(Audio)
Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.
We may underestimate how much having a king looked like a good idea. Great, prosperous, victorious nations had a king. It was the modern way to govern, and it marked all of the nations surrounding Israel who seemed great and strong. The people were happy enough to have Samuel judge them. But as Samuel grew old they became increasingly aware of their direct dependence on the LORD. Samuel's children did not follow his example. What would happen to the people after he died? Rather than trusting in God they wanted to implement a system that would make trust in God unnecessary.
Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.
What are the analogies in our own lives for the way that Israel insists on a king and refuses to remain in vulnerable openness to God? What systems do we implement to ensure that we don't have to rely on God? Perhaps these systems help us to avoid circumstances that make us uncomfortable. Perhaps they seem to be able to help us attain happiness without particular reference to God. Whatever they are, they make walking in faith less necessary. We are not called to such safety. Rather, we are called to lean on God so much that without him we would fall.
For you are the splendor of their strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.
When we lean on God we do sometimes fall as we learn to discern better what he is doing and what we only imagine or wish to believe him to be doing. But more and more we find him catching us. More and more our faith is strengthened. This was definitely the case for the paralytic and his friends who carried him into the presence of Jesus.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
If Jesus wasn't the real king with real power these people were going to look quite ridiculous. Fortunately for them he was even more than their faith initially suggested.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus himself is the LORD of lords and the King of kings. He wants to be so for us. When we allow him to do so we don't have to worry about fighting our own battles. We don't have to worry about what those around us find necessary. Parity with the nations around is revealed as empty. In Jesus himself we find our strength, and by faith, move from strength to strength (see Psalm 84:7).
They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
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