By Andrew Williams
“Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
1 Samuel 8:5 NLT
Good morning fellow disciples.
Petition: something asked or requested, or an earnest request.
After Joshua died, the persons who ruled Israel were called Judges. These judges were the ones who would deliver Israel from the oppression of the surrounding countries.
In this passage, however, we see the people asking Samuel the priest, prophet, and judge over Israel at that time to give them a king like the other nations had. The people wanted Israel to be like the other nations, and on the surface, it seemed like a good request to make, because Samuel’s children were very evil, and the people did not want them to rule over them.
In making this petition, the people were of dishonoring God.
How were they dishonoring God, you might ask, considering they were being led by another human being who was just a judge?
In order to understand this, you have to understand who God was to the people. The people who made the request also forgot who God was, but Samuel didn’t.
1 Samuel 8:6-7 NLT reads: Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. THEY DON’T WANT ME TO BE THEIR KING ANY LONGER.
They were disrespecting God by asking for a king when He was ALREADY their king!
Examine the petitions that you have been making to God. Have you been dishonoring Him by the things that you ask of Him?
Prayer: Father God, I’m seeking an intimate relation relationship with You. I want to know who You are. When I know who you are, I will make great petitions that honor You.
Help me to make petitions that honor You. Help me not to dishonor You by making selfish petitions that glorify myself and the worldly system. Amen.