Be Careful What You Ask For

By John Madge

“Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, ‘This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for 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 groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, ‘Listen to them and give them a king.’ Then Samuel said to the Israelites, ‘Everyone go back to your own town.’”—1 Samuel 8:10–22 (NIV)

I want to start today by asking you a question: Have you ever regretted asking for anything? For me, I can look back and say that I regret asking for a Mohawk. Nothing against anyone with a mohawk, but it was a lot of maintenance, and often times I’d have styling product in my hair for up to a week. Plus, the mohawk came with expectations of a persona from others that I couldn’t live up to.

That question is what connects us with today’s Scripture. The Israelites were not only asking for, but demanding a king to rule over them. They were no longer satisfied or content to have God alone as their King, but sought to be like the other nations around them with an earthly king.

Before we get too down on the Israelites for their demands, consider this verse from Judges 17:6 (NIV): “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” An earthly king may have seemed like a good option because the Israelites could see there was a moral problem occurring with the nation. There was a sense of lawlessness and lack of accountability with no earthly king in place.

I say a “sense” of these things, because ultimately God was aware of the injustice and how the Israelites were living. He sent prophets like Samuel to speak with the people to address their sinfulness and lack of accountability. God used surrounding nations at times to discipline the Israelites by allowing them to take Israel captive for a period of time and rule over them. Then the Israelites would repent and call upon God, and God would deliver them from the oppressive nation.

God has always and will always love and be faithful to Israel and those who call upon His name and turn from their sin. However, Israel cannot claim that same love and faithfulness towards God, and nor can we as modern-day believers. We’ve all acted wickedly at times and done what we thought was right in our own eyes. We’ve all had moments where we glamorize our own sinfulness and demonize someone else’s.

What does that have to do with the Israelites demanding a king? Well, God was already King over Israel and had given the Israelites instructions on how to live their lives so they knew what was expected of them. Similarly, we have the Word of God and His Spirit to instruct us on how to live a godly lifestyle. But how often do we listen and trust that these instructions are given to us for our benefit?

We make demands for things without knowing the consequences. Look at the long list of things the king would have a right to claim over the people. It seems like a poor tradeoff to me and not worth the problem it temporarily solves. It’s tempting to look for quick and easy solutions to problems that have plagued us for so long. We often compare our lives to the lives of others and think that if we could “just have what they have” we’d be better off.

Pause: What do you feel like you lack in life?

Practice: Every time you feel comparison creeping up, pray for those who have what you lack, not begrudgingly, but sincerely pray for them to enjoy and treasure whatever it is. (Just because someone else possesses something you lack doesn’t mean they appreciate it or even enjoy it. And just because that may be true, it doesn’t give us a right to demand or think that we’d handle it any better.)

Pray: I thank You Lord for my life and all You’ve blessed me with. Jesus, help me to say, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11 NIV). I give You thanks for the love You have for me and the faithfulness You display unto me. Amen.