1 Samuel 8

[upbeat music] Well, welcome to the Christ-Centered Cosmic Civilization, and we're continuing with our look into what the Bible says about government and politics.

And we- we're gonna get into 1 Samuel 8, rejecting the Lord as king, but also the cult of the mob.

1 Samuel 8, this is the chapter that is always quoted at me when I argue for sacral monarchy.

The objection runs like this.

They say to me, "You say the Bible loves monarchy, but the Bible's most famous discussion of monarchy is a warning against it." The people ask for a king, and the Lord is angry.

Government, a- a political system.

It's a kind we'll recognize more easily than we expect.

The warning of 1 Samuel 8 is attacking something that is much closer to home, and the chapter is one of the most penetrating political passages in the whole Bible because of what it actually says.

Is that the problem that God's people will face? It's certainly what they've seen so far.

If you've been with us in the book of Judges, things going from bad to worse again and again.

Will God keep David from that? How will he do it? Last week, if you were here, David pointed so clearly to Jesus saying, But this week, the difference between David and Jesus seems vast as we meet David, sword in hand, about to go and exact bloody vengeance on many innocent people.

It is a real crisis, this chapter.

It's also interesting in this chapter.

how important wisdom is.

It's like Abigail is Lady Wisdom from the book of Proverbs come to life, or the noble wife from the end of Proverbs 31 in action.

Not only is her husband called Nabal, so we have that full connection, but all of her actions are so wise.