Notes: FIND YOUR KING!
1. THE ROLE OF A KING
– The role of a king is to rule with the aim of protecting his subjects.
– The role of a king is to unify his nation.
– The role of a king is to take care of his people.
– The role of a king is to provide a safe space within which his people can thrive and flourish.
– The role of the king is to grow the kingdom.
– The role of the king is to maintain law and order.
– The role of a king is bringing blessing into the lives of his subjects.
– We see an example of this in the British Monarchy. It is a modern example of the role of a monarch, in this case a queen.
– Currently the Queen has been on the throne for 67 years and during her tenure she has had 14 Prime Ministers.
– She has been the constant in the midst of constant change.
– I remember visiting Windsor Castle one day. It is truly an impressive and awesome place. At the entrance was a big sign that intrigued me: WINDSOR CASTLE, home of the Sovereign for over 900 years.
– Think of it this way: In 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas. These were continents which were completely unknown in Europe, Asia and Africa, and yet 400 years before this discovery, Windsor Castle was already there and already the home of the sovereign.
2. HUMANITY’S DESIRE FOR A KING
– Throughout history we see the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms.
– History and the Bible are full of stories of good kings and bad kings, of kings who lasted many years and those who have come and gone.
– Although it is not as popular today as in the past, there is still a fascination with the concept, in many people’s minds.
– This fascination is captured for us in novels, stories and many of the Disney movies.
– Perhaps it is based on the longing of the human heart to be looked after and taken care of.
– In modern times this role has fallen to political leaders, who have, in most cases, failed dismally.
– But perhaps it is something that God placed in the human DNA, because He knew that His Kingdom would come and that there would be a King of Kings, Who could be the King of our hearts.
– Luke 11:2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.’
– There is a King and His kingdom for you!
SCRIPTURE READING: 1 Samuel 8:1-22
3. WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN ‘KINGS’ IN OUR LIVES
– When things don’t work out as planned, we can turn to other things to bring us the relief we think will solve our problems.
– Things had not worked out as planned for the nation of Israel.
– Up until this time they had been ruled by judges.
– But now problems had crept in.
– Samuel’s sons had not done the right thing.
– They had become corrupt, dishonest and did not do what was just and right.
– Things had gone wrong.
– It’s at difficult times and in times of crisis that we need to be very careful about our choices.
– The nation had become convinced that having a king would solve all their problems, after all it was working for other nations around them.
– Perhaps, out of desperation, you have allowed something to rule over you and it has not had the desired effect.
– We need to be very cautious about what we give authority to and over our lives.
– It can be things like our own ideas, greed, selfishness, rejection, hopelessness and things that God does not want in our lives.
– The Lord desires that we would be free, and the freedom we so long for, is only found in Him and not in our own ‘good ideas’.
– Often God will give us what we demand.
– 1 Samuel 8:22 The Lord answered, ‘Listen to them and give them a king.’
4. COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS BRINGS DISASTER
– 1 Samuel 8:5 ‘Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’
– The Lord had a special plan for the nation. The plan was that He would be their King.
– His plan did not include an earthly king.
– Comparing ourselves to others is a recipe for disaster.
– When we compare ourselves to others, we are in effect letting them decide how we will act.
– Comparison brings discontent into our lives, and we become dissatisfied.
– Dissatisfaction leads to our judgement being clouded.
– A clouded judgement brings about a situation where we cannot think clearly.
– Decisions made when we cannot think clearly, sets us up for wrong and inappropriate decisions.
– I addition, comparison generally makes you unhappy, and often the very people you compare yourself to, wish they could be more like you.
– So comparison crept in and the result was a decision that both Samuel and God disapproved of.
– 1 Samuel 8:6-7 But 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.’
– 1 Samuel 8:19-20 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.’
5. THE PLACE FOR KINGSHIP IN OUR LIVES IS RESERVED FOR GOD!
– The Lord’s plan for each of our lives is that He would be our King.
– I remember as a child seeing a hand-drawn picture of a throne. In the one picture the individual was on the throne and the Lord was on the side. In the other picture, the Lord was on the throne and the individual was on the side.
– For the Lord to be our King, we need to get off our thrones.|
– 1 Samuel 8:7 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.’
– The Lord had a special plan in mind for His people and that was that He would be their King.
– This is still God’s intention today.
– He wants to be your King.
– He wants to sit in the driving seat of your life, and He doesn’t want ‘back seat drivers.’
– This is the divine design He has for you.
– It is within this divine design that we can find our happiness, our contentment and our fulfillment.
– It is within this divine design that we find the protection, provision, acceptance and love that our hearts so long for.
6. WE NEED TO EACH ‘FIND OUR KING!’
– For each one of us we need to get to that point where we settle this matter for ourselves.
– We need to ‘FIND OUR KING’ for ourselves.
– Perhaps that is the purpose of life, to bring us to that point where we realise that:
- There is a King and He is the KING OF KINGS.
- That we need Him in our lives.
- That we make Him King, by getting off of our own thrones and abandoning our ‘high and mighty’ ideas and embracing the fact that His ways are above our ways and His ways are always the best thing.
– We cannot rely on the fact that our parents or our grandparents knew God as their King and think that it automatically divests onto us.
– We have to go through our things, our own struggles, our own internal battles, until we reach the point of acknowledgement and acceptance.
– In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay Him homage.’
– In fact the search for Jesus is a theme that runs through the New Testament.
– King of Kings is the title given to our Saviour in the Bible.
– The challenge and the joy is to discover Him for ourselves.
– You were not designed for other kings to rule over your heart and life.
– Our mistake, as humanity, is not to want the Lord as the King in our lives.
– Our greatest moment is when we come to the realisation and the revelation that there is no other, and He is the One and He is the One we desire.
– I found my King, have you found yours?
7. THE CHALLENGE TO EACH ONE
– ‘GO FIND YOUR KING’ is the challenge to each one of us.
– For the vast majority of those reading this, it may already be a settled matter.
– But perhaps if you were to be true to yourself, other things (the cares of this life) have crowded in and changed the dynamic, and now it’s time to put things in order.
– Perhaps others have relied on the fact that their parents knew God as their king, but if they have to be honest, they do not know God in the same way.
– Perhaps others have never even thought about it, and now is the time to settle this matter once and for all.
– May we all be able to declare with confidence: ‘I FOUND MY KING!’ and His name is Jesus.
– He is not like any other one who you have ever known or trusted in.
– Perhaps today, all your hope is gone, then it is a good time to discover your King for yourself.
– Your King wants to come and restore your soul.
– He wants to make you whole, right now, and for eternity.
– His love is reaching out to you.
– He wants to speak and make you free.
– He wants you to be completely HIS, forever.
– He wants to come and sweep away all your doubts and fears.
– He is the One you have waited so long for – the Lover of your soul.
– You can call His name, Jesus!
– He will have mercy on you, and He will not turn away from you.
– He is our only hope and He has come to set us free.
– FIND YOUR KING!
May the reality of His love and presence in your life be a living reality, today and every day!
By: Andrew W Roebert
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