Kings Attempted To Rescue

The people of God were so much like us, that the resemblance is almost frightening. After a time of the judges overseeing the land, God brought in a prophet who was very familiar with the voice of God. Samuel led Israel with instructions from God Himself. He was the go-between and genuinely cared for his people. His leadership was the result of a close partnership with the living God, so you can imagine his disappointment when the people decided they no longer wanted a prophet to lead them. They asked for a king instead. While it isn’t wrong to be upfront and ask for a change, our motives behind asking for it matters. The people said that they wanted to be like the surrounding nations who had kings lead them. They forgot that the very foundational premise for their existence, was that God wanted to set them apart from the rest of the nations. He had chosen them for Himself. He was jealous for them and wanted them to be consecrated for the great purposes he had marked out for them. Yet, when they made this demand, He gave in and anointed Saul as King over Israel. Saul proved to be unfaithful and God eventually brought in David who would be a model king for generations to come.

A vital requirement for every king was that he would live his life based on the word of God, rule with wisdom and deal with righteousness and justice. As expected though, even the best of kings were not perfect. The royal family became progressively more morally depraved and unspiritual, so that God eventually handed them and their people into the hands of enemy nations who were ruthless and cruel. The worst part was that the promised land was now overrun by invaders and the people were exiled into foreign lands. Unfortunately, the kings who ruled at the time of the exile tried to avoid the coming doom by attempting to escape under the cover of darkness, but they were captured and taken into captivity. What a picture of the inadequacy of elected rulers to rescue their people. It’s obvious that kings play a vital role in steering their nation toward God and their God-ordained destiny.

Thought:

Praying for our leaders is all-important so that they can be instrumental in leading us with strength and wisdom.