He That Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear What The Spirit of God Is Saying to America

Posted: February 8, 2008


II Samuel 23:3 says, "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."

 

In Daniel 2:20-22 it says, "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: v.20

 

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: v.21

 

He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him." v.22

 

In these passages, God tells us who sets up presidents, who sets up senators, who sets up the house of representatives, and who sets up judges; it is God. Every one of us should do what it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. v.5 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." v.6

 

Saul - An Example of a King Given to Israel After the Lusts of Their Hearts

 

The children of Israel speaks to Samuel about his age. In I Samuel 8:5-22 it says, "And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. v.5

 

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. v.6

 

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. v.7

 

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. v.8

 

Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. v.9

 

And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. v.10

 

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. v.11

 

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. v.12

 

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. v.13

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. v.14

 

And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. v.15

 

And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. v.16

 

He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. v.17

 

And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. v.18

 

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; v.19

 

That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. v.20

 

And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. v.21

 

And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city." v.22

 

The people had the prophets and men led by God ruling over them, and they didn't want them. They told Samuel that he was too old, and they wanted to have a king like other nations had. So God gave them a king like they had asked, Saul, who disobeyed God. God was displeased with him, and so He then set up David as king who was after God's own heart.

 

Samuel's Instruction to Israel Including Saul

 

In I Samuel 12:1-25 it says, "And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. v.1

 

And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. v.2

 

Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. v.3

 

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. v.4

 

And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. v.5

 

And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. v.6

 

Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. v.7

 

When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. v.8

And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. v.9

 

And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. v.10

 

And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. v.11

 

And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king. v.12

 

Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. v.13

 

If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: v.14

 

But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers. v.15

 

Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. v.16

 

Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. v.17

 

So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. v.18

 

And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. v.19

 

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; v.20

 

And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. v.21

 

For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. v.22

 

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: v.23

 

Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. v.24

 

But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king." v.25

 

In verse 25, their king was Saul.

 

I Samuel 13:1-12 says, "Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, v.1

 

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. v.2

 

And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. v.3

 

And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. v.4

 

And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. v.5

 

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. v.6

 

And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. v.7

 

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. v.8

 

And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. v.9

 

And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. v.10

 

And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; v.11

 

Even though Samuel was late, it did not give Saul nor the people the right to rebel against the commandments that had been given them. They should have waited.

 

Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering." v.12

 

David - An Example of a King Given to Israel After God's Own Heart

 

In I Samuel 13:13-14 Samuel prophesied to Saul, "And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. v.13

 

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee." v.14

 

We see in I Samuel 16 how God had rejected Saul and was now going to anoint David to be king over Israel.

 

In I Samuel 16:1-13 it states, "And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. v.1

 

And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he Will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. v.2

 

And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. v.3

 

And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? v.4

 

And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. v.5

 

And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. v.6

 

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. v.7

 

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. v.8

 

Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. v.9

Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. v.10

 

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. v.11

 

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. v.12

 

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah." v.13

 

God bless you,

 

Doyle Davidson

 

 

 

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