We know that Israel needs a king. God has said as much. However, Israel was also warned against seeking a human king. Why is that? Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from 1 Samuel 9-12 this morning, the good beginning of the reign of King Saul:
“The problem wasn’t that Israel wanted a king. The problem was the reasons why they wanted a human king…They wanted a king to bring them influence and status, order and prosperity, safety and security, without having to rely on the unseen work of God and his provision of daily bread…And so when God consents to this idolatrous request, it is our natural human reasoning to assume that God will show them the errors of ways by providing them a terrible king, with disastrous results, so that they will see just how much better off they were under God’s own direct rule. But that is not what we see here in these four chapters at all! In fact, I’ve somewhat controversially titled this message: God Gives Israel a Good King…No, Saul did not end well…But that should not color our reading of these chapters. God did set Saul up for failure, nor did he spitefully shackle Israel with a loser king. In a shocking act of mercy and grace, God set Israel up for success!”