The Lord’s Day Evening
September 13, 2009
1 Samuel 10: 17-27
“Long Live the King”
Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas
1 Samuel, chapter 10 – and we are going to be reading tonight from verse 17 to
the end of the chapter; 1 Samuel chapter 10, beginning at verse 17.
Last Lord’s Day evening we were introduced to Saul, the son of
Father, we are thankful again for the Scriptures, the Word of God, sharper than
any two edged sword, sweeter than the honeycomb, able to make us wise unto
salvation, a light unto our feet, a lamp unto our pathway.
Come, O Lord, come by Your Spirit.
Help us to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest, and all for Jesus’
sake. Amen.
Now this is God’s inerrant Word – verse 17:
“Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah.
And he said to the people of
Then Samuel brought all the tribes of
Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he
wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord.
Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor
whose hearts God had touched. But
some worthless fellows (and the Hebrew has ‘sons of Belial’) said, ‘How can this
man save us?’ And they despised him
and brought him no present. But he
held his peace.”
Amen. May God add His blessing to
that reading of His holy and inerrant Word.
It’s an easy fact for me to remember that Queen Elizabeth II, the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II, took place the year I was born - in June of 1953.
She became queen, in a technical sense, the year before, but the
coronation was three months after I was born.
Every child that was born that year received a special coin, which I have
but I can’t find. I searched and I
couldn’t find it. It’s in my house
somewhere. I was going to show it
to you. It was specially minted for
children born in 1953. I’m sure
it’s worth a fortune.
When Princess Diana died in 1997, it sparked a debate in
Well, I tell you that because
I. Rebuke.
Samuel gathers all of
Now, coronations are meant to be breathtaking and happy and joyful occasions.
In
Samuel begins with a rebuke. You’re
meant to gasp as to what Samuel is doing.
This is not the way to begin a coronation.
He rebukes them in verse 17 – in verse 18:
“He said to the people of Israel, ‘Thus
says the Lord, the God who brought you out of Egypt, delivered you from the hand
of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you,
but today you have rejected God.”
He’s about to announce to
You’ve got to put yourself back in the sandals of an Israelite on that occasion,
because the last time that had been done was in Joshua chapter 7, when Achan,
you remember, had been chosen. A
certain tribe had been chosen, a certain clan had been chosen, a certain family
had been chosen, and Achan had been chosen, because Achan had taken, he had
seen, he had coveted, he had taken, and he had hidden the Babylonish garment,
the shekels of silver, the wedge of gold, and he had hidden them in his tent.
On that occasion, they had taken Achan and his children and his
livestock, and they had stoned them and killed them and burned them.
When Samuel says, ‘Gather by tribes and by clans,’ there was a hush.
There was a sigh of relief among the other tribes when the tribe of
Benjamin was chosen – “At least it’s not going to be us.”
And the name of Saul - this young man, this tall, handsome young man, out
of nowhere with no military reputation whatsoever, is chosen.
He begins with a rebuke.
II. Revelation.
The second “R” is revelation.
Samuel, and more importantly God, reveals - He discloses - to Israel Saul, the
son of
Some are of the opinion that this is an example of Saul’s humility.
When Samuel had pulled him aside in the previous section and done that
private anointing he had expressed a certain humility.
“Why should I, of this particular tribe and nonentity, be the next king
of
III. Rights.
The third “R” is rights – rights and duties of kingship.
You see it there in verse 25 – “Samuel told the people the rights and
duties of kingship and he writes it in a book and he laid it up before the
Lord.” Most commentators think that
this is Deuteronomy 17. There’s a
large section toward the end of Deuteronomy 17 that gives legislation for a
future king. God had actually
predicted that
In the 17th century, the time of the writing of the Westminster
Assembly, actually the year before the completion of the Assembly, at least the
completion of the document we know of as
The Westminster Confession and the
Catechisms that we’ve been talking about this evening - that was in 1645,
and this is in 1644 - Samuel Rutherford wrote a book that still causes great
waves in our circles and it’s called, Lex
Rex,1
the “Law of the King.”
We’re not Theonomists.2
We don’t believe in this church that the civil code of the Old Testament
should be applied in the modern secular state.
The
That’s why we pray in this church for leaders who love God’s law, who love the
Ten Commandments, who want to live their lives in accord with the Ten
Commandments. That’s what Samuel
did here. He wrote the law in a
book and he laid it up before the Lord.
He was saying something that is very, very important. They wanted a king
that was just like the nations surrounding them, but the king that they’ve got
was a king who was to be subject to God’s Law.
He was a king that was to be subject to the Word of God.
Do you see? They got a king,
but they didn’t get a king like the kings of the nations.
They were getting a king, in theory at least, who was to be subject to
the Law of God.
Oh, the heart of that prayer by our ruling elder tonight – that the heart of
that prayer would be heard in heaven, and that abortion, and the murder of
unborn children, would come to an end, as it should; that right would be
rewarded and wrong would be punished.
We pray for civil leaders, judges, and legislators, and presidents, here
and all over the world, that would be subject to the rule of God’s Law and not
man’s law. The rights and duties,
not of the king, but of the kingship, Samuel says, the office, this office
must be subject to God’s Law.
Now in the 17th century, that was huge.
James I did not like that one bit – he was the law – and he saw that as
an attempt to abolish the monarchy all together, which by some, of course, it
most definitely was.3
IV. Rogue.
The fourth “R” is rogue. Rogue.
You see at the end, Samuel told all the people the rights and duties of
the kingship. Verse 26 – “Saul also
went to his home.” Don’t you love
that? Samuel tells everyone to go
home. He’s just told everybody,
“Saul is king.” And Saul goes home
because Samuel told him to go home.
Saul is doing what Samuel told him to do – he goes home.
This king is subject to God’s
prophet, because God’s prophet
Samuel is the mouthpiece of God.
He is to be subject to God.
So he goes home to Gibeah, and with him “went men of valor whose hearts God had
touched.” Strong men, perhaps?
An armed guard, perhaps? To
deal with those Philistines because there was a garrison at Gibeah, perhaps?
But some worthless fellows, in the Hebrew, sons of Belial, said, “How can
this man save us? And they despised
him and didn’t give him a present.”
There were some, you see, that said “No” – not because they were Republicans -
don’t go down that road – they said no because they were saying no to God’s
choice. They weren’t just saying no
to Saul, they were now saying no to God’s choice.
Samuel had said, “This is God’s choice.”
They were saying no to God; to God’s king.
Does that remind you of something?
Of folk who said no to God’s king?
We sang a hymn at the beginning, just before I got up to speak –
Hail To The Lord’s Anointed. We
weren’t singing about Saul. Nothing
in that text was about Saul. It was
about King Jesus, the Lord’s Anointed.
They put a crown of thorns on Him, pushed it down on His head until He
bled. They put a purple robe around
Him and they slapped Him and they said, “Hail King of the Jews” in mockery.
They were saying no to God’s King.
My dear friends, the story we’re looking at tonight happened three thousand
years ago. That’s a long, long time
ago, but there may well be some in this building tonight who are doing the exact
the same as the rogues at the end of this passage.
You are saying “No” to God’s King.
You’re saying “No” to Jesus.
Maybe it’s some of you teenagers, and in your angst to grow up and rebel against
parental authority and any kind of authority, you’re saying no to King Jesus.
Now I want you to understand.
I want you to understand this – it is never safe to say no to King
Jesus. It is never safe to be on the wrong side of God’s choice of King.
Let’s pray together.
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1. Samuel Rutherford.
Lex Rex.
http://www.constitution.org/sr/lexrex.htm
2. Theonomy
3. James I –
http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/gu001592.pdf
p.32
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