Day 75 or March the 16th. Why not my will sometimes, Lord?
Our thought today comes from 1 Samuel chapter 8 verse 6. When they said, Give us a king
to lead us, this displeased Samuel. So he prayed to the Lord.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. The Philistines take the ark and put it in
the temple of Dagon. Overnight the image of Dagon falls symbolically on its face before
the ark. The Philistines were now determined to get rid of this troublesome box of the
Israelites, and they returned it, and it is stored in the house of Abinadab, where it
remains for twenty years. Finally the Philistines are subdued, and there is peace throughout
the land. Samuel had obviously forgotten the failure of Eli's sons, and goes ahead and
appoints his own sons to serve as judges in Beersheba. It seems they were no better than
the sons of Eli, and because of their shocking behaviour the people begin once again to ask
for a king. Samuel tells the people all the troubles that a king will bring, but the people
insist this is what they want. God tells Samuel that the people are not rejecting him or his
sons, but in reality are rejecting God. Samuel is instructed by God to find a man and appoint
him as king.
And now our action step for today. There are times when we are so determined to get our
own way that reason flies out of the window. The Israelites have previously asked God for
a king and been told, no. They know deep down that God is the best king, but when circumstances
change they suspect a real king, like all the surrounding nations have, would solve
their problems. Samuel did not want a monarchy, he wanted the existing theocracy to remain.
How can the rule of a man be better than the rule of an all-powerful, all-loving and totally
fair God? However, because God is their loving Heavenly Father, He permits the Israelites
to have a king of their own. Be careful what you ask for. God wants us to have the best,
but if we keep asking for second best, He may just give us it.