The Saul question (rambly thoughts)

I was reading 1 Samuel 5-9 this morning (catching up on my McCheyne readings, as you can tell). The Israelites had asked God for a king, and God sent Samuel to warn them that a king would ultimately enslave them. Yet the Israelites insisted that they wanted a king. So God gave them Saul.

Is the moral of the story that, if we persist in asking for what we desire, God will give in to our demands, even though it is not His best for us? That's certainly true of sin (Romans 1:24). But then I thought of all the things I had begged God for, and yet He had withheld them (wisely, on hindsight) from me. God didn't give in to me at the time. So what's up?

It must have had something to do with what the Israelites had asked for that was different. I went back to look. 1 Sam 8:7-8 says that, by asking for a king, they had rejected God as their king, forsaking Him for other gods. So that's it, it wasn't what they asked for, but what what they asked for meant. The moral of the story is, as some wise lady (I can't recall who though) put it: If you persistently turn God away, then being the gentleman that He is, He will respect your wishes and graciously bow out of your life.

But why, I wondered, did the Israelites reject an almighty God for a mortal king? Was life so bad? I was curious and went back to look again. No, 1 Sam 5-7 is all about the Ark of God punishing Israel's enemies and delivering them in battle. Ok, so being constantly at war ain't that fun, but still, they were winning. So again, what's up?

I went back and looked yet again. Why would the Israelites exchange a powerful almighty king for a mere mortal (albeit they did that again with Jesus and Barrabas)? 1 Sam 8:4, 20 says that the people wanted a king "such as all the other nations have"; "... we want to be like all the other nations", they said. What???? Had they forgotten who had led them to victory time and again, victory over all the other nations that they now wanted to emulate? The only explanation must be that they had forgotten. They had forgotten.

As I do sometimes.

Moral of the story 2: Do not forget. God is the only guy you need to keep up with.

Anyways, as I said, rambly thoughts that went through my head this morning.