1 Samuel 10:17-27 And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh; 18 And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: 19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. 20 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. 23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. 27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
The book of I Samuel progresses rapidly through the life of the prophet Samuel. In ten short chapters Samuel is no longer the little boy dedicated without reservation by his parents to God's service to an aged man serving God without reservation. After years of judging Israel, he is now confronted with their request for a king. These people who had the only genuine theocracy in all of history, reject the rule of God so that they might be like the people around them. (8:5)
How often do we find ourselves resisting the rule of God in our lives through His word and His Holy Spirit working without and within for no other reason than that we may be like the world around us that is condemned to the fire of God's eternal wrath. Like Israel, we are prone to seek to free ourselves from the tyranny of God's loving efforts to conform us and our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We find in these verses a description of Israel's reaction to God's compliance with their request. They have requested a king like the pagans around them and God gives them a king named Saul. So how do they react to getting what they requested? Verse twenty-seven says there was a group that despised Saul and brought him no gifts, Isn't this a strange reaction to getting exactly what they requested?
We too can find ourselves in a like position. You and I may ignore the dictates of God's word and the promptings of God's Spirit, and we too will find ourselves despising the results of ignoring the rule of God in our lives. Tyranny by sin is always the result of rejecting God's rule. Let us live by the constitution of God's kingdom, The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), so that we may live without regrets.
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