Ep. 15: The First King

Alright, welcome to episode 15 of the plan. We are for those. Anybody who hasn't been in the series with us before what we've been doing, is we started in September and throughout the school year. We are telling the entire story of the Bible in the goal is to link up. So that Resurrection becoming the Resurrection on Easter, which means that this Christmas season. We have been in Judges Ruth and 1st Samuel and it's not a typical place for Christmas, but I am wearing my Christmas socks.

Red and green. And I will it will connect with Christmas. I promise, but it is an unusual place to be for Christmas as we've been reading through the story of the Bible. What we've been focusing on is this one plot that unites all the stories in the Bible because it is the story that we are a part of his Christians and as we share our faith with others, it is the story that we invite others into. And so what we've been finding is the plot of the story, is that God's plan to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presence. At the beginning of the story. God makes a world and he puts people in a telxon to rule on his behalf and he comes down to live with them. And at the end of the story, the last place where we see Humanity in Revelation, is living on a new Earth. In the presence of God and they are, raining says, they will reign forever. And so with the Story begins and ends in the same place, but as you probably know, Humanity mess things up. Real early, in the story until everything in between is, is God's plan. God's work to restore his design for how, or what our lives would. This world is supposed to look like, and the place where at in the story right now in 1st Samuel, what God has been doing is working through. One particular family, the family of Israel and he's using them as kind of a model. So that is he gives them a particular place to live and he gives them a set of laws to live by and he comes down and lives with them. In the land of Israel in the idea is that all the other nations can look at is real and buy see what makes them different. They will understand who God is and I'll be able to enter into a relationship with God because they understand him. The problem we've been encountering is that Israel's not very good at holding up their end of the deal. They did not drive out the Canaanites like I told them to until they've had all of these. These influences in Israel that have corrupted them. They have taken the easier path of more magical ways of thinking, and more intimate wish-fulfillment kinds of religious expression and it's LED them into really dark places and in the end of Judges is really dark. And then last week when we were in Samuel, we found it reach. This is really bad place where they were willing to gamble with the plan itself. They took the ark which is the presence of God into battle with them to try and force, God to win a battle for them. And God called their Bluff. They lost the ark, and they lost access to God's presence. And even when the ark was returned to Israel. It didn't go back to the Tabernacle at this point of the story. It is in a city of the gibeonites were not Israelites and it's in their care. And so they've lost access to the presence of God. Last week, we found it that loss finally pushed the Israelites to truly repent. And so under the leadership of Samuel. They've been following God again. But Time, Marches On and Sandy was getting older. And so, as we begin our story today, we're getting towards the end of Samuel's career, as people are starting to get anxious about. What happens next. As I read this part of the story. I want you to remember using these coordinates to kind of keep your bearings in the story. The way, you know, how is story in the Bible fit in the overall stories by watching for the people. Who is it about the place? Where is their home, the presents? How can I meet with God and purpose? What did God tell them to do? When Samuel Grunwald the appointed his son's as Israel's leaders, the name of his firstborn was Joel in the name of the second was a by SIA and they served at Beersheba, but his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes, and perverted justice to all the others gathered together and came to Samuel A trauma. They said to him, you are old and your and your son's do not follow your ways. Now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have. Karina pasian the story, we're going to get our bearings. The first of all, who is the story about?

We're out where it's about Samuel and the Israelites Samuel is the leader. He is the one that everybody goes to, there's a reason to go to Samuel to ask for a king and they don't disappoint when themselves. Now, why is Samuel? The leader Sandy was a leader because he is the one that God chose. He's the one that God spoke through and so far, every leader of Israel has been chosen this way. It's actually God, who's leading and they the Israelites follow. Whoever God is talking to himself as you go through out this the stories that we've been in God will choose a person and speak through with them in the Israelites. Hopefully, we'll start to follow that person is. So that's why I said was in charge, because God has been speaking through him. Where is their home right now? Their home is the land of Israel, which is experiencing. The text hasn't shown his face yet, but I'll tell you that, they are being invaded on both sides. Now. That's what we talked about the Philistine Invasion that came from the coast. They were they were Greeks who came down and and made a landing on the coast. But now they're also being attacked on the Eastern side by the ammonites. So Sam is getting older and the military situation is getting worse and people are starting to get anxious about the future. How can I meet with God? This is a bit of a tricky question, because as far as we can tell, the things are still happening, at the Tabernacle, the way they always have that, people still going there to worship. They're still putting the bread in the inside, and in the present, and all the inside, the Tabernacle, all that kind of stuff, but the ark is not there and it's the ark that really is the focus of God's presence. When the Ark in the Tabernacle separate, God goes with the ark. It so they're still worshipping the Tabernacle but because the ark is in Exile, there's some sense that they're not fully reconciled with God. That he's not fully their there. They're still kind of undergoing a trial separation and something needs their Waiting for God to do something to restore that relationship because I wasn't fully been mended. Finally, what did God tell them to do? There's two things that I want to highlight here cuz he told him to do 613 things at this point in the story, but we've been emphasizing. So far, is the fact that their plan, that the way that Israelites have seen him Battle Is by being faithful to God there. A national survival, depends on being faithful to God if they're faithful to God, then he will protect them again the victories in battle. And if they're not faithful to God, then they will face their main charges to be faithful to God. The question is, are they being faithful to God or not? When they ask for a king? How does asking for a king fit into the law in the commands that they've been given? Well, there is actually a command that talks about having a guy, having a king in Deuteronomy 17. It says, when you enter the land of the Lord, your God is giving you. And if taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, let us set a king over us. Like all the nations around us. Be sure to a point over, you a king, the Lord your God chooses. Now goes on to give them some rules about him. He has to be in this room light and hear the things he should do and hear the things he shouldn't do. But the command about choosing a king is when you ask for a king, make sure you follow the one God picks, which is pretty standard in a contract like this. If it were with a human ruler that if people ask for a governor that can get to appoint the governor, right? So you would respect God's Authority, but notice are they allowed to ask for a king? Yes, aren't even allowed to ask for a king like the other nations have. Yes, the rule is a point, the king, that God chooses. That's the rule. But it means that is not necessarily wrong for them to ask for a king. The question is, how is God going to respond to this request that they've made? Knowing that there is a clause in the Covenant that allows them to ask for a king.

Let's get back into the story when they said, give us a king to lead us this displeased Samuel. So, he prayed to the Lord and the Lord told him listen to all that, the people are saying to you. It is not you. They have rejected, but they have rejected me as their King as they have done for the day. I brought them out of Egypt until this day forsaking me and serving other gods. So they are doing to you now, listen to them, but warn them solemnly and let them know that the what the Kings will reign over them, will claim as his rights. So one of the things that you do, if you do research on this part of the Bible, that you find, is a Scholars will disagree on whether the Bible is pro-monarchy or anti-monarchy. And actually what they'll say is we think some some parts of the Bible written pro-monarchy and some of them were written against it and then they got woven together because the Bible seems to go back and forth. In fact, there have been many prophecies that we haven't covered in the Bible so far say that there will be a king and is real. So we know that God is Planning for there to be a king and yet he seems to be unhappy that I asked for a king. Even though they have a clause in the contract that says they can't. So, what's the problem? What's wrong with them? Asking? What God's says that the them asking means, they're rejecting God is King, but that's not simply because they asked because God gave them a clause where they could ask. So there's something about the manor or the circumstances under which they asked for a king that were wrong. Write. This apparently was not the time or the reason to ask for a king. We actually find out later on. We got another picture of why this is wrong. When Samuel does this thing that the Bible? That's why he is a speech and jiri tells the story of Israel is Siri. If you read through the Bible, you find that you keep people can breed telling the whole story of Israel. To put what's happening to them today in the conscience of what God's been doing, which is essentially what we're doing with the sermon series. And when you put this moment in context, do you see the problem with them asking for a king at this moment in the story? Does actor. Jacob entered Egypt, this is Samuel. Talking to his release is actor. Jacob entered Egypt. They cried to the Lord for help and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settle them in this place, but they forgot the Lord, their God. So, he sold them into the hand of Cicero the commander of the army of Hays, or into the hands of the end of the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab who fought against them. They cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned. We have forsaken, the Lord and serve the Bales in the actress, but now Deliver Us from the hands of our enemies and we will serve you. Then the Lord sent, Jerry Vale Barack, Jessica and Samuel and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you so that you lived in safety. But when you saw that knave, Ashley the king of ammonite, smash the king of the ammonites was moving against you. You said to me know we want a king to rule over us, even though the Lord your God was your king. Notice the pattern that he's setting up, they so they went into the Egypt and they were slaves and they called out to God, and God sent them a leader and then they came into Israel and the land of Israel. And they got that they had were attacked by all these people, and they called out to God, and he sent them a leader. And now they're facing a new threat. And they called out for a leader who knows the stuff that they skipped their pattern has been. They call it to God. Send some L. They call it. The God got sent them a leader. Now. They actually still have a leader that God has appointed. But they asked for a King instead of calling out to God. Now, why is that now? You might think it's because so, it's it's really interesting. That's for a king in the defining thing, about a monarchy, seems to be that it's inherited. Right? So, it's stable because you, there's one family. It's always in charge, you know, who the next guy is going to be. But it's interesting that the problem, the reason why they ask for a king is because the people who are going to inherit power from Samuel, can't be aren't good judges, write saniel sons are not good judges. So the problem is that the people are getting herot are not trustworthy and they solve it by by asking for a monarchy. That's where it's always going to be inherited. Right? So it's it's not the system of government really that they're not that, they don't like. The problem is, they don't like being directly responsible to God. Right, they don't like the fact that they have to be faithful to God, and they have to call out to God and they have to wait for God and I have to trust in God, to bring the right person at the right time. They want to know who's in charge. They want to know who's going to solve their problems because they would rather deal with a person. Then with God, like when you're on it in you do calling the customer service line and you just want to talk to Human Bean, right? They just want to talk to a human being. They don't want to have to have that direct relationship with God. So the Israelites asked for a king because they would rather put their trust in a person than God. How about I will trust the person and the person can trust God. Right, let them do the hard work of being faithful and got it. Waiting for God seeking his will making her decisions and I'll just follow him. Because following a king, a human King is way easier than following. God myself. Even if I know that the king isn't going to rule as well as God would, it's easier for me. Right? And it's more reliable and it will feel more stable cuz the kids going to do what he does, whether we're faithful or not. So let's, let's find some stability in human, human authority, rather than following God.

So, obviously, this is not a great choice and not a great decision that they're making week until but God tell Samuel to explain to them exactly why this is a bad idea. So Samuel goes back and told the words of the Lord to the people who are asking for a king. You said this is what the king who Reigns over you will claim his rights. Do you will take your sons and make them serve with his Chariot chariots and horses. And they will run in front of his Chariot. He will take your daughters to be for a few hours and cooks and Bakers. 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 that day to say, look. Putting a this person that you put in charge of you is he's going to, he's going to enslave you. He's going to tax you, he's going to draft your kids. And notice the language of these using when he says you will cry out for Relief because of the king, that's what they have to do because of the oppressors that are attacking them through saying you're going to have to ask for deliverance from your own leadership. You're you're bringing a depression into your own family. But you asked for it. So I'm not going to deliver you from the monarchy your stuff with Kings. If you do this. But the people refuse to listen to Samuel. No, they said we want a king over us. When Samuel heard all the people said he repeated it before the Lord and the Lord answered, listen to them and give them a king. Okay. Does God. Want them to have a king under these circumstances? Does God think they're making a wise choice right now? But God has delegated authority to them because they are in Covenant with him. That means they have the ability to make decisions and God in his wisdom that I don't entirely understand will actually give them what they ask for, what they are able to ask for in in the Covenant. So they've invoke this King Claus at 4 batteries Ins at the wrong time and yet God honor the Covenant against his better judgment and appointed them a king.

They are doing this over God's objections.

So the next part of the story, gets complicated and weird. So I'm going to, I'm going to Bree V8 it. Basically, at the beginning of chapter 9, wear in shoes, 2 new character. There was a benjamite. A man of standing whose name was Kish. Son of a b 0 kiss. Had a son named Saul as handsome. Young man is to be found anywhere and is real and use a head taller than anyone else. This is really important when the Bible describes, what a person looks like. It's important is it doesn't do that very often. Okay, so, so is handsome and tall and Wealthy, right? Saul is a specimen. Saul is a catch. Saul is he's Gaston. Right? Right, like no one fights like Gaston Eye. He's he's my with a guy that guests on and he's especially good at expectorating like he is he's impressive. It's a Disney reference. It means spitting anyway, but he has an impressive guy. Right? And so Samuel says God says to Samuel when he says, that's the guy that's the guy I want so annoyed him. So Samuel ghost assault, and they are privately and anoint him, and then he calls all Israel together, so they can publicly see God, choose a king, we all get together and they start throwing dice, they cast lots, which is a way of finding God's will, because God is the only one in control of the dice essentially. And so, they narrow down what try the king's movie from the clan with family, and they finally, narrow down Saul, okay. You haven't been hiding in the luggage at the time, but they pull him out. And it says, I saw stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others. Daniel said to all the people. Do you see the man? The Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people. Then the people shouted, long live, the king. Why do the people like saw? Notice what he did. There was Samuel how Samuel are sold them on saw. He didn't, he didn't say he was his political platform, didn't say here's his executive experience, didn't even say here are his positive character traits. You said. Hey, look out. All this guy is right, like, like, you can see him from far off. He probably be easy to follow up at. All. Right. If I, so basically, it has Samuel knows his audience, apparently, because they say yes shirt. Awesome. That's you know, when I asked for a king, that's the guy had in mind that. That's what I picture it in. My head was Gaston type guy, just tall and strong and and Rich, but that's what that's what we wanted. Right? So, the Israelites accepted got candidate because he looked impressive to them. He fits the bill of what we think a king should be king, should be tall, and handsome and Rich.

So, they make stalking most of them weren't. So sure, and saw gets an opportunity to prove himself. So there's an attack by the ammonites on a city on the Eastern side of Israel and stall, like browbeat the hazard lights into following him, and he leads them into battle and they attack at night and they just crush the ammonites. They drive him away. It says, they were so scattered and no, two of them were together. After the battle, just crushes them. Right? And so everybody says, wow, that casing really worked, didn't it? We must have made a great decision cuz that was exactly what we were. Hoping the king would do is he would come in and just just destroy our enemies until they call a party. They have everybody Gather in a city to, to reaffirm the kingship. It's a yeah, this is a spare me, this great. We're definitely committed to this Kingdom thing, right? So they have a party, all about how awesome it is to have a king and how great this victory was that he wanted out hopeful. our future is, And Samuel is the keynote speaker. Steak. Cassano does not give a very rousing speech. In fact, you know, that passage that I read to you that tells the story of Israel and puts in context, just why it was wrong for me to ask for a king. Yeah, that's that's what he says at this party. They are at the inauguration party and and saw Samuel stands up. And says, you have remember how you asked me for a king, even though. I didn't want you to remember how rebellious and wrong. That was to pick up with the last verse that I read to you. He said when you saw that nahash King of the ammonites was moving against you. You said to me know we want a king to rule over us. Even though the Lord your God was your king. Now here is the king you have chosen. The one you asked for see the the Lord has said a king over you. It's probably there who chose Saul

At no point in this story. Did any Israelite say other than Samuel who speak, on behalf of God say? Yeah. Let's have Saul for our King and tell Saul had already fixed it, right? Like they didn't, nobody voted for him. Nobody nominated him. It was all Samuels doing on behalf of God, right? And yet Samuel says, this is the king you have chosen. Why does he say that? Because God has delegated them. This Authority writes. This wasn't when God was going to pick a king. And this wasn't at. This also wasn't who God was going to pick as King. This is the kind of King they want. They were just asking for a king. They were asking for a kitten who, who do a certain kind of thing that would solve a certain kind of problem in a certain kind of way. They wanted a king who would come in and leave them and fight their battles for them and stand deliver them in these victories. They wanted a shortcut to Victory and that's the kind of thing they got. That's what he says. This is the one you have chosen.

And remember when he said this is what the king is going to do. Remember all those terrible things that he's going to do. That's because God was going to pick for them, a king that would do what they wanted. And that kind of king would do all of these things. Play chosen the wrong kind of King. They got in the wrong kind of thing cuz they chose the wrong reasons and there on time to ask for a king. And just to make sure that they're clear how wrong this is not Samuel has done a pretty good job of metaphorically raining on their parade. Now, he is literally going to rain on their parade. Now then stand still he says and see the great thing. The Lord is about to do before your eyes. Is it not we Harvest? Now I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain and you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord. Will you ask for a king? They say no, on the Lord. And a same day, the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord in a Samuel. The people all said the same, you'll pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we will not die for we have at all, to all our other sins, the evil of asking for a king. So here at the party to celebrate, the monarchy is one. That is why it's finally realized that they never should have asked for a monarchy, right? This is when they finally realize cuz they ignored saying before now, they realize because of this thunderstorm. Now, why is this thunderstorm a big deal? What number one, it's not the time when it normally Raines gay. Like if I were to seven a thunderstorm right now in December in the Willamette Valley, no one's impressed. Right? If I summoned one in July or August, that might be more impressive, right? If I was able to predict Wednesday here. So it's not just the fact that he can summon a storm. Actually had a hunch about this. So I called my father-in-law who's a farmer and ask him. Hey, what happens if you get a thunderstorm during the wheat Harvest Time? When the weed is standing and ready to be harvested. He said bad things. It is not good to get a thunderstorm on standing because first of all, to get knocked down, which makes it hard to harvest. Second of all, if it gets knocked into the mud, it's going to rot, and it's also going to lose its volume. He said, 2 weeks of rain, and you basically lost your crop. This is not just a light show, is not your special effects. This is a potential judgement that they're scared about. That's why they take this. So seriously, like he's endangering their livelihood when he calls this storm. So, this is really serious, right? They have messed up to what is God going to say now? Cuz this is usually, when, when a profit would announce a punishment. Here's what you've done wrong. Here's what God is going to do. What does he say? Next? Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil yet. Do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord, with all your heart, do not turn away. I could use those Idols. They can do you. No good. Nor can they rescue you? Because they are useless for the sake of his great name. The Lord will not reject his people because the Lord was pleased to make you his own, but be sure to fear the lord and serve him Faithfully, with all your heart. Consider what great things he has done for you yet. If you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish. So what guys saying here in this moment is basically look, you made a bad choice right now. You understand. This is a bad choice, but you made it and you're going to have to deal with the consequences. But as you move forward, don't turn away from me. Because I'm not turning away from you. I chose you. I was happy to choose you and you're still my people. So stick with me and I will stick with you and we can get through this. Cuz he could have said, you know what, this isn't what I wanted to have a king show up. So you guys made a big mistake. I'm done. Have fun with. So I'm going to start a new people over here. But he said, I know you've made a mistake and we're have to deal with this but stick with me and I'll stick with you. And we will get through this. So God committed to working with Israel and their new political Arrangement, even though it was an unwise political arrangement. We are still his people, and he still going to work with them.

It does not take long for God to be proven right in his appraisal of the monarchy because the first thing saw does, it's awesome. Like he is exactly the kind of thing that they want and that provides good fruit in the next story. Chapter 13, Salt is exactly the kind of thing they want and it's not a good thing. So he goes to fight the Philistines on the other side and they pay for the, he calls the Army together and they're getting ready to fight the Philistines, but they need to have sacrifices for it. That's part of the process you sacrifice. You, make sure that you're good with God before you go into battle. Everybody did it, but Saul is not the prophet. He's the king. So he has to wait for Samuel to come and do the sacrifices. Saul waited, seven days the time, set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to gilgal and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said bring me the burnt offerings and the fellowship offering and solve offered up. The burnt offering this is not a good idea. He does not have the authority to do this and right now he's supposed to be trusting in God and the person that God is speaking through, which is Samuel Wright and his response, when he starts to get afraid because his army is leaving. Is he good at using to take action and do whatever it takes to keep his army together? Cuz that's what he's actually trusted in which means he's being exactly. The kind of candy is right to write a decisive King and aggressive. King, a king will take action, right, but he's being unfaithful. The Justice. He finished making the offering Samuel arrived and saw went out to greet him. What have you done? Said Samuel replied when I saw that. The men were scattering in the you did not come at the set time and the Philistines were assembling at michmash. I thought listings will come down against me and I have not sought the Lord's favor. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering that language in the last versus really passive. Like, I couldn't, I didn't super reluctantly. I didn't want to, I wait, as long as I possibly could and I just, I was so reluctantly, I finally did the sacrifice. So I was really good at trying to deflect blame. You have done a foolish thing. Samuel said, you have not kept the command of the Lord your God gave you. If you had. He would establish your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure. Let me see what kind of a harsh punishment that he's saying like, well now you're done, you made this mistake and you're done, but I don't think that I don't think Samuel is punishing him so much. As I think Daniel is acknowledging, the kind of King, this all is being and what will happen. If you try and be that kind of thing over God's people? This is not the kind of Kingdom God wants. Until this approach is not going to last. If this is how you're going to rule, it's not going to work out because God is ultimately the king and this isn't how he wants his kingdom run. So this will not endure. What's Happening Here is that salt quickly proved to be the wrong kind of King for God's people. Exactly the kind of thing. They wanted. Exactly the kind of thing I asked for. But not the kind of King that God wanted for his people. And it's the small. The seemingly small mistake shows is a very bad sign for the future and we'll get into it later sermons. How how bad that gets? But we can see that he is not the kind of thing that God wants. And at this point, if you don't know the story, you should be afraid because now they're committed, right? They're committed to a monarchy. And the guy that they they put in, as their king is not the right kind of leader. You can't, there's no recall. There's no recalls for Kings, right? There's no term limits like they're stuck with him and that's scary.

Except that God is not done. And there's one more thing that Samuel says, he says, the Lord has sought out a man, after his own heart, and appointed, him rule over his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command. Now, as I studied for this, I realize, this is the first time. Do you see that phrase? A man, after God's Own Heart, and I always was told and, and thought and then taught, that means that he his heart with patterned after God's heart that he, he valuable God value. That that means we're talking with David, David is patterned after the phrase means what the Hebrew phrase means, is that he's to be after God's Own, Heart Is to be the one that God wants.

It's God's choice because saw was not God's choice. So what he saying is, God is already looked and found the kind of person that he's always wanted to be king. The person who will leave God, people the way he wants them lead. He's already got him in the wings because you didn't prove to be that kind of King. So he already has someone the next person in line. So what's happening is a god already had a plan to redeem the kingdom through a king of his choosing. You going to redeem the king of meeting their choice. To have a king and to convert from a group of tribes into a kingdom. That was a bad choice. But God is going to redeem that choice by replacing. Their poor choice of King with his choice of King and to turn the kingdom into a good thing into a part of his plan. Sinners redemption in the fact that they have made a bad decision to yoke themselves, to a bad King. But God is still, God is not done and he's going to keep working through them and bite by finding, by giving them the right King. He's going to be able to redeem this whole situation.

How that happens is next week's sermon.

But it's important for us to recognize that that's what he's doing that this was not a time when God wanted them to have a king saw was not their choice and God is able to redeem that situation. The reason why that's important is because what we're talking about today is not just about how some ancient Nation converted from the tribal Confederacy into a decentralized monarchy. With that lot of a lot of ancient kingdoms went through political Transitions and we don't care about those right? This matters because it is part of the story of God's relationship with his people and because we interact with the same God today. So we can learn from this story how how we interact with God today? And so there's a couple of things that I want us to learn from this number one. God has given us the freedom and authority to make wrong and foolish decisions. The fact that we rule on God's behalf means that God will honor bad decisions that we make. Anybody want to argue with me that we have the freedom to make bad decisions. Because is there an easier case to make? Then we have the ability to make bad decisions. In fact, that's scary, isn't it? I think that's a big motivator behind why they asked for a king. And why we do similar things today because he is a ride to new, we give me bad decisions. How about we don't have to make the decision. Let me follow that guy and he'll make the decision and he'll be the one that follows God and I follow him cuz that's way easier. I don't want to run the risk of making bad. Decisions are following the wrong people doing the wrong thing. We find ways to do that a lot on our lives as Christians. We will try and put off responsibility for following Jesus big. It's because we realized we have the ability to mess things up. Now, some decisions we make have very limited consequences. You know, you stay up late too late. One day takes a couple of days to get your sleep back on schedule. You get an ill-advised haircut. It takes you a few months to grow your hair back out, right? Other decisions we make our harder, you know, we go down a career path that we find is it wasn't actually the right the right decision to make we, you know, we we get married before we really know the person we get drunk and get behind the wheel of a car, their decisions that we make that have really long consequences. And is that we deal with for a very long time, and it's really easy for us when we get into those places to to feel abandoned, probably because it's common that other human beings will abandon us when we make bad decisions, right? Or when we're in seasons of struggling with that decisions. Or the consequences of other people's bad decisions. And we feel like we might feel, like, okay. I went down the wrong path. God didn't want me to go down this path. So he must be done with me. Right? I'm I'm on the wrong trajectory. I'm outside of God's plan. So he just must be a while. That was that person is dumb and I'm done with them. Right? We feel like God can't use this. Like guy doesn't want to use us. Like God has left us to our mistakes. And what I find. So encouraging in this story that just kind of hidden in the first half of Samuel, or we don't tend to spend much time, is the fact that God continues to work with and threw us in the Fallout of our bad decisions. What God told the Israelites when they had, when they realized how bad this decision was. He told them stick with me because I'm going to stick with you. Don't give up. Don't abandon me. Now. It doesn't mean that you're not going to have to deal with the Fallout deal with the consequences of this bad decision. Cuz he has realize we're going to experience consequences, right? They they were going to cover them next week, like bad things happened, because of this is how the monarchy started. And yet, God wasn't done with them. God wasn't abandoned them to those consequences. God was committed to them because he had been pleased. It says to choose them. He was glad that they were his people and he wanted to continue to work with them and to continue to work through them and walk with them through the consequences of their bad decisions. Of God wasn't willing to walk through people in the consequences of their bad decisions. He would have no people to walk with cuz we all make bad decisions. So, if you're in that place where you have made a bad decision, you're living in the consequences of a bad decision. And you feel like God must not want anything to do with me. That is not true. He wants to walk with you and he will stick by with you and he is glad to choose you to be among his people.

Perhaps the most helpful thing that we see in the story is the fact that God has the power and the compassion to redeem us out of our bad decisions.

To redeem us out of our bad decisions what that means. And and this is something that can be touchy to articulate. We actually, and we were when we were recording the podcast for this last week, we had a long conversation about kind of articulating Redemption because it doesn't mean that are bad decisions were will see. Clear. You be revealed to be good decisions all along. Sometimes we think like God turns does a good things with that thing. So it turns out that thing all along because it was going to leave this thing. That's not what Redemption means. Well, Redemption means is that God can build good on top of that. Will Redemption means is that God can take broken people and broken situations and genuinely bad things and he can make good win over them. Doesn't mean that the thing that you're suffering through was secretly a good thing and you should get over it. It doesn't mean that our suffering isn't real or that it doesn't matter or we should just feel like it's actually a good thing. We don't know how yet. It means that God takes the damage that human beings do and he can repair it and he can build over it. And his word is what indoors and his decisions are what indoors and what lasts is the good of God's plan. Because they made the wrong decision to start the monarchy then. And to start the monarchy for those reasons and yet, God was able to turn that into something good. In the short term and in the long-term because he says he's going to make the way for a king of after his own heart. And in the short-term, we know that's David. But the fact is that David isn't the answer to all of Israel's problems. David is falling to David has his own issues that in some ways are worse than sauce. But that promise doesn't end with David. Because that process of God, redeeming Israel's bad decision continues on into the New Testament. When a angel appears to a teenage girl and tells her don't be afraid, you have found favor with God, you will conceive and give birth, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great. And will be called the son of the most high. The Lord. God will give him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over Jacobs descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. That's what we celebrated Christmas the birth of the king. Who is the ultimate? Fulfillment of God's promise. The ultimate fulfillment of his promise to redeem has God's plan laid all the way his plan in in resolving. The issues. They created in this story. Let all the way to the birth of Jesus who offers Redemption to everyone. For every bad decision for every every bad experience for every, paying for every everything he offers Redemption to each one of us. That's the message of Christmas. In the midst of Darkness, light Dawns. And there is hope. And that hope is what will endure and conquer. Does he close? I'm going to ask you to consider some next steps. Maybe God is calling you to give your life to Jesus today. Maybe you haven't given your life to him. And today is the day he put it on your heart, do it today. There's no better time than right now to give your life to Jesus. If you're here, you can come forward and during the final song. And if you're online you can get in touch with the church or get in touch with a Christian that you trust. Why? So you can create you on your connect card? If you want to get to know more about this congregation and what it means to be a part of this congregation. You can check the box to join us connect class. We have those every once while on a Sunday afternoon. We'll get in touch with you and schedule that with you. You can find out more about who we are and what we do. You finally, if you're part of the church, we encourage you to get more plugged in by joining a small group and service team, small groups, or how we build a relationship with each other and get to know each other better and go through this journey together. And service. Teams are how we give back, so I can forward you to consider. What is the next step. God is inviting you to take today as we stand and sing our final song.