Getting What You Ask For

“Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them”. 1 Samuel 8:1-22  I remember when I was young, for months my sister and I talked my mother in to buying Lucky Charms cereal. She knew we wouldn’t like but we were so certain that it was the cereal we wanted. She finally gave in and bought the cereal. We both hated it. The cereal sat until it went stale. There’s an old saying “Be careful of what you ask for – you just might get it.” The people of Israel wanted a king. Samuel knew it to be a bad idea, but after conferring with God Samuel anoints Saul. True to God’s warnings, Saul’s kinship was a disappointment. The people of Israel wanted a king because they wanted to be like other nations. The problem was that they weren’t like other nations, they were anointed. Through Christ we too are anointed, protected and cared for by the one true King who gives the desires of our heart, even sometimes, when our heart is misguided. We may forget that God is King, he never forgets that we are his anointed.

When they were few in number, 
of little account, and sojourners in the land,
   Wandering from nation to nation 
and from one kingdom to another,
   He let no one oppress them 
and rebuked kings for their sake,
   Saying, “Do not touch my anointed 
and do my prophets no harm.”      Psalm 105:12-15