A few years ago I was in a doctoral class about leadership, and we were talking about the American presidential election coming soon. My professor made what I thought was a very irresponsible comment, “The person in the White House matters very little.” My professor is a deep thinker, so I was surprised to hear him make a suggestion that seemed so obviously wrong. Isn’t the President of the USA the most powerful person in the world? Doesn’t the President of the USA have immense influence?
I’ve come to agree with my professor. Why? Keep reading.
What have we learned this week about the story of Israel’s first king from 1st Samuel chapters 8-10? That Saul is the king who didn’t want to be king, it seems. That God chose Saul because he is tall. No doubt many people would consider Saul leadership material because of his imposing size. But physical dimensions of height and weight and muscles and speed and military skill do not guarantee a good king. How will things turn out for this king who doesn’t want to be king? In the coming weeks, we’ll find out. For now, let close out chapter 10.
Samuel tries to set the tone for the launch of Saul’s monarchy. In verse 25, we read, “Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.”
The rights and duties of kingship.
A few years ago I preached through Deuteronomy, which is a book where Moses reviews the Law of God with the people, right as they were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, which was decades, maybe even a century of so before the time of Saul. In Deuteronomy chapter 17, God talks with the people about a future time when they would ask for a king. He says that the king must write down his own copy of the Law and study it. The king, therefore, is to be basing their life, their thinking, their choices, on God’s law. God, then, is primary. The king is not to think of themselves in a self-sufficient way. Instead, the king was to depend on God. This gets us back to what we learned in 1st Samuel chapter 8: Israel’s king was supposed to see God as their true king.
At the conclusion of chapter 10, Saul, though king, goes home. There is no capital city, no palace, no throne at this point. We hear the good news that he already has some new friends, “whom hearts God has touched.” They are valiant men, so this seems like the beginning of Saul’s personal guard.
But look at verse 27, all is not well. Some scoundrels despise Saul, an ominous sign for the future, though the nation has its first king. We learn that in response to these scoundrels, Saul kept silent. Again, he is the king who is not acting like a king. The reality is that while there will be some good kings eventually in Israel, there is no king like God. There is no human that can act like the one true king.
This story calls us to evaluate if we have given our allegiance to the one true King. This story invites us to examine our hearts and minds. Have we put too much stock in earthly leaders? A political party or governmental ruler can do good. God works through people. But have we allowed other humans to occupy spaces in our desires, hopes and dreams that only God can truly occupy?
The person in the White House or Governor’s Mansion can do good, and they can do harm. But only Jesus is our king. What can it look like for you to live your life worshiping the King of kings and Lord of lords?
We’ve been hearing all our lives that whichever is the current election cycle is the most important in American history. One party will tell you that if the other party gets in the White House, or if the other party gets the majority, then the nation is going to fall apart. Every single election we hear that. Those kinds of dire predictions of disaster are rarely true. But we can allow our hearts and minds to become gripped with fear.
Instead, let us grip the King of kings, for he is our hope. He came to bring us life that is truly life: abundant flourishing life now, and the hope of eternal life in heaven.
Photo by Tim De Pauw on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 