Living in the Spirit
June 1, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 8:4-20

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to 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. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’—1 Samuel 8:4-9

It is interesting to read about the establishment of a monarchy in Israel some three thousand years ago. Things haven’t changed much. The people wanted the government to be and do everything for them when they wanted it but not when they didn’t. Today, we want personal freedom and our privacy protected thus we do not want our telephone calls stored for possible tracking by the government, but we also want the government to stop terrorist activities before they start. The Israelites wanted to play on the big stage with their mighty neighbors, but they did not consider the costs. Samuel spells it out for them in very specific terms.

As civilizations develop, the need for an entity to coordinate activities to protect the common good grows. Family structure becomes tribal which leads to loose amalgamations of order, like the judges in the history of Israel, which eventually morphs into a formal government. Whether that government takes the form of a monarchy or a democracy, its purpose remains the same to protect the common good. I do not believe that Samuel was concerned with the need for such a structure as much as he was concerned about the people’s motivations for having a king. Their desire to be a world power, as they knew it at the time, was overtaking their commitment to serve God.

The people of the United State of America chose to be a democracy with a representative governmental structure. As we strive to define this entity charged with protecting the common good, we need to be very careful with our motivations and not lose sight of that common-good purpose of government. We seem to want smaller government for everybody else but ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to your leadership and let your purposes be our purposes as we struggle to govern ourselves and our neighbors. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.