The King We Need

THE KING WE NEED

An Exposition of 1 Samuel 8

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: March 24, 2024

Series: Palm Sunday

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

¹ When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. ¹¹ He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. ²² And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” (1 Samuel 8:1-22)

INTRODUCTION

The Lord God Almighty is King – the High King of heaven, and sovereign over all the earth:

“For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth…. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sis on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:2, 6-8)

After the Lord led the children of Israel through the Red Sea and delivered them from the Egyptians, the children of Israel sang a song to the Lord, and they sang, “The LORD will reign forever and ever.” (Exodus 15:18) At Mount Sinai, the Lord declared to Israel, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3) The Lord rescued them from Egypt, revealed His promises and instructions to them, provided for them in the wilderness, brought them into the Promised Land and made them victorious over the Canaanites, and had recently given them victory over the Philistines and made them to be at peace through the ministry of Samuel. But even though they were recipients of the Lord’s mercy and kindness, nevertheless here in 1 Samuel 8 they reject the Lord from being king over them. You can profess belief in the Lord until you are blue in the face, but if you reject His functional rule over your practical and everyday concerns, then you are rejecting Him as your God and King. As the Lord said to Samuel: “… they have rejected me from being king over them.” (v. 7) The heart of mankind is so corrupt, that even in the presence of the Lord’s merciful and miraculous deeds, the heart’s natural response is to turn away from the Lord.

Now let’s walk through the passage.

WHENCE THE DESIRE FOR AN EARTHLY KING ARISES (v. 1-5)

First, humanity’s desire for an earthly king arises in view of the anxieties and insecurities of life (v. 1-5). Or, if the humans in question find themselves in a non-monarchial setting, then they would desire a strong central government to take care of them. When people are prosperous and at peace, when there are no apparent threats within or without, when the ordinary man flourishes and there are no fearful circumstances, people aren’t clamoring for an increase in strong centralized political leadership.

We can sense the anxieties and insecurities facing Israel in 1 Samuel 8. For several decades now, Israel’s circumstances have been very much up and down – and the downs were due to their own sin. The time period in 1 Samuel 8 is right between the period of the judges and the rise of the kings. The period of the judges, which is described in the Book of Judges, was a dark period in Israel’s history. Israel prospered “in the days of Joshua” and in “the days of the elders who outlived Joshua” (Judges 2:7) – they prospered because they “served the LORD” in those days (Judges 2:7). But after that generation passed from the scene, “another generation [arose] after them who did not know the LORD” (Judges 2:10) – this new generation “abandoned the LORD” and “went after other gods” (Judges 2:12). In response, the Lord gave Israel over to the power of their enemies (Judges 2:14-15) and they suffered “terrible distress” (Judges 2:15). Then the Lord would raise up a judge to save the people out of the hand of their enemies (Judges 2:16), and there would be a period of rest, but before long the people would turn away from the Lord again, and thus would return another season of defeat and distress. Each subsequent generation that turned away from the Lord was “more corrupt” than the previous generation (Judges 2:19). And so, Israel on the whole was in a very bad way during the period of the judges. There was no long-term faithfulness on the part of the people. As a result, there was no long-term stability for the people to enjoy.

When we begin the Book of 1 Samuel, there was a priest named Eli who was presiding over Israel as judge. Unfortunately, Eli was a compromising priest, and his sons were corrupt. In 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines defeated Israel in battle, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, Eli’s sons died, and Eli died – it was not Israel’s finest hour. But whereas Eli was an unfaithful priest and judge, the Lord raised up Eli in Samuel’s place, and Samuel was a faithful prophet, priest, and judge. In 1 Samuel 7, Israel turned back to the Lord and experienced victory over the Philistines through Samuel’s intercession, and “the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel” (1 Samuel 7:13).

But as turn to Chapter 8, the people can sense that another downturn is likely. After all, Israel had known many downturns for the last couple of hundred years, including the recent past. These downturns were the result of the Lord disciplining them because of their own unfaithfulness, and all this had become tragically normal. In 1 Samuel 8:1-5, the elders of Israel are reading the situation and their analysis concluded that trouble was ahead. First, Samuel was old. Samuel was a faithful leader through whom the Lord brought blessing to the people, but Samuel wouldn’t live forever. Second, though Samuel had appointed his sons as judges over Israel, Samuel’s sons Joel and Abijah were not faithful. They were corrupt and greedy. “They took bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Samuel 8:3) Samuel’s days were numbered, and Samuel’s sons would only bring trouble, not strength and stability.

So, the elders came together and visited Samuel and called attention to these liabilities. Then, instead of inquiring of the Lord or inquiring of the prophet Samuel, they give the prophet Samuel their own solution and tell him what to do: “Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5) The people are no longer content with seemingly random judges like Gideon, Samson, Eli, and Samuel being raised up to administer the nation’s affairs. The judges were more local or regional; a king would be a national figure. Judges didn’t give cohesion to the nation as a whole; a king would provide such unity and cohesion. Judges had less authority over the nation as a whole; a king would have more authority. The role of judge was a temporary office; the kingship would represent a permanent office. Other nations had the advantage and prestige of having a king; by instituting the kingship, Israel would also have this same advantage and prestige. Never mind that Israel had the advantage and prestige of having the King of kings and Lord of lords behind them, if only they would walk in His ways. But that spiritual mindset was absent from their thinking. Instead, they were thinking about pragmatic considerations: they were thinking about probabilities, about anticipated problems and sensible solutions, from a fleshly point of view. Just as Israel couldn’t maintain faithfulness to the God they couldn’t see, and thus they constructed a golden calf idol that they could see; so here Israel couldn’t maintain trust in the King who presided from heaven, and thus they demanded an earthly king that they could see with their own eyes. Israel, like sinful mankind in general, prefers to walk by sight, and not by faith. Humanity’s desire for an earthly king or for a strong central government or for other practical solutions to their felt needs, arises in view of the anxieties and insecurities of life. If you will not trust in the Lord with all your heart, then you will seek out other sources of strength.

THE LORD GIVES SINFUL MANKIND WHAT IT WANTS (v. 6-9)

Second, the Lord often gives sinful mankind exactly what it wants (v. 6-9). Those who turn away from the Lord will often find a wide field of opportunity in which to work out their evil ways. In Romans 1, God gave up the unrighteous to their unrighteous ways – first to impurity, then to dishonorable passions, and finally to a debased mind. Here in 1 Samuel 8, Israel rejects God as their King and demands an earthly king in His place – and God basically says, ‘Go ahead.’

Samuel was understandably displeased at the request by the elders to appoint a king (v. 6). Samuel had long served as the judge of Israel (1 Samuel 7:15-17), but now the people wanted Samuel to appoint someone else to be judge. Samuel had “made his sons judges over Israel” (v. 1), but now the people wanted to Samuel to appoint someone else to be judge. Samuel had faithfully brought the word of the Lord to the people of Israel (1 Samuel 3:19-4:1, 7:3-17), but now the people want their own word – their own counsel – to be implemented by Samuel. For all of these reasons, Samuel might have felt rejected by the people. Even so, Samuel demonstrated his own godliness by taking the matter to the Lord in prayer (v. 6). Perhaps to Samuel’s surprise, the Lord told Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you” (v. 7). Keep in mind that the Lord’s hands are not tied: He can do whatever He wants to do – He can discipline His people by handing them over to their enemies, as He has done throughout the period of the judges; He can send fiery serpents or a wasting disease among the people; He can strike dead those who are most vocal in calling for a king; or He can simply say, ‘No, not going to happen. Go home.’ Samuel is bound to do the Lord’s will, but the Lord’s will is not bound by any man, or by any movement or popular uprising. As the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar learned, “[All] the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”” (Daniel 4:35) The Lord is unconstrained by any pressures outside of Himself, and He freely chooses to give rebellious Israel what it wants.

The Lord also makes it clear to Samuel that Samuel shouldn’t take Israel’s rebellion personally: “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (v. 7) At the end of the day, the people aren’t rejected Samuel’s leadership; instead, they are rejecting the Lord’s leadership over them. Furthermore, this most recent rebellion is characteristic of how Israel has functioned for centuries: “According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.” (v. 8) What Samuel experiences in that displeasing moment when Israel demands a king, is what the Lord has experienced constantly from a disobedient and stubborn people for centuries. Learn a lesson here, and don’t take other people’s disobedience personally: if other people are sinning against you, that is small potatoes in comparison to the fact that they are sinning against the Lord, which is a far greater problem. Keep things in perspective. Pray to the Lord. Follow the Lord’s instruction.

And what is the Lord’s instruction in this case: “Now then, obey their voice” (v. 9). In other words, go ahead and appoint them a king. However, before the appointment takes place, a solemn warning must first be given: “only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” (v. 9)

A SOLEMN WARNING

So third, the Lord warns rebellious people of the implications of their decisions (v. 10-18). Yes, the Lord is going to give sinful Israel the king that it wants, but before doing so, He warns them about what their king is going to be like, and He warns them how their king is going to negatively affect them and their relationship with the Lord.

Samuel, the Lord’s faithful prophet, “told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him.” (v. 10) Samuel introduces the subject matter in verse 11: “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you”. Let’s make a few observations.

First, the king is going to be a taker. The stand-alone word “take” occurs four times: “he will take your sons” (v. 11), “He will take your daughters” (v. 13), “He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards” (v. 14), and “He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys” (v. 16). What is true of kings is true of centralized governments in general: they take, they tax, they acquire, they exercise eminent domain, they accumulate, they conscript, they build an expansive royal court or an expansive federal bureaucracy (as the case may be). It is no wonder that kings have often been revered as gods, nor is it any wonder that governments in general often exhibit god-like powers over the people. It is no wonder that Northern Virginia is one of the richest parts of our country, for the ‘demi-gods’ who sit in power overlooking the Potomac River make sure that the money flows their way.

Second, the king is going to have a god complex. In addition to the taking of people and property already mentioned, we are twice told that the king is going to take a tithe, that is, a tenth or ten percent: “He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards” (v. 15), “He will take the tenth of your flocks” (v. 17). Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord God Almighty calls upon the people to tithe to Him in order to support the ministry of the priesthood, in order to participate in celebratory acts of worship, and in order to care for the poor. Now the earthly king comes along and says, ‘I’ll take a tenth, too.’ The king has a big head and thinks that he is entitled to the same amount that the Lord gets. If only modern governments capped their ambitions at ten percent! In the United States, the federal income tax rate ranges from 10% to 37%, depending on your income. It is not wrong for governments to levy taxes, but don’t miss the practical function of taxes (whether income, property, sales and use, or whatever else) and fees: the governmental system is asserting its sovereignty over every aspect of your life, over every transaction, over every presumed right. The lesson is clear: you will think about the lordship of your federal, state, and local governments at all times; you will acknowledge the authority of your governments in every transaction; you will live in the fear of the king, or the fear of the authorities; you will live a king-centered or government-centered life. If you don’t get in line, you could lose everything! Just pay up and shut up! Isn’t that what slaves are supposed to do?

And that’s the third observation: the king is going to enslave you: “and you shall be his slaves” (v. 17). In times past, you were slaves of Pharaoh down in Egypt. Well, your king will become like Pharaoh to you; your king will change Israel into the image of Egypt; and you will be slaves of men again. The mindset that the people had in 1 Samuel 8 is similar to the mindset that their ancestors had in Exodus 16 – “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”” (Exodus 16:2-3) Sinful people would rather have security as slaves under a foreign power, than to be free men and women who are learning to trust the Lord for daily bread in the wilderness. Sinful people would rather have security as slaves of a selfish king or greedy government, than to face the anxieties and securities of life as free men and women who must trust the Lord for daily provision. Which means, by the way, that we don’t want a king who calls upon us to trust the Lord and take responsibility for ourselves. Instead, we want a king who will play the power game, fight our battles, and make us feel safe. But alas, it will not work!

Thus we come to the fourth observation: the king is going to disappoint you, and when he does, don’t expect the Lord to bail you out (v. 18): “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” At some point you’re going to realize that the flesh engine of royal politics isn’t going to result in green pastures beside still waters. At some point you’re going to realize that big government succeeds primarily at making a big mess. At some point you’re going to realize that enslavement to a human pharaoh king isn’t such a good deal. At some point you’re going to realize that those who turn away from the Lord and who trust in men and who make flesh their strength become chaff in the desert (see Jeremiah 17:5-6). The Lord alerts them to this fact ahead of time, as if to say (to use two proverbial expressions): don’t say you weren’t warned, and you’ve made your bed, now lie in it. It is not the Lord’s job to save you from all of the practical consequences of your folly. If He does, it is called mercy. If He doesn’t, it is called justice. In this instance, the Lord tells them that justice will be done: “the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

THE PEOPLE PERSIST IN THEIR REBELLION (v. 19-22)

Finally, coming to verses 19-22, we see that the Lord’s solemn warning has not changed the people’s outlook. Unlike the blessed man of Psalm 1, these people are enthralled with their own counsel, and they are unwilling to delight in the Lord’s instruction. They will have their king, even if it costs them everything. When you want something badly enough, no cost seems too great in the present moment. The problem, of course, is that the present moment will not remain forever.

In this present moment, the people are adamant: “But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (v. 19-20) Once again Samuel confers with the Lord (v. 21-22), and the Lord repeats His earlier instruction: “Obey their voice and make them a king.” (v. 22) And that is what Samuel will henceforth do, as appointing a king in Israel is the subject of 1 Samuel 9:1-12:25. In the meantime, Samuel adjourns the meeting and tells “the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”” (v. 22)

SUMMARY

In the face of anxieties and insecurities, we often desire the wrong thing, the fleshly solution. In His sovereign freedom, the Lord often grants our misguided desires, while at the same time warning us of the consequences of the actions that we take. In our obstinance, we often persist in our misguided desires even after having been warned about the undesirable consequences. We rush headlong into slavery and oppression! As 1 Samuel 8 comes to a close, the people are on the cusp of getting the king they want. What does all this have to do with Holy Week, with Palm Sunday and Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The king that Israel wants is not the king that they need – and this is where things get really interesting. It is clear in 1 Samuel 8 that something is fundamentally wrong with the people’s demand for a king, for their demand for an earthly king is the result of their unwillingness to trust God as their King – and that fundamentally wrong and wicked. Ironically, in 1 Samuel 8 the people of Israel and their leaders play the part of the wicked in Psalm 2:1-2, essentially attempting to throw off the kingship of the Lord.

But, as you might expect, there’s more to the story. As a matter of fact, it was God’s plan all along to raise up a king in Israel. Even in the Book of Genesis there is set before us a promised king from the tribe of Judah, and this promised king would command the nations. Then in the Book of Deuteronomy, the Lord anticipated that the day would come when Israel desired to have a king. And in that important passage in Deuteronomy, the Lord told the people of Israel what He required of their king. Even though Israel would desire to have a king like the nations around them, the Lord made it clear that the king must not be like the kings of other nations. The king must not be a taker who exalts himself over the people. The man who would be king must be an entirely different type of king, very different from the pagan kings who surrounded him. The Deuteronomy 17 instruction is as follows:

¹⁴ “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ ¹⁷ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

¹⁸ “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

If Israel had earnestly sought the Lord to fulfill His own plan for a king and had earnestly desired a king like the one envisioned in Deuteronomy 17, then that would have been a completely different matter. But as it stands, Israel in 1 Samuel 8 wanted a strong man, a taker who would glorify himself at the people’s expense, a pharaoh who would enslave them. But a faithful king would be completely different. A faithful king would not be full of himself, would not be lifted up or proud, would not be greedy for gain, would not attempt to multiply power and wealth, would not get a big head, would not try to lord it over the people. A faithful king would be humble, would be attentive to the Lord’s instruction and would meditate on it every day (like the blessed man in Psalm 1!), would learn to fear the Lord and walk in obedience, and would essentially set a godly example for the entire nation. To put the matter simply: the way of the world, and the way of Israel in 1 Samuel 8, is to desire a king with fleshly competence and flashy charisma. We get our first glimpse of Israel’s first king at the beginning of 1 Samuel 9: Saul was from a wealthy family, was “a handsome young man”, and “was taller than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:1-2). Therein lies worldly appeal: strength, attractiveness, and wealth. The packaging looks good, let’s go for it!

Do not wonder that people are so stupid as to keep electing corrupt politicians! People who are addicted to the packaging, the worldly appeal, the fleshly competence, and the flashy charisma, will throw their support behind unsavory folks. Shepherd boys who are faithfully keeping their flock are easily overlooked. Hard-working farmers and honest tradesmen often go unnoticed. Industrious carpenters with good character who actually know how to build things, and who plug away at their trade in small towns, are frequently ignored.

The Lord puts His very best in humble packaging

One of the ways that the Lord hides His glory from the wise and powerful who are impressed with their own resources, is by putting His very best in humble packaging:

“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2-3)

Born in humble circumstances. Exiled to Egypt. Eventually settled in Nazareth. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Didn’t play the power game. Didn’t have the proper credentials. Knew how to make the power brokers really nervous and upset. Befriended the lowly, the kids, the outsiders, the unclean. Associated with misfits, tax collectors and sinners. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.” (1 Peter 2:23) When He was condemned by men, He did not lash out but entrusted His cause to the Father.

Just imagine if a contemporary politician spoke along these lines:

• “Truly, truly I say to you, [I] can do nothing of [my] own accord, but only what [I] see the Father doing.” (John 5:19)

• “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

• “I do not receive glory from people.” (John 5:41)

• “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (John 14:10)

Such a politician would be laughed off the stage and regarded as a kook, or worse. But Jesus spoke those very words. Remember, Psalm 1 teaches us that the blessed man’s first order of business is to be an eager and humble hearer of God’s Word. Jesus is the ultimate Blessed Man. And Deuteronomy 17:18-20 teaches us that the ideal king will do that very thing – he will be the blessed man who devotes himself to the Lord’s instruction every day and diligently seeks to obey it. The true king would have a special place on his desk and a special place in his heart for the Book of Deuteronomy. And so it comes as no surprise that when Satan tempted our Lord in the wilderness, Jesus stood firm by treasuring the words of God in Deuteronomy:

• “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3)

• “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Matthew 4:7, quoting Deuteronomy 6:16).

• “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:10, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13).

Behold the King that you need

Behold the true King, the blessed Man (Psalm 1), the glorious Word packaged in weak human flesh (John 1:14), the One anointed by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18-19), “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42), the Suffering Servant who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) He didn’t come to take; He came to give. He didn’t come to acquire; He came to sacrifice. He didn’t come to enslave you; He came to set you free, at great cost to Himself. He didn’t come to be propped up or enriched by you; He came to carry you, and to grace you with heavenly riches.

Of course, in a manner of speaking, He did take – as the hymn puts it:

“He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone.”[1]

There is no king like Jesus, who captures hearts by laying down His life for His wayward sheep, and who conquers the world through a cross. As the band Downhere describes it in their song “How Many Kings”:

“How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me”[2]

The most terrifying demand that men ever made

Jesus is the King that we need, but He is not the king that sinners naturally desire. To drive this reality home, just consider the most terrifying demand ever made by human beings. In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel demanded a king. In so doing, the people were rejecting God as their King. That is bad enough, but it gets worse. God worked through Israel’s rebellion in order to establish Israel’s kingship. God didn’t desire Israel’s rebellion, but He did ultimately plan Israel’s kingship, and He used Israel’s rebellion to further His own plan. Remember, we got insight into His plan in our study of Psalm 2: the Lord’s plan has always been to exalt His specially chosen King.

But here’s the problem: no mere man is fit to be king over God’s people. God is the true King, Protector, Defender, Ruler, and Judge of His people. No man can fit the bill. Thus, if I may borrow a line of thought from John Piper, the purpose of Israel’s kingship was to show Israel that no mere man could be their king.[3] Only a man who is not a mere man, but who is also God, can reign as King over God’s people. That God-Man is Jesus Christ. But remember, sinful mankind doesn’t want God to be their King; sinful mankind doesn’t want the God-Man to be their King. And so, when God – who is the only one qualified to be their King – shows up in human flesh, and when this God-Man presents Himself as King to His people, you know what happens, right? Luke 23 tells us that: 

“Pilate… called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people…. [And] they all cried out together, “Away with this man”…. [And] they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” …. [They] were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.” (Luke 23:13, 18, 21, 23-25, italics added)

In 1 Samuel 8, the will of the people was to reject God as their king. In Luke 23, the will of the people was to crucify the God-Man, their true king. In both situations, the lawless people get their way. The will of the people prevails. And yet, the sovereign King works through their rebellion in order to fulfill His plan of salvation. For in this very setting, the obedient Son proves to be obedient to the Father “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The obedient Son proves to embody the Father’s steadfast love and faithfulness, displayed most prominently in self-giving sacrifice. The obedient Son proves to trust the Father in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). Therefore, the obedient Son is the only one who is qualified to be King over God’s people.

Jesus is the King you need

The good folks on Palm Sunday had hoped that Jesus would deliver Israel from the power of Rome. That was the sort of king they wanted. But Jesus had come to deliver them from a far greater danger – from the power of sin and death and the judgment to come. For that deliverance, a broken body and shed blood were essential. It is a humbling thing to realize that the King you rejected gave His life for your ransom. And that, of course, is what you actually need your King to do for you, and no one but Jesus can do it. Jesus is the king you need. In familiar words from another hymn: 

“Living, He loved me,

Dying, He saved me,

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely, forever

One day He’s coming, O glorious day![4]

ENDNOTES

[1] From the hymn “My Savior’s Love” by Charles H. Gabriel

[2] From the song “How Many Kings” by the band Downhere. “How Many Kings” is included on Downhere’s 2008 album entitled “Ending Is Beginning”.

[3] See John Piper’s sermon entitled “The Sinful Origin of the Son of David”, preached September 23, 2007 and available online at Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-sinful-origin-of-the-son-of-david

[4] From the hymn “One Day” by J. Wilbur Chapman