You can dismiss your children to children's ministry. Just a quick word about the new lighting. I want to thank everyone for all the work they did in getting the lighting installed, but I want to draw a spiritual point to this as well. You may have noticed the carpet in a new way since the lighting has been installed. I was praying this morning about how it feels feels sometimes like the best thing to do is to run away from the holiness of God because it's just so intense and so honestly debilitating when we consider the holy, righteous, perfect standard of God. And that sometimes it just feels like the best thing to do, not sometimes, oftentimes, is just to run away. But running away doesn't change anything, right? It just dims the lights so that we don't see God's holy, righteous standard and our shortcomings, our sins. And so this is one of those moments of encouragement as you look down. When Noah and Kate called me, they called me on Monday night and said, "Get over here." It's like 10 o'clock at night. "You've got to come see the lights." And so I drove down and came into the sanctuary and I turned the lights on and I was like, "Wow, wow." And then I looked down on the floor and they're like, "No, don't look down. Don't look down. Just look up." I was joking with somebody that The stains are in places where families sit regularly, the same families. So there are some of you families that I'll be coming to for the carpet fund first because there seems to be patterns developing or showing themselves.
Well, if you'd open your Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 8. Every now and then we take a break from our journey through Acts and go back into the wisdom literature. And I thought, you know, it'd be good if we did one or two sermons from the historical time in which the wisdom literature emerged, from which the wisdom literature emerged. There are certain events happening in the life of Israel that are relevant to the development of the book of Psalms, right? Or the development of the book of Proverbs. And I think today I'll share one of the most important and central stories to the development of that wisdom literature, and that takes place in 1 Samuel 8, and again is revisited in chapter 12.
Have your Bibles this morning, open them to 1 Samuel chapter 8. I'm just gonna jump right in. It says, when Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and said to Samuel at Ramah, 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.' But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 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."
So today, just 4 simple points written in kind of a sentence style. And the first point is this: your life problems. The second point is, are no problem to God. Third point is, your pride, but your pride. Fourth point, provokes God's discipline. Your life problems are no problem to God, but your pride provokes God's discipline. That's the basic lesson of this particular text.
So let's talk about this first part, your life problems. If you'll notice in verse 5, the people come to Samuel and say, "You were a good leader," imply, "You were a good leader, but now you're getting old." Problem number 1. Your sons don't walk in your ways. Problem number 2: give us a king like all the other nations have. Later on in the same chapter, they say, I think in verse 20, that they want a king that will go out with them in battle. So there are a number of problems that have emerged in the life of Israel. The best leader they've ever had, in many ways, since getting to the Promised Land, is getting old. His sons are not walking in his ways. The natural plan of succession doesn't seem like it's going to work out. And they're surrounded by their enemies and know how crucial it is to have strong leadership.
What I want you to think about as we talk about their problems, I want you to think a little bit about their problems, I want you to think a little bit about your problems, and I want to point out that there are kind of two areas of origination for problems. And the first is that self-inflicted problems. So if you're taking notes, it's your problems and then self-inflicted problems, right? The truth is, is that these folks are dealing with a crisis that they at least partially created themselves. By failing to obey God as they entered into the Promised Land, they were surrounded by more enemies than they were supposed to be surrounded by. And of course, the time of the judges is haunting these folks, this period of lawlessness and chaos from which they just emerged. They just lived through a season where leadership was utterly absent from Israel, and there was sort of this self-inflicted chaos as each person did what was right in their own eyes.
6 · Offers a cultural observation about how lawlessness creates hunger for authoritarian leadership, illuminating Israel's historical moment and implicitly commenting on contemporary political dynamics
It's very interesting that as a culture moves more toward everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, the more attractive a strong man leader with all of his flaws becomes to a culture on the edge of chaos.
7 · Tells the story of Chesty Puller to illustrate that being surrounded by problems—even overwhelming odds—is not the worst position to be in and can even be turned to advantage with the right perspective
Years ago, there was a lieutenant general in the Marines named Chesty Puller. His name was Chesty because he had this big old barrel chest, and they used to say that it got shot off in World War II and replaced with a piece of armor. He had 5 Navy Crosses, distinguished himself in multiple pieces of combat. At one point in the Korean War, he, his division of men, gets surrounded by 22 divisions of the enemy. They are outnumbered 1 to 29, 29 to 1. And they actually do wind up fighting their way out of this particular battle, and that's one of the reasons why he's so well remembered. He led his men, inflicted more casualties on enemy forces by a single Marine division than in the history of American military combat. Anyway, as he realizes that his men are surrounded 29 to 1, he says this, "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us, they can't get away this time."
8 · Makes the theological claim that God's identity as Savior means our problems—regardless of origin—are not obstacles to Him
You know, being surrounded by your problems isn't actually the worst place to be. There are far worse places to be, and I will show you in this text that there's a far worse place to be. Being surrounded by your problems isn't actually as big of a problem as it feels to you, and it's certainly no problem to God. Jesus came in Luke 4 and said that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim good news to the poor and to proclaim liberty for the captives. Right? So our problems are no problem for God because God is a Savior. God saves. Jesus saying, I came to proclaim release. I came to proclaim freedom. And here's the idea: Jesus doesn't differentiate how you got poor or how you got in prison. He is the freedom man. He brings freedom no matter how you got poor, no matter how you got in prison, God will release you.
9 · Applies the theological principle to those facing self-inflicted problems, arguing that honest acknowledgment of responsibility is itself most of the victory, and citing two psalms to show God receives the contrite and atones for confessed sin
So if you are surrounded— some of you may be aware of this this morning— if you are surrounded by self-inflicted problems, listen, man, the battle is so much won already just in your willing acknowledgement that this is significantly at your own hand. Psalm 65:2 says, when iniquities prevail against me, You atone for our transgressions. Psalm 51:17, a crucial verse in our growth in godliness. It just says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
10 · Addresses those whose problems are not self-inflicted by reading Psalm 91 in full as a comprehensive promise of God's protection and deliverance for those who dwell in Him, regardless of the source of danger
Likewise, I would tell those of you who would say, you know, the problems I'm having are not, as far as I can see, self-inflicted. They're really stuff that came kind of at me out of nowhere. I didn't expect it to come at all. Well, I would point you to a million different verses, of course, but I would point you to Psalm 9 as a great example. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrows that fly by the day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High God, who is my refuge. No evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near to your tent, for He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on a lion and an adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under underfoot, because he holds fast to me in love. I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
11 · Synthesizes the exposition of both self-inflicted and external problems into a single controlling principle: the source of the problem is less theologically significant than the location of your hope
So do your problems come because you brought them on yourself, or do they come out of nowhere and you had no idea they were on their way? Listen, the origination of your problems matters far less than the placement of your hope. The origination, where your problems came from, matters far less than where your hope is placed.
12 · Summarizes the first movement of the sermon and pivots to the contrasting reality of pride, signaling that the sermon is about to shift from encouragement about God's sufficiency to warning about human pride
So the first two points of this message are real simple. Your problems, point one, sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes not, are no problem to God. He will rescue you no matter how you got in prison, whether you put yourself there or not, and He will care for you no matter how you got ensnared. Third point: but your pride.
13 · Pivots from God's sufficiency to human pride, arguing that how we respond to problems matters more than the problems themselves
Well, there has to be a catch, right? There's no drama to this story at all if we just simply do what we're supposed to do. Why would we want to do that? Why would we want to make this easy on ourselves? And in the scriptures, in 1 Samuel chapter 8, we see that these folks see their problem and they immediately turn to their own pride. I said before that being surrounded by problems isn't that big of a deal. This is. It's far more relevant as we're thinking about these things how we respond to our problems than the existence of our problems to begin with. These people did not respond with faith. Instead, they acted pridefully. And in a few chapters, they'll admit it to Samuel that we screwed up. Just a few chapters. Friends, if pride is hiding in your heart, a big life problem will show it up, show it right away. If you have pride hiding in your heart, a big problem, when it enters your life, it'll show up right away that you have pride. That you're being prideful. I want you to be sensitive to this. I want you to look at what they do so that you understand this is what we do. These are 3 features of prideful problem-solving. 3 features of prideful problem-solving. The first one is coveting.
14 · Expounds the first feature of prideful problem-solving—coveting—using both the text and contemporary cultural examples (social media, Robin Leach) to show how comparison destroys contentment and drives economic systems built on manufactured dissatisfaction
You see that in verse 5? Coveting. "Now appoint us a king to judge like all the nations." "Appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations." Where are they getting this idea that they need a king? Well, they're not even hiding what they're doing here, right? They're being very clear. I want what they want. The solution to my problem is for you to give me what they have, what someone else has. Friends, this is coveting. This is the idea of wanting what someone else has. This is comparison. My goodness, if I could come and wave a magic wand and free all of us of one thing, I might choose comparison. Someone once said that comparison is the thief of joy. And I tell you what, we sure let that thief in a lot. We sure open the door to that thief. Did you hear this week that Robin Leach died? Now if you're my age, you know who that is. If you're younger, he created, he did a TV show that was like Instagram before the internet. So he would go into the rich people's houses and he would do this show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, right? And he would show these amazing mansions and his whole goal was to show you things you've never seen before. And he would always end, I think he would always end the show with, "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams." You know, this industry, you realize that a significant portion of our economy is dependent on coveting, right? A significant portion of how we've built this economy over our nation's history is dependent on you not being happy with what you have. And you wanting what someone else has.
15 · Articulates the psychological and spiritual mechanism of coveting: it simultaneously inflates the perceived desirability of what others have and deflates appreciation for what God has already given, resulting in ingratitude that amounts to rejecting God Himself
And I hope you understand that coveting is indeed a chief thief of joy. Let me tell you what coveting does. Coveting artificially brightens another situation while it darkens your own. Coveting artificially brightens another situation while it darkens your own. God says to Samuel, you know, they're rejecting me. This is them rejecting me. Later on he says, I am their king. God says, I am your king. You're rejecting me as your king. So how do they get to this point of ingratitude? Well, they're just ignoring how God has been faithful to them over and over again.
16 · Returns to the text to show God's diagnosis—Israel's request is rooted in forgetfulness of His past faithfulness—and connects coveting to quarrelsomeness via James 4, arguing that relational conflict is often driven by coveting what others have or withhold
Look at verse 6. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord, 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've rejected me from being king over them. 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. 'Now then obey their voice, only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.' This particular idea is expanded in chapter 12, where God, through Samuel's voice, lists all the ways that God had cared for them and freed them. They want a king that will go out with them to battle, and they can't remember even a generation previous all the battles they had improbably won solely because the Lord was with them. Coveting brightens someone else's, artificially brightens someone else's situation and darkens our own. My goodness, how ungrateful they're being, how forgetful they're being, how foolish they're being. Did you know, just as an aside, that James tells us that a quarrelsome person is most likely a coveting person? He says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you is that you lust and you don't have. You want this and you don't get it. And you have not because you ask not. When you do ask, you ask that you may spend on your adulterous pleasures." If you find yourself being a quarrelsome person, I would strongly encourage you to look at what are you coveting? What do you want from that other person? It could be respect. It could be something else. You could just be kind of fully engaged, fully immersed in a coveting, a daily commitment to coveting.
17 · Applies the coveting diagnosis to social media habits, arguing that scrolling functions as a counterfeit quiet time that disciples people into comparison rather than contentment, and connects this to the quarrelsomeness previously cited from James
You know, most of us have a quiet time. It's just we go onto Instagram and Facebook and social media and we behold what other people have. And we don't necessarily say this sentence. We're just slowly, consistently, over time transformed, just like we would be if we read God's Word, transformed to be coveters. To be professional comparers. Friends, right now there's some quarreling that's going on in some folks' lives. There's some disquietude, some unhappiness, some lack of contentment. And if you could just turn off the comparison, if you could just turn off defining your situation by everyone else's situation, you would find so much more joy, and the people that live with you would too. We've got to stop living with everybody else's situation in mind. You know, at some point we'll talk about this, unpack this. There's actually a word for sin in the New Testament that simply means being a busybody. I need to look into that more. I found it the other day, but Friends, look at what God's done for you. Stop asking how everyone else's family is, how everyone else's marriage is, how this person's body looks, or how that person's bank account looks. You're going to find nothing but pain there.
18 · Expounds Samuel's prophetic warning about the costs of kingship (vv
Well, they're artificially brightening another situation. They're darkening their own, they're artificially brightening another situation. Look at verse 9. They want a king like all the other nations. God says in verse 9, solemnly warn them. Do what they want, but solemnly warn them. So verse 10, so Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him, and 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. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of 50, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the 10th of your grain, of your vineyards, and give it to his officers, to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 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. So they built this scenario through their coveting of the other nations. They built this scenario that if I only had this thing, I would be okay, I would be happy. Friends, what's that thing? What are you bitter at God for withholding? What do you believe is simply unfair, that everyone else has and you don't have? Well, whatever that thing is, I guarantee you, you are making it artificially good in your own imagination. The truth is that Samuel wanted them to see the dark underbelly of this thing they wanted. You know, having a king comes with a lot of costs. It's not all sunshine and roses. You're going to find that this king thing actually dominates the whole of society, and it will affect you at every level of your life. You know, you don't see all that because you don't have one. You're looking over there and you're comparing and you're saying, "Oh, that would be so great. Wouldn't it be so great? God, why won't you give me this? God, I want this as the solution to my problems." and you don't understand that that has its own costs, its own difficulties, its own trials, and no matter how you try, you will never be able to understand what that looks like because it's not in your life. You will invariably brighten another person's situation when you covet what they have.
19 · Tells a personal story from early marriage to illustrate how comparison poisoned simple contentment—showing both sides of the comparison dynamic (he envied friends' houses; they envied his simplicity)—and ending with a pastoral charge to take coveting seriously for the sake of joy
This can be as simple, young people, as stewardship. You know, when Angela and I were first married, we were just like a lot of people people that were first married, you know, trying to figure out how to live on $2,500 a month or whatever it was. And we spent $50 a week at Aldi and we ate our frozen dinners and we were just plowing along trying to do what we could do. But we had friends who had money in their family and we would go to their house and they were our age and their house was so much better than our house. And my goodness, it sure turned. There were moments where this, what is supposed to be this joyful, simple, godly, sweet, two attractive young people married, being poor together, with not a lot of other things to do, if you know what I mean. Like, turn all that goodness, that sweet goodness, that Eden, right? Into what it's not, what I don't have, what I haven't been given, what I need to get in order to feel like I can invite that person over to my house. So that I can feel like I fit in. And at the same time, this only emerged years later, at the same time these people are looking at Angela and I and saying, "Look how simply they live, and look how much they love each other, and they have plenty of time." And they don't have cable, so they talk to each other, and all of these crazy things. I remember the first, second year we were married, we wanted a Christmas tree. We didn't have a Christmas tree the first year. And so I went out on the highway and stole a Christmas tree off the, I cut a Christmas tree down on the side of the road. And I put it on top of, we had a Dodge Neon, the dream car. I put it on top of the Dodge Neon, I'm driving as fast as I can away from the scene of the crime. And I didn't tie the ropes down well enough, and so I look in the rearview mirror and the tree, this cedar tree is floating above the highway. And then just comes crashing down and smashes everywhere. That whole thing was born out of like, well, all of our friends have Christmas trees, I need a Christmas tree too. Let me be really shifty and go to the side of the road and cut down a cedar tree that wouldn't fit anyway. Coveting is a cancer to your joy. I wish you would take this just so seriously. I wish it would change the way, you know, just being super conscious of what you watch, of what you do with your mind, of how you notice things. I want you to be happy in God. And I'd love for this just to not be a thing for you. This would be a sweet relief for many hearts.
20 · Introduces the second feature of prideful problem-solving—impatience—by noting the emphatic "now" in the text and establishing that the request for a king wasn't inherently sinful (Deut 17 anticipated it), making the timing and motivation the problem rather than the request itself
So that's one of the three features of prideful problem-solving, coveting. The second is impatience. You'll see in verse 5 again, "Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now, now appoint for us a king." to judge us like all the nations. In the original language, that now is sort of underlined, it's sort of emphasized, this sense of immediacy. You see, in Deuteronomy 17:14-15, you can look at it later if you want, God anticipates that the people are going to want a king. And it's not as if He just puts His 100% stamp of approval on it, like this is what you should want. He says at some point you're going to want a king. And that's all right, you can have a king. So this idea of having a king wasn't necessarily against God's will. This was a good thing. And friends, this is the— I think you anticipate this as we're working through this idea, but this is the whole catch, isn't it? The stuff we covet is usually good. The stuff we demand from God is usually good stuff. In this particular instance, it wasn't their demand for a king, it was the origination of the idea—coveting, let's have a king like all the other nations—and it was the impatience with which they sought it.
21 · Develops the theological depth of impatience by arguing it's not just urgency but a form of idolatry—when we covet a gift and demand it now, we're using two of God's gifts (the thing itself and time) against Him, effectively weaponizing His own kindness in creation
God had provided a leader for them, and they were not content to live for today, trusting that God had provided for them today. They wanted way more light on their path, friends. They wanted way more control of their future. Way more clarity of their future than just trusting God would permit. And so they said, give us a king now. Friends, when you invert, confuse the gift and the giver, right? This is a theme we've been talking about repeatedly. When you confuse the gift and the giver, when you exchange the giver for the gift, when you worship and serve creation over the Creator, you will be worshiping at least two gifts. You will be using at least two gifts. Number one is the gift of whatever it is, the thing that you're engaged in consciously. So, you know, sex, money, relationships, whatever it is. There's the one gift that you would hold above your relationship with God. But there's a second gift you don't think about that you're also holding above your relationship with God. Time. God created time as a gift. God created time as a kindness. And when we extort God, when we move into cycles of idolatry, when we invert the gift and the giver, we not only worship and serve the thing, whatever that thing is that we want, whatever that thing is that we're coveting. Not only do we covet His gift, but then we say, "Now!" Now, we use time against God too. So that even if in His plan, His plan is to bring that gift to you at some point in the future, your impatience is using this other thing that God created against you, time. You're saying, "God, You're taking too long. God, You're taking too long. Now give us a king."
22 · Introduces the third feature of prideful problem-solving—minimizing past squandering—by noting Israel's absurdity (refusing the leader they have while demanding a new one), then applying via Newton quotation and returning to first-point grace: God can handle self-inflicted problems, but we must stop the cycle of creating new problems to fix old ones
So the second feature of prideful problem solving isn't only this, I'm going to get my solution from the world, right? I'm going to go on to worldly Pinterest and like find the solution to my problem. There's the coveting piece, but then there's also the impatience piece. You say, and not only will I take my cues from the world, I want it now. I want it now, God. That Marine that I mentioned before, he's loaded with good quotes. And I thought this one would be good for my single friends. He told a Marine who thought about quitting the Marine Corps to get married, he says, "Son, when the Marine Corps wants you to have a wife, you will be issued one." I would not place my faith in the Marine Corps to know when when I needed a wife, but I would place my faith in God, right? I would try to say, God knows my needs. The thing I want isn't necessarily bad, but it might not be right for me right now. When God wants me to have a wife, or when God wants me to have this, or when God wants me to have that, I'll be issued it. He will take care of me. His character is not the question. So that's the second mistake. The second part of prideful problem-solving is impatience. Now God, now God, now God. And the third piece of this sinful, prideful problem-solving is that you minimize past squandering. You minimize your past squandering. Squandering, what I mean by squandering is you've not been that great of a steward of stuff God's given you. And now you want more? Do you think that's best for you? Do you really think that's best for you? There's this classic moment that made me laugh. I was reading this text about a month ago in a coffee shop and I laughed out loud. Uh, uh, it's a Bible nerd thing that happens sometimes. Uh, the people say, give us a king to tell us what to do. Give us a king to tell us what to do. And in verse 19, Samuel issues all these warnings and everything, and it says, "But they disobeyed Samuel and demanded a king." So these are people who are saying, "I'm not listening to the leader I have now, but I will listen to the next one." Right? There's this component of prideful problem-solving that assumes that all of our past squandering is irrelevant irrelevant to this current question of what God's doing and what he's giving and how he's going to solve my problem. All of the ways we've squandered and trodden on God's past gifts is irrelevant to the question of why God isn't caring for me now. Friends, just read the Gospels. It's just not true. Jesus is very clear about this. This isn't just about his delivery of the thing. This is about His development of you as someone who's a good steward and capable. Years ago, I read a quote from John Newton. He was talking to a younger pastor who'd been appointed a church. And Newton says, you know, I know— he knows this young man quite well— he says, I know the vanity of your heart and that you are young and prideful and that you will have wished for a larger church. But one day when you realize that you are accountable for every sheep God has given you, you will wish for a smaller church. That's true in every area of our life. Stewardship really is a central question, and we don't need to beat ourselves up. I loop all the way back to the first point: is this a problem you created? That's not a problem to God. Just stop the cycle. Just stop the cycle. Just allow God to do the work he wants to do. You created the last series of problems because you tried to fix problems before that. Let's stop and let's let God do what he wants to do.
23 · Introduces the fourth point—pride provokes discipline—and makes the counter-intuitive claim that God's discipline primarily takes the form of giving us what we demand, while His kindness often looks like withholding what we want
So third point is, but our pride, and fourth point is provokes God's discipline. What does God's discipline look like? Often, I think, we think of God's discipline as Him withholding good things, Him withholding health, Him withholding finances or something like that. I actually don't believe that's the primary form of God's discipline. I believe the primary form of God's discipline is to give us what we want. That's what happens here, verse 21. And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey their voice, obey their voice and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, go every man to his city. Friends, the discipline of the Lord often involves giving you what you want, and the kindness of the Lord often involves withholding what you want. Do not assume that because you have what you want, that you're on the right side of the situation. And do not assume that because you don't have what you want, that you're on the wrong side of the situation. God is kind and merciful, and he knows how to give good gifts to his children, and he knows how to not give bad gifts to his children, even when they beg for them.
24 · Direct application to stop using comparison as the measure of God's kindness, emphasizing each person's story as a unique masterpiece God is authoring and warning that demanding what we want may be the very form God's discipline takes
You say, well, that's a good gift because I saw Joe down the street and he has that gift and he's happy. Stop it. Stop it. Stop getting all of your ideas from everywhere but God. Stop using everybody else and everything else as a measurement of success. God loves you. He loves you. He has an extraordinarily specific, detailed, and particular plan for for you. Everybody else's situation is entirely individualized as well. Would you be given the faith to glorify God with your situation instead of defining success and goodness and happiness by looking at everybody else's? Friends, this room is full of masterpieces of of God's grace and His care. You, you alone, your story alone will be in all of eternity a masterpiece to His praise and glory. Stop plagiarizing the story next to yours. Let God write your story. Quit insisting that He give you what you want because, friends, the discipline of the Lord often involves Him giving it to you.
25 · Sharpens the application with a prophetic warning: if you've attained what you've been demanding, it may be discipline rather than blessing, and God's future call to relinquish it may be the actual grace
And I want to sneak something in that should unsettle you. If you've spent your whole life wanting control and now find your life pretty well controlled— hmm. If you've spent your whole life wanting a relationship and now feel perfectly content in your relationship— that may not have been some booming deliverance of God's grace. That may have been God's giving you the idol that you believe will make you happy. Don't assume your favorable circumstances are a product of God's goodness any more than your unfavorable circumstances are a product of his unkindness. If you've structured your 20s and 30s to accumulate or to find control or whatever, safety, whatever, and you have it now, that may be discipline. God may tap you on the shoulder later on this year or in the years to follow and say, follow me somewhere where you have none of this. And that may be His grace.
26 · Traces the historical trajectory of Israel's monarchy from 1 Samuel 9-11 (Saul's initial success) toward chapter 12, showing that getting what they demanded appeared to work initially, reinforcing the danger that favorable outcomes don't validate the heart behind the demand
God has a story for each one of you. Well, they did engage in some prideful problem-solving, and they were disciplined. The truth is, is that Israel never did well with the king. There were brief moments where it looked kind of palatable, but overall, this monarchy thing wasn't a blessing. God God used it. God blessed it in the way that was possible, but this was not, this is not a great thing that developed. As you work your way, I want you to see chapter 12. That's where Samuel resigns, where he sort of formally steps away, and he revisits all of this. But as you work there, just kind of slowly turn there, because I want you to see chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11. All of those chapters involve The new king, Saul, being awesome. Right? So I want you to go slowly through those because I want you to see that in a practical way, the thing they asked for and the thing that God gave them seemed to be working out swimmingly. Saul was like every bit the king he should be. Things were great. He was kicking tail down in the Philistine neighborhoods. You know, like he was really being a good king. And every evidence pragmatically would suggest this was all okay. This was all okay. We asked for a king, God gave us a king, and things are going great.
27 · Moves to Samuel's farewell address in chapter 12 where he vindicates his own leadership to expose Israel's ingratitude, then traces God's historical faithfulness through the exodus and judges to show their forgetfulness—establishing the twin sins of ingratitude and amnesia
But in chapter 12— let me get there myself— in chapter 12, Samuel issues his farewell address. Now he's still going to function as a teacher, and he's going to function as an intercessor, but he is done as their leader. And he says to all of Israel, "Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day." Here I am, testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Or whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you. This is Samuel saying, you really were ungrateful. I hope you see that. You were ungrateful. Verse 4, they said, you have not defrauded us. Or oppressed us, or taken anything from any man's hand.' And he said to them, 'The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.' And they said, 'He is witness.' And Samuel said to the people, 'The Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.' Now he goes on all the way down through toward the end of the chapter, and he essentially lays out 4 instances of God's deliverance from their past. And he says, I want you to see 2 things: you were ungrateful for what God had given you in the present, and you were forgetful of all that God had done for you in the past.
28 · Reads Samuel's charge in verse 20 to "hold still" and not panic when the consequences come, interpreting it as a call to stop the cycle of prideful problem-solving and let God do His disciplinary and redemptive work without interfering
Then in verse 20, he says what is essentially the theological version of keep calm and carry on. You remember how I said stop the cycle? Stop the cycle. The problems you have now are probably attempts to solve problems you had before. Stop the cycle. Just hold still. He says that twice. Samuel says to the people, hold still. And in verse 20, he says to the people, do not be afraid. Stop being afraid. You have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. He says, this is gonna go bad, and it's gonna go bad pretty quick. Hold still when it goes bad. Don't do the thing you just did. Don't hit the panic button again. Don't look around and try to come up with a new solution to your problem, which of course they would do. Hold still, let God do His work. That's really what he wants them to do. Hold still, let God discipline you, and He will take care of you.
29 · Reads verses 23-24 and distills the positive prescription for avoiding prideful problem-solving: the rhythm of fear and gratitude keeps us rightly oriented to God and His gifts
Well, in verse 23 he says, moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things he's done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king. I want you to just notice in verse 24, this is the way we approach God and his gifts and our problems. Fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, and consider the great things he has done for you. Fear and gratitude, fear and gratitude, fear and gratitude. It's the rhythm that will keep us on pace with God and his gifts. It's the way we will prevent this prideful problem-solving. Fear and gratitude.
30 · Expounds the haunting image of being "swept away" in verse 25 as a flood—God's gift of water unrestrained—making the claim that judgment is often the unrestrained giving of what we demand, while kindness is fatherly restraint and redirection
Verse 25 ends in a haunting way: But if you still do wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king. Swept away is this idea of a flood. I think you probably just feel that when you hear that phrase. Swept away is this idea of a flood. And I want you to think about that for a minute, because a flood is just an overabundance of God's goodness, right? A flood is the gift of water unrestrained. What is used repeatedly in Scripture as a symbol of judgment is is really God's gift unrestrained. You don't want that. You don't want God to give you what you want. You want God to give you what you need. You don't want to be disciplined by God saying, "Okay, here you go." You want God to be your Father who says, "Not right now." I have a better plan. I know more than you know. Fear me and remember all the times in the past when I've taken care of you.
31 · Pivots to the gospel by connecting Samuel's promise never to cease praying for Israel to Jesus's ongoing intercession for believers, making the pastoral point that even when we pridefully refuse God, He continues to intercede—a love we cannot escape
Verse 23 of chapter 12 stood out, and I'll end this and introduce our Lord's table in this way. Samuel says, moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and the right way. We sang a song today, prone to wander, prone to linger, Lord, I feel it. This sense is this, I'm going to just personalize this and talk about me. Many, many times I have told the Lord of the universe, no, I want it my way. I want it now. And the Lord of the universe named Jesus says, I will not cease to pray for you. The one I refuse and push away continues to intercede for me. The kindness of the Lord. The kindness of the Lord. If you are His, you could push Him away and He will intercede for you. He will continue to instruct you in the good and the right way. You can't escape this love. Why would you want to?
32 · Moves fully into gospel proclamation, arguing our track record disqualifies us from self-direction, then presenting Christ as the one who perfectly stewarded every gift without coveting or pride, offering His righteousness as payment for our unrighteousness so we can be rightly related to the only one who can build true happiness
What evidence in your past suggests you have the ability to prescribe your own happiness? Do you really think you can do that? Do you really think you could, if you had the keys to the cosmic grocery store, the cosmic mall, do you really think you could just stroll through the aisles and assemble happiness? Do you think you know yourself well enough? Do you think you know God's gifts Well enough? You've only got one choice. The One who made you ought to be the One who directs your life. And that's what the gospel allows. The gospel allows us to be set right with our Creator. Jesus came and perfectly stewarded every gift God gave him and faced problem after problem, crisis after crisis with faith, no pride. He was surrounded by accolades, but he wasn't moved by it. He was surrounded by people who got more of God's gifts than he did, but he didn't covet them. And he delivered this perfect righteous life before God as a payment for your perfectly unrighteous life so that you could be right with the one who made you and the only one who can actually build your happiness.
33 · Closing prayer confessing comparison as the primary sin, interceding for unbelievers and struggling believers, and framing the Lord's Supper as a celebration for those in Christ who need to be reminded of their intercessor's unfailing love
So as I pray, let's thank God in holy fear, and then let's approach this table as citizens of grace. Gracious God, we have sinned before you as your people often do. In all sorts of soft ways, we have allowed the comparison to be our primary guiding point, our primary map for happiness. Lord, we are just so wrought with ingratitude and foolishness Yet the King of the universe came for us. He laid down His life for us. Lord, today I pray for anybody here who isn't actually functioning, walking with Jesus, and I pray that You would do a work, change their lives, change their hearts, Renew them right now, God, so they can be right with their Creator and walk according to your good will. Lord, I pray for those who are struggling with contentment. God, it isn't— it is entirely and fully appropriate for just wholehearted repentance. This is nonsense that we would have struggles with this. But Lord, you are so kind with our nonsense. You are so faithful and good with our nonsense. So we eagerly place ourselves into your fatherly hands and say you will deal with our hearts as they need to be dealt with. We celebrate this table as followers of Jesus. If anyone here is not a follower of Jesus, this is really not a celebration for them. It's a ritual that they could observe and think about, but this is for followers of Jesus who need to be reminded that we have a great intercessor who will always love us and never forsake us. Thank you, Lord, for your kindness. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.