Lord, we come in your presence, and we are so thankful that you have given us a time and a place and an opportunity like this. We're so grateful that we live in a country where we can freely assemble and we can worship the one true and living God. We're so thankful that we can have a Bible that can be printed in this country, and we can read it and understand it and apply it to our lives. And we're thankful for the leadership that you have placed.

Lord, as your word says, we're to submit to governing authorities. And we pray to you would give all of those who are in office wisdom to do what they're called to do. Give us ears, Lord, to hear. Give us a heart to obey, and thank you for an opportunity, once again, to worship you in spirit and truth. In Jesus' name, and everybody said--

Amen.

Come on, you can do better than that.

Amen.

There you go. Well, good evening once again. We want to welcome you to our Wednesday night Bible study-- Line on Line. And tonight, we're going to talk a little bit about human government. At a very important phase in Israel's history, a change took place. We'll read about it tonight in a few minutes. But you know, speaking of human government, we had your ex-governor here-- the President of the United States here just the other day in Albuquerque, March, did you know that?

I did know that.

In fact, he signed this Bible right here. It's very neat. And I hope you pray for our government officials-- our president, vice president, and those who make very important, tough decisions in a very tough world. Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, and it's an opportunity for all-- yeah, it's worth clapping for.

[APPLAUSE]

But I'll tell you, even more than clapping for it, it's worth coming to and actually being a part of praying for our nation. We invite you to do that tomorrow. Before we get started on our interview part, I'm going to introduce a guest to you. We are joined by about 700-- that's what I hear-- about 700 people watching over the internet and soon an entire nation watching by television. So would you please just welcome everyone who's joining us outside these walls.

[APPLAUSE]

I have an interesting statistic from the Gallup poll that says-- the question is how much do you have-- how much trust do you have in men and women in political life in this country? Now, these are polls that go up and down depending on what catastrophes are going on in the world, but this is something that is the average.

That Gallup poll suggests, when they ask the question how much trust do you have in men and women in political life in this country, 7% have a great deal of trust, 57% have a fair amount of trust, and 31% don't have very much trust at all. Well, that's interesting in light of what Israel asked for as a nation. They want a political ruler. Because it seems like they can't trust the Lord, they want to trust a political ruler instead, and that's always a danger for any nation.

Before we get into our study tonight, though, we have a special guest from San Diego, California. He's a firefighter. Kevin Crawford, for 20 years, has been a firefighter. He's a battalion chief, and he was at ground zero just about a week after the twin towers fell. Would you please welcome Kevin Crawford?

[APPLAUSE]

Well, first of all, I want to say I feel outdressed by you tonight. You look very nice.

I was going to say, am I overdressed for the occasion?

For Calvary, maybe, but, no, you look great. And he comes dressed, of course, as the battalion chief. So this is his official getup. But Kevin, you work-- I was there at ground zero just a few days after. And in fact, I called Firefighters for Christ from the Billy Graham Prayer Center, and you guys responded as fire departments as well as Firefighters for Christ. Tell me about that.

Right, well, the Los Angeles City Fire Department sent out an overhead team to just minister and provide support any way that they could. When they got back there, they recognized that the need was far greater than anything they could meet.

So they called Firefighters for Christ, and I assembled a team, and we went out there with the express purpose of just ministering any way that we possibly could-- planning a memorial service for a firefighter that died, mowing a lawn, riding on engines, doing whatever. And we found ourselves right on the pile working side-by-side with everyone else who was working.

Did you get into the firehouses as well?

We visited a number of firehouses. We were allowed to only work 12-hour shifts, and then they'd remove us from the pile. At that time, then, we'd find ourselves going to firehouses and ministering there. Yeah.

Now, you fought fires and been with incident disaster relief for years-- 20 years of your life. What did you notice, besides the obvious difference with the catastrophe in New York City-- what did you notice in terms of receptivity? People naturally, in a catastrophe, often looked to God. They call out to God. Did you find a receptivity?

Well, the general public, yes-- there was there was an examination of heart and soul. When everything else kind of gets peeled away, which is what occurred during this tragedy, people do look to God. Unfortunately, they have an invested time prior to to understand who God is. So their investment or their looking to God is their own concept of God, which is--

A knee jerk reaction.

Exactly, which can be very, very faulty and very dangerous for them. As far as the firefighters-- they were so numbed by the whole event that they really weren't in a position to comprehend the gospel, and they had been so influenced by just the icon of God and not the personalness of God that they were really just so numbed and so disjointed by the whole event that they really weren't able to comprehend the gospel. But they did comprehend the love of Christ that Firefighters for Christ demonstrated to them.

Beautiful. You know, when a catastrophe happens, and, suddenly, as a nation, we realize how vulnerable we are-- we've always been vulnerable, but now it's like the John Q. Public recognizes this could happen again. This could happen at any time.

It seems that, at first, the nation wants to pray. The nation wants to talk about God. We love to sing God Bless America, and that's wonderful. But what do you notice in terms of the general public now and our attitude toward government in general? Could you speak to any of those issues?

Well, there's a difference between patriotism and godly worship. And there was a great deal of patriotism, which is a great thing to have, but it doesn't replace godly worshipper or a relationship with God, and I think that's really what you're getting at.

There was a great outpouring of patriotism. There was a great interest in the things of God. But as time goes on, frankly, that's waned, and it's discouraging.

Right. You said you were on the pile pretty much every day for a while?

Every day for over a week.

For over a week-- and I was there for over a week, and we were there many of those days-- I was there as a chaplain and working with the Red Cross. You were there as a firefighter. The things that you saw, the experiences that you noticed-- is there some story in particular that you could relate to us about something that made an impact about that?

Well, the stories just go on and on forever. I do think of one particular story. We took a dinner break, and very rarely did we take dinner breaks, but, in this case, we did take a dinner break. And I found myself sitting across the table with a New York City fireman, and we were just talking about the whole event and what we'd been through that day. And he said that he lost his nine best friends in that episode, in the event.

And these are not just people that he'd become familiar with or acquainted with while on the force but people that had grown up with. And he looked at me, and he says, I don't know what to do. I have no life, essentially, is what he's telling me. I have no life. I have no hope. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. I don't know where to live. I don't know what to occupy my life with.

Well, he was one that was receptive to the gospel, contrary to so many. And this young man gave his heart to the Lord and right there at that dining room table that night.

Beautiful.

And he has the hope of heaven right now.

Beautiful. Praise the Lord for that.

[APPLAUSE]

Well, Kevin, you're going to be with us tomorrow for the National Day of Prayer here.

Sure.

And we're going to hear some more from you tomorrow, and, you know, what it makes me think of when I sit here with you is that here we have somebody in city government-- a battalion chief for the fire department-- and he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a great thing when you can have a community leader and somebody who's a spiritual leader at the same time. Give Kevin a warm--

[APPLAUSE]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Let's open the book. 1 Samuel chapter 8, and let's read it line on line. Heavenly Father, as we study your word tonight, we are cognizant of the fact that this history comes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And you've said that the things in the Old Testament were written before time for our learning, for our benefit. We've gathered here tonight to be benefited, Father, as we understand these lessons in application to our own situation. By your spirit, give us the grace to not only understand them but to see the spiritual significance individually. Lord, we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

I heard about a man who heard about a special operation that he could get. It was an operation that would give him a new brain. So after hearing about it, he went to the hospital that specialized in the operation and hunted down the doctors and asked them about his new brain operation that he could have and what are the options.

And they said, well, you have several options. He said, for instance, we have an engineer's brain we could give you. It'll cost you $500 an ounce because it's highly specialized gray matter. Think of how an engineer thinks-- very meticulous, very methodical-- $500 an ounce.

He said, OK, what else you got? He said, well, you can have a lawyer's brain. It's a little more expensive. You know, those tricky little gray cells-- shrewd thought, deductive thought-- it'll cost you $1,000 an ounce. Wow, he said, is there anyone else? And the doctor said, well, yes, we have a doctor's brain it's $5,000 an ounce. You have to think of all of the anatomic and physiological knowledge that's put into these gray cells-- this gray matter-- $5,000 an ounce.

Well, he thought about it, and he paused, and he said, do I have any other options? Is there anything else you have? The doctors looked at each other and motioned to the man to come closer, and, in hushed tones as they took the lid off of a special container, they said, here's a politician's brain. This is $250,000 an ounce-- very expensive.

The man went, wow, $250,000-- a quarter of $1 million an ounce? Why so expensive? The doctor said, well, two reasons-- number one, it's hardly used, and number two, do you know how many politicians it takes to get an ounce of brains?

[LAUGHTER]

Now, that's sort of an intro story for what you're about to read because some people believe that the answer to all of their problems is found in the right politician. In effect, sometimes politicians can create more problems. I think the bigger the government structure, the more problems you have-- bigger government, bigger problems-- and Israel is about to find that out.

There is a change that is happening to the nation of Israel. You see, up till this time-- up till chapter 8-- there hasn't been a monarchy. The monarchy develops and begins right here.

Up to this point-- all the way from the Exodus of Egypt as the children of Israel came out of the desert into the promised land-- it was a theocracy. God was in charge. God was ruling through a mediator like a judge. There was Moses. Moses raised up 70 elders to help him. Moses passed the baton onto Joshua. Joshua brought them into the land.

Then there were judges. There was this cycle of sin we spoke about last week and a series of judges, beginning with Othniel, and Ehud, and Shamgar, and Deborah, and Barak, and Gideon, and so on and so forth the book of Judges goes. It seems that that last judge was Samuel. He would hear the people's cases. He would bring these things in prayer before God, but the people don't want that anymore. They will cry out for a change here in this chapter.

Now, we need to understand that, when it comes to civil government, that it's not bad. It's not wrong. In fact, God instituted it. Romans chapter 13 speaks about obeying the laws of the land-- wrong switch here-- there we go-- and that God instituted human government for our purposes. But because God was content to be their leader, God was content to be their ruler, their judge, why would they seek anything or anyone? Well, we'll explain that to you tonight.

Saul is the one that's going to be in focus for the next several chapters. And I could give you many descriptions of Saul, but let me just say that Saul is like the Old Testament equivalent of the carnal Christian. He's up. He's down. He's up. He's down. He says, Praise the Lord. He even does some wonderful things. He even begins well, having great assets, a good start, but he ends very poorly, and he doesn't call upon the Lord, but he calls upon a medium-- a witch down at Endor.

The monarchy begins here in chapter 8, and the monarchy-- just for you Bible students to put it into perspective-- goes from chapter 8 to chapter 31 of 1 Samuel, includes all of 2 Samuel, includes 1 Kings, chapters 1 through 11, 1 and 2 Chronicles, includes the writings of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

During the period of the monarchy, which lasts 120 years, there are three kings-- Saul, David, Solomon. That united monarchy, on a human level, brought great advancements-- a relative peace, an expansion of the kingdom of Israel, great poetry, great songs-- the greatest songs ever written in the book of Psalms were penned during this time of the united monarchy. Great wisdom literature came out of this time, but the period of history opens up with them rejecting one ruler while crying for another ruler, rejecting the rulership of God while craving for the rulership of a king.

Now, if you'll go back for just a moment into the previous chapter, we'll just pick up on the last paragraph. Verse 15 of chapter 7 says, "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all of those places, but he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. And there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord."

So you have a circuit preacher. He takes three cities, and he makes his yearly circuit. It would seem like this guy is out on the road quite a bit. He's doing this circuit-- going in circles, going in circles, going in circles-- and that he probably, though he comes back home, doesn't remain at home very long. And it takes a toll on his family. Now, I'm supposing that based upon what we read.

Let's read the first eight verses of chapter 8, and then we'll go back and notice some things in them. "Now, it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, the name of his second Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba." That's way down south where the desert begins.

"But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and they said to him, 'Look, you're old--" nice thing to say-- "and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now, make us a king to judge just like all the nations.'

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said 'Give us a king to judge us,' so Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people and all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. According to all the work which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day with which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also.'"

Now, this begs a question. The question is, after reading the first eight verses, was having a king in the will of God? You see, there are some that suggest that there never should have been a monarchy ever at all, that the rulership through the mediator judges should have been perpetual, that there never should have been a Saul, never should have been a David, never should have been a Solomon-- never a kingdom of a monarchy, but just a series of judges like what happened before.

I don't believe that. I think that God always planned someday-- and that's the key word-- someday-- to have a king. He predicted it in Genesis chapter 49 to the patriarch Jacob. He said "the scepter," that is, the right to rule. Holding the scepter is a king. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes." So God anticipated and predicted that there would be a king. In fact, he gives the children of Israel some directives for choosing the right guy.

I'm going to read a passage of scripture to you out of Deuteronomy chapter 17, where God says in verse 14, "When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you and you possess it and dwell in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' you shall surely listen to this. You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your brethren. You shall set his king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother." And then it gives directions as to how that king is to act. So God anticipated and gave them directions for picking a King.

However, in chapter 8, they want a king like all the other nations, and their desire for choosing a king now was all wrong. You say, Skip, what do you mean all wrong? Well, first of all, it was the wrong timing. They went ahead of the Lord. Instead of waiting on the Lord for God's timing, they asked for it. They pushed for it. They insisted on it, and they wouldn't take no for an answer. They refused to listen to Samuel's warnings. The choosing of this king, now, is 10 years prior to God's choice that we know is King David, a man after God's own heart. He was the one God chose, so it was wrong timing.

Number two-- it was the wrong tribe. You see, it had been anticipated that the king would come to the tribe of Judah. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin. Wrong timing, wrong tribe, and number three-- it was the wrong emphasis. This is what got them into problems. We want a king like everybody else, and they put emphasis upon how he looked. You will read that in the next few chapters.

They'll talk about Saul being this kingly-looking, majestic monarch. Wow, he looks like a king. In fact, Samuel got into that trap. When it was time for David to be picked, and he goes to the house of Jesse, and dad stands all of his kids up, Samuel's eyes fall naturally to the eldest named Eliab, and, in his mind, he thinks, bingo.

That guy looks like a king-- Mr. Hollywood, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's tall. He's handsome. He's strong. And God went, ergh! I have rejected him. Man looks at the outward appearance that was getting him into trouble all along with Saul and now almost with Eliab, but God looks at the heart. Wrong timing, wrong tribe, and wrong emphasis.

Now, you should know, in fact, you may remember, this isn't the first time the children of Israel asked for a king. Do you remember back in Judges when they asked Gideon to be their king? They came to him after he defeated the Midianites. They grabbed a hold of him and said, Gideon, we're going to coronate you as our king-- you and your sons and your grandson. Do you remember Gideon's answer? He said, no way, Jose. That's my translation. Really, he just said, I shall not be king over you. The Lord shall be your king.

But a couple of chapters go on, he moves up the scene, and his son-- Gideon's son in Shechem-- Abimelech-- talks the men of Shechem into coronating him as king, and he almost became, by force, their king. It wasn't God's timing, and it's not God's timing here.

Now, go back and look at the first few verses of this chapter. It's a short chapter. We have time to spend on it. "It came to pass when Samuel was old--" and I'll tell you why that bothers me in a minute-- "that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of the first born was Joel, the name of the second Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba, but his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain--" they were greedy for money-- "they took bribes, and they perverted justice."

How could this be? We wonder that, don't we? How could it be that Samuel the kid who grew up in a tabernacle and watched Eli and Eli's kids-- Hophni and Phinehas-- who lusted after women, who were selfish when it came to the sacrifices, who did whatever they wanted to do, and how God removed them from office. He watched with his own eyes what happened to these two kids.

How could it be, then, that Samuel would make a similar mistake with his kids? Now, again, the blame isn't all his. They have to take responsibility. They're adults now. It could be that this circuit thing that he's going on-- these three cities that he goes to throughout the year's course, then comes back home, then he's off again, doing ministry, doing crusade evangelism-- took him away from the ministry to the family so that he was out doing spiritual work when that relational work in the family was getting left behind.

This is a mistake, by the way, that repeats itself. Have you noticed? I can tell you horror stories from people I know in the ministry who have done many things in the name of God at the demands of the people, and their family is neglected. And I watch it with people that have important careers that take them away from family. And I'm not saying that careers shouldn't be attended to and that there are extenuating circumstances that take many people from different walks of life away from the home.

However, I've also noticed an excuse with a lot of busy people, and here it is. Well, I know I'm not with my kids much, but it might not be quantity time, but it's quality time. I don't buy that, and I'll tell you why. I don't buy that because a kid doesn't differentiate, in his mind, between quantity time and quality time. He didn't go, oh, yes, I do cognitively see this difference between what you call quantity and quality. Yes, this helps.

Kids don't differentiate. To them, quantity time is quality time. They just want time with parents. And many times, those circumstances of work or even ministry take us away from time spent with the family.

Now, it says back in the last chapter-- and this is one of the reasons that had you read it-- for the context-- he built an altar to the Lord at home. So there was the family altar. There was a place at home where God was first, but you've got to spend time at home to tend that altar with your family and lead them in family devotions.

Now, I know he was on a circuit. It doesn't say God put him on the circuit. He was just on a circuit. Lord, I'm on a circuit. The question tonight is are you on God's circuit? Because, you know, you can be on a circuit in life-- your own circuit. You can be running around in circles your whole life. I'm busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. But are you on God's circuit?

Billy Graham has told many generations that there are three pitfalls that many in the ministry fall into. He'd always name three-- number one-- women, number two-- money, number three-- pride. He always hones in on those three biggies. There are more, but he sums it all up by that.

Women, he says, is a pitfall to people in the ministry. That's what happened to Eli's son. Samuel, as a kid, watched it. Money-- that was the problem with Samuel's kids, who were judges down in Beersheba.

And pride seems to be a problem of all of them. I'm important, don't you know? I'm so important. I don't have time for you. I know you're my family, but I'm God's person. So what? You're my dad. You're my husband.

Now, I know what it's like to be busy and to go on a circuit. I know what it's like to travel, but I also know what it's like to insist, as much as possible, that my family travel with me when they can. And though I say yes to many things when it comes to travel, I say no to far more than I say yes to. And there are times when there are needs that come up, and I want to be flexible to meet those needs. But there are other times, well, I put my foot down, and I have a previous appointment with my family.

And people may not understand it. What do you mean you have appointment with your family? I need you now. Yeah, but if I do that all the time multiplied by 365 days a year, as the years go on, there won't be any time with the family. And I'm going to have them forever.

And so some might get upset, and frankly, I don't care because my commitment is to the Lord first, and, second, it is to my family because I have read not only the Word, but I've seen a lot of horror stories of misplaced priorities. And that could be-- I'm not saying it was-- but it could be this issue with this man Samuel, who saw it as a kid but then duplicated it in his own life, in his own ministry.

Now, why did they request a king? Well, look at verse 4. "The elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah--" that's his home. He's back now from the circuit. "And they said to him, 'Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now, make us a king to judge us like all the nations.'"

I told you that bothered me when they said you are old, and I'll tell you why. According to traditional Jewish chronology, Samuel died at age 52. If he died at 52, I wonder how old he was when they said you're old because, you know what? I'm kind of looking closely at 52. I'm not there yet. I'm still in my mid-40s, holding onto that mid thing as much as I can. But you're old? I mean, if he was 95, you're old. OK, yes, I understand that. But in his early '50s maybe when he said this? Wow.

Somebody said, you know, you're old when you're in the metallic age. You have gold in your teeth, silver in your hair, and lead in your pants. Well, this guy is old already, they said.

But here's the reason they asked for a king. Here's the central issue-- spiritual corruption. Your sons do not walk in your ways. You've been a godly example, Samuel. We've loved your leadership. We thank God for it, but look at your kids, man. They don't honor the Lord. They don't walk in your ways.

Now, their names are cool-- Joel. Joel or Joel means Yahweh-- the covenant name of God-- is God. Abijah means God, Yahweh, is my Father-- great names. But you know, it's one thing to have a name. It's another thing to live up to the name you have.

You can put a name of something on a box. For instance, have you seen Grape Nuts? Anybody here ever eaten Grape Nuts? Raise your hands. Do you ever wonder about those things? There's no grapes in them. There's no nuts in them. They're just little flakes, but they're called Grape Nuts. There's not grape in it. It says that, but that's not it.

And so what about us? What name do we have? Remember Jesus, who chided the church at Sardis? He wrote that postcard in the book of Revelation. He says, I know your works, for you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Peeling back what's on the box that said we're alive was death. So these kids had the right names probably given for the right reasons by dad, but they weren't following the Lord. They were stereotypical PKs-- pastor's kids. They were in it for the wrong reason.

My question is why would Samuel make them judges? Why would Samuel not examine their leadership aptitude before putting them into a position of leadership? Well, honestly, I think this is a mistake I find with many parents.

When it comes to a ministry or it comes to even a family business, it would seem that blood is thicker than anointing. Instead of looking at, is he called by God? Does that person have what it takes? It's like, well, he's my son. He's going to take over the ministry. He's going to take over the family business. But the calling of God was not in their life.

So number one-- there was this spiritual corruption. Second, they asked for a king-- this is their second reason-- because of national identity. They want to be like the other nations around them. That's what it says in verse 5. "Now, make us the king to judge us like all the nations."

They wanted what all the other guys had-- a king, a visible representative in human government who could lead them militarily, who could set up a government structure-- a national governmental structure. They were tired of just trusting the Lord whom they couldn't see. They wanted somebody visible.

Now, you know something about Israel historically, not presently, but historically. In fact, up to this point, it changes, but before this, God fought their battles, didn't he? Who took them through the wilderness? Who provided for them in the desert? Who destroyed the hordes of the Egyptians as they were trying to escape Egypt to come to the promised land?

Was it their mighty armies? Did they go, Lord, look at the equipment we have. We're really good, aren't we? They were a ragtag bunch of desert rats. God fought the battle.

And what about that battle of Jericho? Did they have a great army? All they did is blow their horn. I'm a great soldier. Watch, do-do-do-do! Pretty good. God made the walls fall down. All they did is blow their horn.

And then what about the Philistines we read about last time? God thundered upon them. God routed the Philistines. You see, what made Israel unique as a nation is that they had this invisible all-powerful God that they trusted who did everything for them. It was a theocracy. It wasn't a democracy. It wasn't a monarchy. It was people trusting God.

But you know what's awfully difficult? To put your trust in a person that you don't see. Well, where's your king, you guys? Uh, well, God's our king. Oh, really? Well, where is he? We can't see him. What do you mean you can't see him? You can see our king. We have our gods that we trust in. Yeah, but our God is the only true God. He's bigger and better than all your gods. Your gods are fake, and we don't need a king. Oh, really? And it became hard for them to trust in invisibility. They wanted a visible representative.

Paul the Apostle, however, said-- and you remember this-- we walk by faith and not by sight. However, as good a principle as that is, we honestly hate that. We hate faith. You say, what do you mean-- what do you mean we hate faith? I love faith. No you don't. You hate it.

You do. You don't like to just trust. You want to make sure there's money in the bank, the bills are paid, the check is in the mail. When it's not, when there's no visible means of support, and you just trust the Lord, you don't like it. That's human nature.

I'll tell on myself. When I was in college, and I was learning to walk by faith and not by sight, I grew up in Southern California. I was in San Bernardino going to college, and my provision was wearing thin. I didn't like it. I didn't feel that comfortable.

You know, I was used to having mom and dad take care of me, provide all the stuff that needed to get provided for. But they weren't around to do it. I was getting my check, my stipend from my internship, and things were tight.

I had Hamburger Helper. That was my favorite meal because it was a meal in a box. You had water, heat it up, put it on the stove, and you have a meal. And I would just cook up Hamburger Helper sort of for the week. So I cook it, put it in a pan, eat a portion of it, cover it, leave it on the stove. The next day, I'd come in, heat it up a little bit, take a portion of it, cover it up again. It'd last me through the week.

The bottom dropped out of my life. I ran out of Hamburger Helper, and there was no money left for me to buy another box. I did have peanut butter, and I didn't have bread. So I said, thank you, Lord, for your provision. I was rejoicing in the Lord. The Bible says rejoice in the Lord always. So I come home, and I say thank you, take a piece of bread, take the peanut butter, put it on top, take a little jelly, put it on top, had a couple of them-- maybe 3, 4, 5, 8, 10-- whatever. That was dinner.

As the days wore on, I ran out of jelly. A few more days, I ran out of bread. All I had was peanut butter-- seriously, peanut butter and a spoon. Thank you, Lord. You're so abundant.

Next day, I went to the mailbox. In my heart, I was saying, Lord, you know, it's going to be another several days before I get that paycheck. Open up the mailbox in my apartment in San Bernardino, and there was my income tax check-- the refund. And I said, thank you, Lord. Yes, I'm provided for! I got a check from the government! And I jumped up, and I turned around, and I was rejoicing.

And I think the Lord was just sort of playing with me because he sort of whispered to my heart and said, how do you know it's good? What do you mean how do you know it's good? It's a check from the government. It says United States Treasury and has my name on it, has the amount. It's a check. It's a promise.

Oh, you're all excited about a promise the government made you. You know, I've been speaking to you the last few days in my word about how I'd never leave you or forsake you, and I never once remember you jumping up and down and rejoicing. Oh.

God's provision-- trusting the Lord is difficult to live by faith rather than by sight, and so we are tempted to conform to the world, and they were tempted to conform. There were other nations around them. They had their entourage of visible government representatives, and they liked that. They wanted that.

Now, the Bible says, don't be conformed to this world-- Romans 12-- but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The Phillips Translation puts it this way-- don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. But we're often tempted to conform.

Verse 6-- "But the thing displeased Samuel when they said 'Give us a king to judge us.' So Samuel prayed to the Lord." Oh, I like this guy. He didn't lash out. You know, he could have said, you backslidden turkeys. I rebuke you in the name of the Lord. How dare you? It displeased him. It bothered him, but he stepped back, didn't lash out, didn't react, but responded spiritually. He brought it to the Lord. He prayed.

"And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day with which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing also to you.'"

Now it seems that Samuel is taking this personally, right? We want a king. They don't like me anymore. They think I'm old. And I guess I am. I'm about 50. They don't like me. They don't like my kids. He took it personally. And God comes to and basically says, Samuel, it's not about you. It's about me.

Now, why is it that everything's about us? Why is it that every conversation we hear we filter it through what does it have to do with me? What are they saying about me? What do they think about me? It's not about you, Samuel. It's not about you either. It's about the fact that they have rejected me.

Ann Landers once said, we wouldn't worry so much about how much-- or, we wouldn't worry so much about what people think about us if we realized how little they do. What did they mean by that? What do you think about me? They're not even thinking about you, all right? Relax. You're important-- it's cool-- but not that important. It's not about you. It's about the fact that they have rejected the Lord.

Now, I love the fact that God seeks to comfort Samuel. He says, it's not about you, but he seeks to explain it to him and bring him comfort. God is called the God of all comfort, and what Samuel needed to learn from God, I need to remind myself of quite often because, many times, I'll speak with people who don't like something that has been preached out of the Bible. They don't like it. They don't like what the Bible says about something, but rather than taking it out on God, they'll come up and yell at me.

And I understand that because I am a visible representative of God as a preacher. If you proclaim the Word of God and say, this is what the Bible says, look, we'll read it together, they may not like what God has said, what Jesus says, even in red letter, but they might come up and get angry at me. How can you say that? Well, I didn't. I read it. That's what Jesus said. We all need to be reminded of that. Stand behind the Word of God. You don't have to defend it as much as unleash it. Proclaim it.

Verse 7 and 8 shows the root of the problem. The root of the problem in all of this is they wanted independence from God. They have rejected me from ruling over them, and that is at the root of all sin. It's called independence from God. That's the root of all sin. I don't want God to control my situation. I want independence from God, which is the greatest bondage, not independence. That was the root of the problem.

Often, the root of our complaining, our discontent, is the fact that we don't want God to control our lives. I remember when I felt led to move from California and come out and start a church. I didn't know what I was getting into.

I didn't know about four seasons, honestly. I knew about a mild winter and a mild summer-- 75 degrees mostly year round. So I remember the first winter I was here. I said, Lenya, there's something white out on the ground, but it's clear. It's translucent. She said, honey, that's called frost. What? Yeah, it's frozen ground. What? It's that cold here?

And then this spring with the Rocky Mountain winds that come through and picking up the dust-- I said, oh, I've got this-- I've got to get out of here. And again, the Lord said, now, wait a minute. Who did you trust that was leading you? Who did you pray for wisdom to? Then just trust me. Relax. Quit your whining. Quit your complaining. Quit your wah. That's a message God has to reinforce quite often with me unfortunately.

Verse 9-- "Now, therefore--" he says, heed their voice, however, notice this-- "you shall solemnly forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them." OK, give them what they want, but it's only fair to warn them of what the consequences are, what the end result is. People didn't want God's choice. They wanted their own choice.

Saul comes on the scene, fulfills their dreams, and power goes to his head. He is like the worst nightmare of a politician. You know what Thomas Jefferson, our third president, once said? And I quote him, "Whenever a man casts a longing eye on a political office, a rottenness begins in his conduct."

Now, that's not saying that all politicians are corrupt and rotten. It is to say that, as human beings, we have a tendency to let power corrupt us. If he casts a longing eye-- I want to be in charge. It happened so classically with Saul, and he wasn't a man after God's heart.

So verse 10-- "Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, 'This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots to be horsemen. Some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over thousands, captains over his fifties. He will set some to plow the ground, reap the harvest, some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots, and he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, your olive groves and give them to his servants."

So you want a king. All right, your wish is granted, but you need to know what you are in for. Number one-- it's going to be a burden on your family. The government that you request will be a burden on your family. Israel, you've never known this yet. But if you want a commander in chief of the army, you need an army, and that means your sons will be drafted into military service.

And that means that they're going to plow the king's fields because the king has to pay people to work for him, and so they're going to take your sons and your daughters, and they're going to work in the palace. It will be a burden to your family.

You're going to lose the best of your vineyards, the best of the olive groves. It's going to go to the government. And so in a sense, a form of slavery that, up to this point, you have never known is going to develop. It'll be a burden to your family.

Verse 15-- "He will take a tenth of your grain--" notice that-- a tenth of your grain-- "and your vintage and give it to his officers and servants." Do you remember the tenth previous to this? What was a tenth to be used for up to this point? The Lord-- that was their tithe. Now, just keep that in your mind. "And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep, and you will be his servants."

So it will burden your family. Number two-- it will burden your finances. Government is expensive. Do you know that? It's very costly to have government. And something new is going to develop. They're called taxes. They hadn't known this yet. They just gave a tenth to the Lord because he required that for the upkeep of the priesthood in the tabernacle.

Now they're going to have to double their output. 10% will be for the government-- flat tax. 10% is going to be for the Lord. So not 10% but 20% will be your output. The money that you used to spend in serving the Lord you're going to have to give to the government. It will be a burden financially.

You know, it's estimated that 1 out of every 14 people in the United States work for the government somehow. Now, you work for the government. You know that? You do.

In a sense, you work for the government from January 1st to May 15th because May 16th is Tax Burden-- or Tax Freedom Day. It is estimated that every penny you make from January 1st to May 15th-- every penny of it goes to the government if you look at how much you pay yearly in taxes. Government can be expensive, and big government is even more expensive and more burdensome.

So, "He will take a tenth of your sheep--" verse 17-- "and you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day." It will burden your family. It will burden your finances. It will burden your freedom.

You're going to come to your senses one day and go, what did we do? You're going to cry out because of it. You're going to live to regret this. You'll be in bondage because you'll be exchanging a theocracy, a God, who is willing to rule you, guide you, direct you, fight your battles, for a king, who will take from you and not necessarily, under Saul, give back to you.

So we sometimes look to the government to solve problems when, in effect, the government can perpetuate the problem. First of all, government can't solve our problems. Let's just get rid of that idea. It's great to have government. It's instituted by God. They're ministers of God, the Bible says. Even tax collectors, the Bible says-- Romans 13-- are God's ministers. Remember that around this time of the year. You need to really remember that.

The other day, when the president was here, across the street, there were about 300 protesters, ranging from, well, every cause you could think of. And as I noticed what they were protesting and what they wanted, I realized, oh, they expect the government to solve this unsolvable problem. They're looking to the government to solve the problems and give them the answers. That's their mistake.

Government's a great servant, a poor master. They were looking to the government to be their master. With the children of Israel under Saul, government will be the master and will be a cruel master. And it will get worse, actually, under David and under Solomon, and the kingdom will split because the taxation revenue will be astronomical by that time. And we'll get to it later on.

Verse 19-- "Nevertheless--" notice this-- "the people refused." The people refused-- the strong Hebrew word "maen"-- to refuse utterly, to dig your heels in-- no way, we want this king. "They refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, 'No, but we will have a king over us.'"

There is none so blind as those who will not see. No, we want the king. "'No, but we will have a king reign over us that we may also be like all the other nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.' Samuel heard all the words of the people. He repeated them--" notice this again-- "in the hearing of the Lord."

Now, why? Did God need the information? Did God say, Samuel, go listen to what they say, and then come back and tell me what they said. I really want to know. He already knew. He didn't need the information, but I believe the Lord loves intimacy so much. He loves it even when we just talk about stuff he already is informed about.

You know, when we pray, God doesn't get impressed. Wow, you spoke so eloquently, and you gave me such needful information to run a universe. Thank you. Are you kidding? Listen, I have spoken to my son on many occasions before. He gets excited about something, and he'll come and tell me about it, and it's such wonderful information that I've known for decades. But I love it when he just tells me, when he talks it over with me, when he discovers it, and, oh, you found that out? Oh, that's great. I love it. God loves it. Samuel told it in the hearing of God.

"So the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed their voice. Make them a king.' And Samuel said to the men of Israel, 'Every man go to his city.'" End of the sermon-- every man go home. Not amen, shall we stand and sing-- every man go home.

OK, they asked for a king. In the next few chapters, you will see him emerge. His name is Saul-- stately in stature, handsome, seemingly godly-- great family, great background, poor ending.

I want to read a passage to you that sums up this era in history quite nicely. It's by the prophet Hosea. He prophesied during the reign of several subsequent kings after the division of the kingdom-- north and south.

In the book of Hosea chapter 13, in verse 9, he says, "'O Israel,' the Lord says, 'you are destroyed, but your help is from me. I would be your king. Where is any other that he may save you and all your cities and your judges to whom you said, "Give me a king and princes"? I gave you a king in my anger and took him away in my wrath.'"

You wanted a king so badly. No, but we want a king. I gave you a king in my anger. I took him away in my wrath. That's summing up the life of Saul. Now, listen carefully. There is a theology that has absolutely worked. It's called a faith theology, where people start demanding and claiming things from God. I claim this in Jesus' name! And they think, I can get anything if I just claim it.

If you start thinking you can get anything you want and just start claiming it in the name of the Lord, you are making yourself a king. And the unfortunate thing is the Lord may just give it to you in his anger. I'm not saying God would give you any stupid thing you ask for, but sometimes, the only way we learn-- it's called the school of hard knocks, the school of hard experience. And some people I know have graduated with honors. It's the only way they learn.

Oh, you really want it that badly? I gave them a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. It's always best to say, Lord, I honestly don't know what your will is in this. I don't see all that you see. I don't know all that you know, and so I just defer my will to your will. You know, you'll always get the best when you let God make the choice. Instead of standing there and demanding something, Lord, your will be done.

Now, I've had people say, never say your will be done to God. It shows you don't have enough faith. Now, you say, why are you speaking in an accent? Because-- I don't know-- a lot of them do for some reason.

And I've been told-- I've been rebuked because I said the Lord's will be done. You should never say that! You know what God's will is. You demand it. You claim it. Hallelujah!

Really? Well, then I have a problem with Jesus because he said to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane, not my will but thine be done. He surrendered to the will of the Father even though he felt something different humanly at that point. And so if Jesus did it, guess what? I'll do it. Thy will be done.

Well, you might say, well, why would God grant their request for a king if it's not God's highest? Again, school of hard knocks-- sometimes-- you know, there are people-- some of us can just, like Samuel, say, speak, Lord. Your servant hears. And God is just there. He speaks and gives us the impression. It's in his Word. We nod. We obey.

Others are more like Jacob who wrestled with the angel of the Lord till the breaking of the day and had to get a hip out of joint before he said, OK. Now, which do you think is best-- option A option B?

Well, you can learn the lesson either way. You can push and press and prod, and sometimes God may give it to you. Again, I'm not saying God will give you every little dumb thing you ask for, but I'm saying you may need to go to school-- the school of hard knocks. And God's in charge of both schools. He's the dean who graduates you either way.

As we close tonight, I want to leave you with the four lessons that we covered, and we'll close in prayer. Number one-- neglecting God's lordship over us is always a dangerous path, and it must be stopped at once if there's an area where we're doing that. Defying his lordship-- neglecting God's lordship is a dangerous pattern.

Now, so often we ask, have you accepted the Lord? I would ask you have you accepted the Lord's control over your life? It could be, for some of you, that, if Jesus isn't Lord of all, perhaps he is not Lord at all. Not just have you accepted the Lord-- OK, I acknowledge God's cool. I'll let him in, give him a little piece of my heart. No, have you accepted his control over your life-- his lordship? Corrie ten Boom said, don't bother to give God instructions. Just report for duty. I like that.

Number two-- the world is attractive. It has a powerful pull, and it wants you to conform. It's all around you. There's value systems all around you, and it's trying hard to get you to think and conform to their vibe. You have to resist that. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed-- Romans 12-- by the renewing of your mind, but it's hard. To be rejected by the group, to be put under peer pressure is difficult. That's what we're called to do.

Number three-- a wise person carefully counts the cost before making choices. Any smart person standing on a pathway doesn't just say, I'm going to walk this road and see where it goes. He'll say, I'm going to ask somebody who's walked this road. Where does this go? What is the end result?

Now, if he says, well, just keep walking-- there's a 1,000-foot cliff, but go ahead-- it's a lot of fun, you wouldn't be wise to keep walking down that path. And so Jesus said, narrow is the way that goes to life. Wide it is the path that goes to destruction. This is the wise man. This is the foolish man. Think of the end of the road.

And number four-- stubbornness has lasting consequences. Stubbornness has lasting consequences. Is there an area in your life you're digging your heels in, you're holding onto, you're still-- you say, no, God, I want this?

Did you hear about the patient who went to the doctor, and he thought he was dead? He said, doctor, I know I'm dead. The doctor said, I know for a fact you're not dead. How do you know it? Because dead people don't talk, and you're in my office, and I'm talking to you. I know I'm dead.

The doctor thought a minute, and he said, let me ask you a question. Do dead people bleed? The man answered, of course not. Everybody knows that. So the doctor took a needle, and he pricked the patient's finger, and blood came out. And he said, now, what does that blood prove to you? And the patient said, wow, dead men do bleed!

Don't be like that guy. Don't be stubborn. Stubbornness before the Lord will keep you from enjoying all that the Lord has for you. Let's pray.

Lord, so often, when we pray, we often say, Lord, just like I did and we are now, but we're faced again with the fact that you may not be Lord if you're not in control. And so Lord, search our hearts. What areas are there, what relationships are there, what desires have we followed that aren't from you, that are in conflict with you, that aren't pleasing to you? Father, we want to surrender those now, relinquish that area now, let you be Lord over that now tonight. We want you to rule over us, Father.

Lord, in closing, we want to thank you for the government that your Word says is put in place by God-- city government, federal government. Thank you that we live in a nation where we can vote, we can democratically voice our concerns and issues. Thank you for that. And you said we're to pray for all men and women who are in authority that we might live a peaceful life.

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We thank you for our president, his cabinet. We thank you for our city officials, governors, even people that we may not necessarily agree with their policies. We pray you'd give them wisdom. And we pray, Lord, that, through their decisions, doors would be open for the gospel to go forth. But Lord, ultimately, we want you to rule over us, in Jesus' name, amen.