The King We Need
Palm Sunday 2026 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Sermon Title: The King We Need
Scripture: Various Scriptures
Occasion: Palm Sunday
Date: March 39, 2026
Opening Prayer
Introduction
It is easy to read the Bible, especially a book like Judges, and think,
“Look at them… how could they live like that?”
We read of chaos, violence, moral confusion, and spiritual rebellion, and we distance ourselves.
We assume, “We would never do that.”
But the truth is far more confronting.
Because when you look closely… our world is no different.
There is war raging in the Middle East.
There is conflict and division in our own nation.
There is confusion about truth, identity, and righteousness everywhere you turn.
And if we are honest…
there is war in our own hearts.
Tension in our homes.
Strain in our marriages.
Pride in our conversations.
Sin we justify.
Bitterness we hold onto.
We look at Judges and say, “How could they?”
But God looks at us and says, “You are not so different.”
Listen again to Judges 21:25:
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
That is not just their story.
That is our condition.
Because when there is no king…
we all become our own king.
We decide what is right.
We define truth on our own terms.
We live according to what feels right in the moment.
And the result is exactly what we see both then and now:
not freedom, but fracture…
not peace, but chaos…
not life, but destruction.
Now here is the question Palm Sunday forces us to wrestle with—
and I want you to feel the weight of this:
Who is the King we need?
Not the king we would choose.
Not the king that fits our preferences.
But the King we desperately need.
That’s what I would like label the sermon:
The King We Need
And here is the answer that this entire sermon will unfold:
Because every human heart rebels and every human king fails, we need a perfect King, Jesus Christ, who alone can rule us rightly, rescue us fully, and reign forever.
Transition
And to see why this is true, we must go back to the very beginning and ask what happens when there is no king.
Point 1: The Rebellion Without a King
Text: Genesis 3; Judges 21:25
Exegesis & Exposition
From the very beginning, God created man to live under His rule.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Adam was not autonomous.
He was not independent.
He was a representative, living under the authority of God as King.
God spoke.
Adam was to obey.
That is how life was meant to flourish.
But in Genesis 3, everything changes.
The serpent tempts.
The woman is deceived.
And Adam, who was called to lead, guard, and obey, rejects God’s authority.
He chooses his own way.
He listens to another voice.
He defines good and evil on his own terms.
He acts as if he is king.
And in that moment, sin enters the world, not just as an act, but as a condition.
From that moment on, sin spreads like wildfire through humanity:
Cain murders Abel in Genesis 4.
Violence fills the earth in Genesis 6:5,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Then in Genesis 11:1-4, at Babel, humanity unites not to worship God, but to replace Him.
And when you arrive at Judges, you are seeing the full fruit of that rebellion.
A people who know God… yet reject His rule.
A people who have His law… yet ignore His authority.
And by Judges 21:25, society has collapsed morally, spiritually, and socially.
You have to ask the question: Why?
And the answer is simple: Because there is no king.
Or more accurately, they have rejected the King.
Illustration
It’s like a home where every member of the family decides they are in charge.
There are no parents leading.
No shared authority.
No final voice.
One person says this is right.
Another says no, this is better.
Another just does whatever they feel in the moment.
At first, it might feel like freedom.
But it doesn’t take long before it turns into tension.
Conflict.
Confusion.
Division.
Not because authority is the problem, but because without a loving, rightful authority, everything begins to fall apart.
Application
Some of you are living this way right now.
You say you believe in God…
but in practice, you are your own authority.
You decide what’s right for your life.
You justify what you know Scripture calls sin.
You delay repentance, thinking you have more time.
You may not say it out loud, but your life is declaring:
“I will be king.”
Friend, that is not freedom.
That is rebellion.
And rebellion against God never leads to life, it always leads to ruin.
The chaos you see in the world…
the tension you feel in your heart…
the brokenness in relationships…
It all traces back to this one reality:
We were never meant to rule ourselves.
It’s not how God designed us.
We are horrible rulers.
Transition
So what happens when people finally see the chaos of their rebellion and try to fix it on their own terms?
This leads me to my second point…
Point 2: The Rejection of God’s Kingship
Text: 1 Samuel 8:4–9
Exegesis & Exposition
By the time we arrive at 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel are tired of the chaos.
They have seen the cycles of sin.
They have experienced the instability.
They want something different.
So they come to Samuel and say,
…“…Appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Or how we would say it,
“We want a king like everyone else.”
At first glance, that may not seem so bad.
It sounds reasonable.
It even sounds practical.
But God sees deeper than their words, He sees their hearts.
And God’s response is absolutely stunning:
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey 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.
Do you see what’s happening here?
This is not just a request for leadership.
This is a rejection of God’s authority.
God had already been their King.
He delivered them from Egypt.
He provided for them in the wilderness.
He fought their battles.
But they were not satisfied with His rule.
They didn’t just want guidance.
They wanted control.
They wanted a king they could see.
A king they could shape.
A king like the nations around them.
And God, in His sovereignty, tells Samuel to give them what they are asking for, but not without warning them.
And what is the warning?
He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of 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 orchards and give them to his servants.
He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
What’s the warning?
This king will take.
He will take your sons.
He will take your daughters.
He will take your fields.
He will take your resources.
He will take… and take… and take.
In other words, the king you are choosing will not give you freedom, he will enslave you.
And yet, even after hearing all of this…
they still choose it.
Why?
Because their hearts had already made the decision.
Illustration
It’s like someone sitting across from you, hearing clear, loving, biblical counsel, and responding like this:
“I know what Scripture says…
I know what you’re saying is true…
but I feel like this is right for me.”
In that moment, they are not seeking truth.
They are seeking approval.
They don’t want to submit.
They want to justify.
Application
And if we’re honest, this is not just Israel’s story, this is ours.
This is what we do when:
We reshape Christianity to fit our preferences instead of submitting to God’s Word.
We follow our feelings instead of trusting Scripture.
We want Jesus as Savior, but not as King.
We want forgiveness… without surrender.
We want grace… without obedience.
We want salvation… without submission.
But hear this clearly:
This is not Burger King—you don’t get to “have it your way.”
You cannot have Christianity your way.
Jesus is not a consultant you advise with.
He is a King you bow before.
To reject His authority, even subtly, is to repeat the very sin of Israel.
Transition
So God gives them what they ask for… and in doing so, He begins to show them something even deeper about their need for a true King.
Point 3: The Ruin of Earthly Kings
Text: 1 Samuel 9–13; 2 Samuel 11; 1 Kings 11
Exposition & Exposition
So God gives the people what they asked for.
They wanted a king like the nations… and God gives them Saul.
And at first glance, Saul looks like the perfect choice.
1 Samuel 9 tells us he is tall, handsome, impressive.
He looks like a king.
If you were picking a leader… this is your guy.
But it does not take long before we see the problem.
In 1 Samuel 13, Saul is commanded to wait for Samuel to offer sacrifice.
But when the pressure rises and the people begin to scatter, Saul takes matters into his own hands.
He disobeys God.
And in that moment, we see the reality:
He’s Impressive outwardly…
but disobedient inwardly.
So what does God do?
God dethrones Saul.
And He raises up another king, David.
This king is not like Saul at all.
He’s a shepherd boy.
But scripture describes him most importantly above all in 1 Samuel 13:14, as a man after God’s own heart.
A commentary I read last night said this about this phrase:
1 Samuel for You The Kingdom Will Be Torn Away
The “man after his own heart” is not an expression of the future king’s godliness. It is an expression of God’s choice. The Australian theologian John Woodhouse says it means:
“a man of God’s own choosing, a man God has set his heart on. [It is] talking about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart”.
(Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, page 287)
This is the earthly king of God’s choosing.
So, surely this is the king we have all been waiting for in scripture, right?
Well, not so fast.
Then 2 Samuel 11 happens.
And it sobers the reader.
Here is the scenario 2 Samuel 11 gives us….
When kings were at war… David stayed home.
He sees a women named Bathsheba.
Who, mind you, is married to a man named Uriah.
Who David, knowing this, sends him off to war.
Why?
To take Bathsheba for himself.
Scripture goes on to tell us he committed adultery with her. (2 Samuel 11:2-4)
And then to cover his sin, he orchestrates the death of her husband while at war.
Are you picking up what God is putting down here in Scripture?
The man after God’s heart, the man that God chose himself… becomes a man capable of grievous sin.
So maybe the next king will be better.
God raises up Solomon.
David’s son.
A king full of wisdom.
A king who asks God for understanding. (God gives it all to him!)
A king who builds the temple and leads Israel into peace and prosperity.
Surely this is the one.
But in 1 Kings 11, Solomon turns.
He loves many foreign women.
His heart is led astray.
He divides the kingdom.
He begins to worship other gods.
The wisest man… becomes a compromised man.
And what are we meant to see in all of this?
Even the best kings are broken men.
Or as Alister Begg often says,
“The best of men are men at best.” (Repeat!)
Romans 3:10 says,
“None is righteous, no, not one.”
Biblical Theology Thread
This is not just about a few bad leaders.
This is a pattern woven through all of Scripture that the Lord intentionally desires for you and I to see:
Adam failed in the garden.
Saul failed on the throne.
David failed in the palace.
Solomon failed in his wisdom.
And king after king after king fails.
By the time the Old Testament closes, the throne of David is empty.
The people are back from exile…
but there is no king.
And then… silence.
No prophet.
No word.
No king.
It is as if the entire story of the bible is crying out:
Where is the King who will not fail?
Illustration
It’s like climbing a ladder, hoping the next step will finally hold your weight,
but every rung you step on begins to crack beneath you.
You think, “Maybe this one will hold.”
But it doesn’t.
And eventually you realize, the problem is not just the rung…
the whole ladder is broken.
Application
This is why:
Leaders will disappoint you.
Pastors will fail you.
Even the people you respect most will fall short.
And if you’re honest… even your own heart has betrayed you.
You’ve made promises you didn’t keep.
You’ve committed sins you said you’d never return to.
If your hope is in man, whether others or yourself, you will be crushed.
Because no human king can carry the weight of your hope.
Transition
So is there any hope?
Yes, because what man could never accomplish, God Himself provides in the King we truly need.
Point 4: The Revelation of the Perfect King
Text: Luke 19:28–40
Exegesis & Explanation
After 400 years of silence…
No prophets.
No kings.
No word from the Lord.
It would have felt like God was distant.
Like the promises had stalled.
Like the throne of David would remain empty forever.
But then… a King arrives.
Not in a palace, but in a manger.
Not with an army, but in obscurity.
And now, in Luke 19, He steps into Jerusalem.
But notice how He comes.
Not on a war horse, but on a donkey.
Not with force, but with humility.
This is not the kind of king we expected…
but it is exactly the King we needed.
And the people begin to cry out:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38) Fulfilling Psalm 118 that we read for our call to worship.
For the first time, the long-awaited King is here.
And this King is unlike every other king before Him.
He is the better Adam, who obeyed where Adam failed.
He is the better David, who rules with perfect righteousness.
He is the better Solomon, who is wisdom itself, never turning aside.
He does what no king could ever do.
He heals the sick.
He teaches with authority.
He casts out demons.
He raises the dead.
And ultimately, He conquers, not with a sword… but with a cross.
Every other king came to take.
This King came to give.
He gives His time.
He gives His power.
He gives His life.
He rides into Jerusalem not to take a throne…
but to go to a bloody criminals cross.
Illustration
Every other king takes from his people.
He demands their service.
He uses their strength.
He builds his kingdom on their sacrifice.
But this King is different, beloved.
This King lays down His life for His people.
Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This king does not crush His enemies, He dies for them.
Application
So what does this mean for you?
It means you don’t need:
A better version of yourself, because you cannot fix what is broken at the root.
A better system, because no system can change the human heart.
A better leader, because every human leader will eventually fail.
You need a better King.
You need a King who can forgive your sin.
You need a King who can rule your heart.
You need a King who can restore what is broken.
And His name is Jesus.
He’s not just Savior.
He’s not just teacher.
He’s King.
The question this morning is not whether He is King.
The question is, will you bow to Him?
God tells us in Philippians,
… At the name of Jesus every knee [WILL} bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue [WILL} confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The question is not if you will bow to Him,BUT WHEN?:
Will you bow now to Him as King and Savior, or later before Him as King and Judge?
Transition to Conclusion
But, friends, Palm Sunday is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of the this King’s mission.
Conclusion
The crowd cries, “Hosanna!” (Matthew 21:9; John 12:13)
But in just a few days… they will cry, “Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21; John 19:15)
Why?
Because He was not the king they wanted.
But He is the King we need.
This King does what no other king could ever do.
He goes to the cross for rebels like us.
He bears the full weight of God’s wrath that we deserve.
He stands in our place as our substitute.
He rises in victory over sin and death.
And now, He reigns forever.
So here is the final question that presses on your heart this Palm Sunday:
Will you receive the King you need…
or will you continue to do what is right in your own eyes?
Because that is the fallen condition we have seen all throughout Scripture…
and if we are honest, it is still alive in us.
We want to rule.
We want control.
We want to be king.
But today is the day to lay that crown down.
Repent of ruling your own life.
Turn from your sin.
Submit to Christ as King.
Trust fully in His finished work.
And receive his grace and mercy for you.
“Behold, your King is coming to you…” (Zechariah 9:9)
And that King has come, that King is in the room, and that King has a name, His name is Jesus.
How will you respond to Jesus, the King of Kings today?
PRAY
