maniac.
And David was his obsession.
Even after David had two opportunities.
To kill Saul.
The man who was hunting him.
And yet didn't.
He still didn't stop the hunt.
And saw David as a threat.
To his kingdom.
Finally came the day.
When the Lord did as he promised.
Which we read about this morning.
When God took the kingdom from Saul.
And his family.
God allowed the Philistines to conquer Israel.
And Saul watched as the kingdom.
Was torn out of his hands.
Until he could watch no more.
And then he took his own life.
There's many things that we can.
Learn or take from this story.
We've been challenged and encouraged.
By David's faith.
And his character.
In the midst of trials.
We talked about that this morning.
We'll see even more of that this summer.
As we look at some of the psalms.
David wrote while he was on the run.
But this morning.
I want to ask the question.
What's the greater meaning.
Of this whole story.
Why is it here?
What's the big lesson from it?
What's it pointing to?
What's the story?
At the surface.
It may seem like just a story of two rivals.
A hero and a villain.
The hunter and the person being hunted.
The prey.
But it's so much more.
1 Samuel is the story.
Not just of a king and his kingdom.
But of a God and his kingdom.
Not just of people who are trying to build their own kingdom.
But of a God who is at work building his own kingdom.
A kingdom that we've been talking about through Jesus' parables.
But there's some big problems here.
As we've seen.
As we've been going through this book.
Even with the grace that God has given through Samuel the prophet.
And very personally to Saul.
There's some big problems here.
At least two of them.
The people had a prophet.
They had one who was speaking the very words of God to them.
A reliable prophet.
A guy whose words came true time and time again.
And yet they didn't listen to him.
They didn't do what he said.
They didn't accept his word.
They refused to listen to him.
They refused to listen to God.
There was a problem with the people.
The problem with the people is that they kept turning away.
From God.
They kept ignoring him.
They kept disobeying him.
They wanted a king.
They wanted a kingdom.
But they were going to try to build that kingdom for themselves.
With the king of their choice.
We'll do it with or without your help.
God.
Have they done a king of the people.
But they did not.
And even when they come to see the error of their ways.
Their repentance is short lived.
It's not long before they're back into their old ways.
And they repeat the cycle again.
1 Samuel only hints at what's needed.
It's not an outward fix.
it's not a change of government
it's not a good looking leader
but a change of heart
a change of attitude
and one that lasts
where do you get that from?
Samuel pushes us to seek after
and look for that
and the solution
is not here in 1 Samuel
we see little glimpses of how to get that
David shows us how to seek after that heart
but it's something that we'll have to
continue on in the story to find out
the second problem
there's a problem with the people
they have a prophet but they won't listen
to him
the second problem is with the king
they wanted a king
they wanted a kingdom
and despite the fact that they had God
a true king
they wanted a man to be their king
God gave them what they asked for
but there was a problem with the king that they chose
he was not a good king
he loved himself
he was all tied up in his kingdom
he reigned through fear
he took advantage of his people
he was rash
he perverted justice
and killed innocent people
to get what he wanted
he ruled for himself
and not for God
he was cowardly
he didn't listen to God
any more than the rest of Israel did
there was a problem with the people
there was a problem with the king
and if this kingdom that God is building
is to succeed
or to work
then we need
a king
who is better than Saul
a king who doesn't
just look really good
on the outside
but a king who is truly good
on the inside
a man after God's own heart
a king with a heart like God's
a heart of love
for his people
a heart of wisdom
a heart of justice
a heart of integrity
there's need for a king
who's not just the people's favorite
but a king who is God's choice
a king who will do
according to the will of the Lord
even if it's hard
the question that we come to ask
as we've been
going through this story
and we haven't seen the full answer yet
because
there's more to the story
David hasn't become the king yet
but is David that king?
is David that king?
we're kind of left hanging
at the end of the book
Saul commits suicide
and David is not yet the king
it remains to be seen
he's much better than Saul
we've seen that so far
he has
great moments of integrity
he didn't take Saul's life
when he had the chance
he's a man who
who refuses to murder
the man who is hunting him
but even David is just a man
from among sinful people
there were times that he blew it too
and we saw that
David at one point
was ready to kill
a whole household
he was angry
he was frustrated
these were
innocent people
many of them
and God thankfully
by his grace
put a stop to it
and sent Abigail
out
to speak to him
David would later
go on to serve
as a wonderful king
a good king
a gift of God's grace
to his people
but not a good
enough king
not good enough
for Uriah
the guy that
he killed
so that he could
steal his wife
there's a problem
with the people
there's a problem
with the king
there's a problem
with even the best
of kings
so how can we
have a kingdom
if there's no king
among the people
who is worthy
to rule
in this kingdom
we can fast forward
from 1st Samuel
through the story
the kingdom continues
more kings come
many of them
much worse
than Saul
ever was
the kingdom
which at
one point
becomes united
under David
and Solomon
is divided
then it's conquered
and in a sense
it's obliterated
it's people
are carted off
into exile
by other
nations
and empires
when they finally
get back
to their homeland
things are in shambles
and they pretty much
remain under the rule
of foreign empires
almost that entire time
until
a thousand years later
from the time
of David
the Roman Empire
is in charge
what's to become
of this kingdom
and again
it's almost
surprising
just how similar
things are
as they were
before
God sends them
another prophet
a baby boy
miraculously conceived
a son
who will grow up
one day
to challenge
the corrupt
religious
leaders
of his day
and bring
God's word
to his people
again
a prophet
who will take
up a similar
message
to Samuel
repent
turn back
to God
for the forgiveness
of your sins
God sends them
another priest
who like
Samuel
will intercede
on behalf
of people
when they
do repent
but the thing
that we want
to look at
most here
is how
a thousand
years later
after this
time of David
and Samuel
and Saul
God sends them
another king
another
one
born
in Bethlehem
another son
of Jesse
but not a king
like Saul
but a king
like David
a shepherd
of his people
and still
better than
David
the good news
of God
is this
while the best
laid plans
of mice
and men
fail
our attempts
to build
our own kingdom
a kingdom
for ourselves
fail
God is still
graciously at work
with undeserving
people
building a kingdom
for himself
and for his
people
and his son
Jesus
is the prophet
is the priest
and is the king
that this kingdom
needs
Jesus is the
ultimate prophet
he came
just as Samuel
did
to speak
God's word
and he does it
with perfect
faithfulness
he is the
ultimate seer
Samuel
was fooled
for a moment
and thought
maybe
the eldest
and best
looking
of Jesse's
sons
might be
the next
king
Jesus
is not
fooled
by the
outward
appearances
of people
he knows
exactly
what's going
on in the
heart
of each
person
Jesus
is also
the high
priest
that we
need
one who
like Samuel
will represent
us
faithfully
before God
but Jesus
is even
better
because he
brings
the lasting
and permanent
solution
to the
problem
with the
people
in here
he brokers
a new
covenant
with God
one that
will bring
a permanent
and lasting
change of
heart
for God's
people
one that
will lead
to the
removal
of the
punishment
that we
deserve
for our
sins
and finally
Jesus
is the
king
that we
need
if there's
anything
that first
Samuel points
to
it's this
we need
a good
king
we need
a man
after God's
own heart
to lead
us
and to
rule
over us
Jesus
is
that
king
think
of
Saul
and think
of
Jesus
it's
amazing
when you
compare
the two
of them
Saul
was a
man
after
the
people's
own
hearts
but
Jesus
like
no
other
was a
man
was a
king
after
God's
own
heart
being
himself
the
son
of
God
and
God
in
human
flesh
Saul
would
do
anything
to
save
his
own
skin
he put
himself
first
over
his
people
time
and
time
again
but
Jesus
would
do
anything
for
his
people
even
lay
down
his
life
for
them
to
save
them
Saul
was
so
concerned
with
his
own
reputation
he
cared
more
of
what
other
people
thought
than
what
God
did
but
Jesus
gave
up
his
reputation
he
bore
the
shame
of
a
convicted
criminal
and
he
cared
more
of
what
God
thought
than
what
anyone
else
did
Saul
refused
to
humble
himself
before
God
and
hand
over
a
kingdom
that
was
not
rightfully
his
anymore
Jesus
humbled
himself
and
laid
aside
a
throne
that
was
rightfully
his
to
come
and
save
his
people
Saul
was
a
coward
he
hid
fearfully
under
the
pomegranate
tree
at
Migron
while
his
son
had
to
go
and
start
the
battle
at
the
end
of
his
life
he
killed
himself
to
avoid
suffering
at
the
hands
of
his
enemies
but
Jesus
is
a
courageous
king
he
knows
full
well
what
the
power
of
God
can
do
and
he
goes
head
to
head
with
the
enemy
of
his
people
unflinchingly
he
embraced
suffering
at the
hands
of
his
enemies
Saul
motivated
his
men
with
threats
of
death
Jesus
cherishes
the
lives
of
his
people
and
holds
out
promises
of
life
to
his
followers
Saul
was
a
king
for
himself
and
his
own
kingdom
but
Jesus
was
and
is
a
king
for
God
and
God's
kingdom
Saul
shows
us
clearly
that
we
need
a
good
king
a
man
after
God's
own
heart
to
rule
and
Jesus
is
that
king
David
was
good
yes
but
where
David
failed
Jesus
did
not
even
David
was
ready
to
do
evil
in
a
moment
of
weakness
and
anger
and
frustration
hanging
out
in the
desert
like a
fugitive
where
he
longed
for
some
of
Nabal's
food
Jesus
was
hungry
out
in
the
wilderness
for
40
days
and
yet
he
looked
the
devil
in
the
eye
and
said
no
David
disobeyed
God
he
committed
adultery
with
Bathsheba
he
perverted
justice
by
murdering
her
husband
so
that
he
could
steal
Bathsheba
away
to
be
his
own
wife
but
Jesus
obeyed
God
and
would
do
no
other
he
never
once
disobeyed
his
father
he
was
obedient
unto
death
even
death
on a
cross
David's
heart
was better
than
Saul's
but
he
was a
sinner
just like
all of
us
are
he
had
the
problem
of
the
people
love
he
is
worthy
to
rule
the
kingdom
of
God
where
all
others
have
failed
Jesus
succeeded
just as David was opposed and schemed against by Saul,
by his enemies, so too was Jesus.
Just as God was rejected as a king by his people,
on the whole, Jesus was rejected as a king by his people.
Yet just as God watched over and protected the life of his servant David
and kept him from death at the hands of his enemy,
so too God watched over the life of his son, his chosen king.
And though he died, God raised him back to life and rescued him from death.
He lives today at the right hand of the Father in heaven
until the day when Jesus returns
to bring the fullness of God's kingdom to this earth.
And so where do we find ourselves in all of this?
Several thousand years later,
all of us here today have the same problem
that the people of Israel had way back then.
It's not that we don't have a prophet.
It's not that we don't have one who has come from God
to speak the word of God to us.
But do we listen to the prophet that Jesus has sent,
that God has sent?
Do we listen to Jesus?
Do we listen to God?
Or are we like the Israelites
and think that we know better what we need?
We may face all kinds of different problems today in our lives,
different situations, different relationships.
We certainly don't have any Philistines knocking on our door.
But what's the solution to our problems?
Is it a change of government?
Is it a new leader?
Is it a change of job?
If I could just get that thing that I've been wanting,
that I've been trying to get my hands on,
or do we look first to what God has said
through the man,
through the men he has sent in his word?
The problem with the Israelites
wasn't that they had no king.
It's that they didn't realize
the king that they had.
They didn't trust and listen
to the king that they had.
All of the nations around us,
look at what they have.
Things seem to be going well for them.
I wonder how often we do that same thing.
Instead of looking to God,
and listening to him,
we look to all the peoples around us,
and everything that they're saying
will make our lives better,
and will fix our problems,
make us happy,
help us manage better with our kids,
and our marriages,
and our finances,
and so on and so forth.
Self-help books,
energy stones,
access bars,
the power of positive thinking.
And all along,
God has given us this gracious
and incredible gift,
a prophet,
one who gives his words
to his people,
Jesus,
a priest,
one who deals with
the problem that we have,
and a king,
not a bad king like Saul,
but a good king,
a wise king,
a loving king,
a king after God's own heart.
The kingdoms that we have sought to build
for ourselves have failed,
but God is building his kingdom,
a kingdom that will last forever,
a kingdom that it will be a joy
to be part of.
And so the question
that I leave you with this morning is,
will we own him as our king?
Will we listen to our king
and submit to our king and prophet?
Or will we go our own way
and do what's right in our own eyes?
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
as we think of your word
and the truth that's come to us,
we admit right at the outset
that we don't often see you
and what you're doing with our eyes.
Many times it seems as though
our prayers may go unanswered
or the changes that we hope will come don't.
Things don't go the way that we've planned.
But you are still there.
You are still on your throne
and you are still our king.
We trust you.
We love you.
And we ask that you would deepen
our loyalty to you
and our faith in you.
For the praise of Christ's name.
Amen.