Trading God for a King - 1 Samuel 10:17-27

This morning we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in Israel’s history: the coronation of Saul as the first king in Israel. It was supposed to be an exciting, joyous day in Israel, because they finally got what they so desperately wanted: a king.

Saul would have been a dark horse candidate for king. After all, Saul had incredibly humble roots. He was the son of a farmer named Kish, and what began as a normal day on the farm searching for lost donkeys, ended with him being anointed as the first king in Israel.

And the fact that Saul was anointed king in Israel was not common knowledge. So, what we just read was Saul’s big reveal. Samuel is going to present Saul to the people of Israel.

All of this seems somewhat ordinary for a nation, right? They’re moving away from a decentralized form of government to a more centralized government under a monarchy. But a big problem lies beneath the surface. The people of Israel were putting their trust and hope in government, kings, and rulers rather than God. They were turning away from the Lord who had always saved, protected, and kept them, and turning towards worldly, man-made institutions and structures.

And so our passage breaks down into three parts: first we see the rejection of God’s leadership (vv. 17-19), second, we see God’s sovereign choice of Saul (vv. 20-23), and lastly, we’re reminded of the importance of following God’s law (vv. 24-27).

Rejection of God’s Leadership (vv. 17-19)

It’s really no wonder the Psalms are full of statements like, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.”

Or, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”

We read verses like that and think, “yeah, yeah,” but it really is a problem isn’t it?

Y’all remember that famous quote from Ronald Raegan? He said, “...I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”

It’s funny and we laugh, but there really is a temptation to believe that the government will fix everything. Perhaps an even better way to say it is, the right government will fix everything.

If we get the right president, prince, and rulers in place who will cut the deficit, lower taxes, and so on then our lives will be infinitely better. Don’t take this as, there’s no reason to vote, or something like that, my point is just we too fall into the trap of trusting in institutions and governments more than God. It’s not an obvious, monumental shift in our thinking, it’s very subtle.

And that’s precisely what’s happened to the people of Israel. Samuel gathers everyone together at Mizpah for what you would expect to be a great celebration! He’s going to reveal to them their new king!

You’d expect confetti to rain down on the streets as Saul is paraded down the street in the back of a convertible.

But then Samuel started speaking, and his speech was a massive wet blanket. The Lord reminds the people through Samuel in verses 18-19,

“‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

Notice the words that the Lord used: “I delivered you,” I am the one, “who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses.” What’s the point of the speech? Your government and institutions have never saved you! It’s always been the Lord who delivered and saved you!

Remember Egypt? But Egypt is really just the tip of the iceberg! There are countless examples of God saving his people. In fact, the last time they were gathered together at Mizpah, which we read about in 1 Samuel 7, do you remember what happened?

The Philistines were about to attack them when, “...the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel.”

But the people’s desire for a king like all the other nations was insatiable. They had to have a king. Which is why Samuel said, “today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.”

Israel wanted an earthly ruler rather than God Almighty. Their reception of a king was a rejection of the Lord.

The commentator Dale Ralph Davis said, “If Israel really [had] rejected the God who saved them (v. 19) and [had] not seen that or repented of it, can we expect Samuel to smile blandly and croon with outstretched hand, “So good to see all of you here today for this happy occasion that brings us together?”

Samuel couldn’t fake it. Samuel couldn’t stand in front of Israel and pretend like establishing a monarchy was a glorious thing, as he knew they were trusting more in it than God.

Samuel felt a responsibility to tell the people of Israel the truth even if it came at an inconvenient time. The truth about the sin they were committing was that important.

They were trading the God of the universe for a king.

God’s sovereign choice of Saul (vv. 20-23)

But nevertheless, it was the will of God to give the people of Israel a king. Several times the Lord tells Samuel to obey the voice of the people. That is, give them a king.

So when it’s time for the big reveal, Samuel doesn’t say, “and I present to you, Saul the son of Kish as your king!” Instead, Samuel brings the tribes of Israel forward to cast lots. Casting lots was an ancient practice used to determine God's will, often involving the random selection of marked stones, sticks, or other objects.

The whole point of casting lots was to demonstrate to the people of Israel that Saul wasn’t arbitrarily selected by Samuel, no, Saul was deliberately chosen by God to be the first king in Israel.

But Samuel wanted the people of Israel to see it with their own eyes. So, the cast lots and the tribe Benjamin was taken by lot. “Then the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot.”

So the people had to be celebrating! We finally have a king! As Pastor Rick Phillips points out you can imagine the scene:

“It’s my great honor and privilege to announce Israel’s first king is Saul the son of Kish!... I said, Saul the son of Kish! Come on up Saul! Saul, where are you? Has anyone seen Saul?”

It’s a rather odd anecdote isn’t it? Because once Saul was determined to be the first king in Israel, he was nowhere to be found!

Apparently it took them a while to find him, because the people of Israel actually inquired of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” In other words, is this the right man? Are we really sure about Saul?

But God answered their question and told them where to find Saul, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

Saul hiding among the baggage is such an odd detail isn’t it? What are we supposed to make of it? Does it reveal Saul’s humility? Is he too wondering if someone else will be king in Israel?

Or does it reveal cowardice? Is Saul afraid to embrace his God-given role? After all, he had already been anointed to be king in Israel? He had to have known it was coming!

But the whole episode is deeply ironic! The people of Israel are choosing an unproven, unqualified, unprepared man to protect, and keep them, rather than the Lord who has protected and kept them countless times!

No longer would the people of Israel rely on God to save them, now they’ll look to Saul - a man who’s hiding among the baggage.

But another interesting element to Saul hiding among the baggage is that the people are still completely dependent on the Lord. After all, who tells the people of Israel where to find Saul?

Verse 22, “...the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.””

God is still sovereign isn’t he? He is still king of the universe. He raises up nations and tells nations where to find their leaders.

All of this from a people who desire total self-sufficiency. They want to be completely autonomous and yet, God has to tell them where to find their king who’s hidden himself among the baggage.

This is what inevitably happens when you make your life all about pursuing self-sufficiency and personal autonomy. You begin to miss the forest through the trees. You celebrate achievements without ever acknowledging what the Lord has done for you.

A love for personal autonomy and self-sufficiency will harden your heart towards God and build in yourself a deep sense of pride.

God has protected Israel, and then gave them a king, and then has to tell them where to find him so they can disregard him.

This is one of the grave dangers of success. Who doesn’t want to be successful? Everyone should work hard and strive for success.

But if you achieve success, if you reach the proverbial mountaintop, what will you say? Thank you Lord for how you have richly blessed me? Or look at what I’ve accomplished?

Saul’s coronation event is just one big display of superficiality isn’t it? Because when he finally comes out from behind the baggage what’s the first thing that everyone noticed?

“... he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.”

He looked like a king. He had the appearance of royalty, which was important to Israel. But it’s so simplistic. It’s so vain and superficial.

They are literally judging him by outward appearance. Samuel tells the people that Saul is the man that God had chosen and the people shout, “Long live the king!”

Israel wanted a king like the other nations, didn’t they? After all, he looked like a king. The other nations would be impressed at Saul’s appearance.

But more fundamentally, the Lord gave Israel exactly what they wanted. They wanted a king like all the other nations, and well, he gave them a king like all the other nations.

When you think of Saul as the first king in Israel, we tend to put him in the bad king category because he was never fully devoted to the Lord.

Which is why he was like all the other kings of the nations.

Following God’s Law (vv. 24-27)

But again, the kings in Israel were supposed to be very different from the kings of the other nations.

Samuel actually told Israel how the kings were supposed to be different in verse 25.

“Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord.”

Most scholars believe that Samuel probably reviewed Deuteronomy 17 with the people of Israel. Because it’s in Deuteronomy 17, specifically verses 18-20, where we’re told exactly how the kings in Israel were supposed to be different from the kings of all the other nations.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 says,

“18 “And when [the king] sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

The kings in Israel were supposed to sit down and write down the law. The law included the civil, the ceremonial, and the moral law, which is contained primarily in the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Dueteronomy.

In other words, the kings were supposed to sit down and copy the significant parts of the Scriptures each and every year. This was an important detail because kings needed to know the law, but what was just as important was that it would remind them that they didn’t create, develop, the law. They were to keep God’s law.

Which is another way to say, copying the law would remind them that they were subservient to God - the true king.

Deuteronomy 17:19 specifically says that the kings needed to copy the word of God so they would, “learn to fear the Lord…” so “that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers.”

If you're ever bored and want an interesting rabbit hole to explore, research the Founding Fathers usage of the book of 1 Samuel.

Many Founding Fathers would reference 1 Samuel as justification for resisting the tyranny of the British monarchy. In fact, much of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense makes reference to Samuel’s disapproval of establishing a king in Israel.

John Adams’ also referred to 1 Samuel in, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. Adams’ wrote:

“Samuel, the prophet, was opposed to [establishing a king] with all his eloquence, and laid before [the people of Israel] the consequences in a manner that proved him to be one of the greatest orators of the world. Nevertheless, they persisted, and said, Nay, but we will have a king over us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. Samuel accordingly anointed Saul king, and this was the first regular monarchy that was founded in Judea; and from that period monarchy continued till the final destruction of the nation by the Romans.”

Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America believed that the British monarchy had become too powerful and was threatening their rights, which they saw a direct parallel to Israel’s monarchy.

Of course, that is what happened in Israel. Kings began oppressing their own people. But that’s not the way it was supposed to be.

The kings in Israel were supposed to trust in the Lord and have an attitude of humility towards their brothers. The kings in Israel were never supposed to assume absolute power. They were always supposed to serve God and the people.

But Israel desperately wanted a king to rule over them. They wanted a king to centralize power. They wanted to be led by a man, rather than the living God. They wanted a king to stand in place of the living God.

Which is why the people shout, “Long live the king!”

They didn’t want to be governed by the Lord, they wanted to be governed by a man. They wanted autonomy. They wanted self-sufficiency.

But there’s a serious problem with the all-consuming desire for self-sufficiency. When achieving independence, personal autonomy, and self-sufficiency are at the top of your priority list, then you’ll believe that God and his commands are a hindrance to your well-being, personal happiness, and satisfaction in life.

Most of us have experienced this at some point or another, right? God and his commands always seem to get in the way of me recklessly pursuing what I want. Have you ever noticed that?

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the story of Augustine of Hippo. St. Augustine is a place in Florida, but St. Augustine was an early church father.

But Augustine had a pretty dramatic conversion and he shares his testimony in his book called Confessions. But his life was largely characterized by licentious, what we might think of as a party lifestyle.

One day he felt compelled to read the Bible and ended up reading Romans 13:13-14, which says: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

And of course, Augustine’s life was forever changed.

Augustine is a great example of what I’m talking about. God and his word has a way of getting in the way of our own sinful desires.

But even that is a poor way of thinking about God. Because it makes it sound like God and his commands are hindrances, impediments, and restraints, when in fact trusting in the Lord and living out his commands is the source of the richest blessings.

Samuel felt a responsibility to remind the people of the rights and duties of the king, but they weren’t interested in hearing it. They were more excited about becoming an autonomous nation with its own centralized government.

The crown hadn’t been on Saul’s head but for like fifteen minutes when they began to experience one of the problems of having a king: some people aren’t going to like the king!

Verse 27, “But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?”

Often the same question is asked about a different king… people often wonder, how can Jesus save me? In John 6, people said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

The fundamental question is: what do we need to be saved from? Do we need to be saved from our sin? Do we need to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ?

Or is salvation all about your personal pleasure and well-being? Rest in the government? Pleasure?

We need a king who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The king that we need is the one sent from God.