Last week I asked us to think about one of the worst things that can happen to us. Do you remember what it was? We don't often have a category for one of the worst things that can happen to us. But we said that one of the worst things that can happen to us is what? Getting what we want is one of the worst things that can happen to us. Let me finish off those glorious words of poetry from Metallica reminding us of getting what we want. It's from their song, King Nothing. Wish I may, wish I might have this wish I wish tonight. I want that star. I want it now. I want it all. And I don't care how. Careful what you wish. Careful what you say. Careful what you wish. You may regret it. Careful what you wish. You just might get it. And it all crashes down. and you break your crown and you point your finger, but there's no one around. But the castle crumbled and you're left with just a name. Where is your crown, King Nothing? One of the worst things that can happen to us is getting everything that we ask for. So friends, whether you are in middle school or whether you were in middle age this morning, following your desires apart from Christ will not lead you to freedom. It will lead you to bondage and slavery. And the Lord's Supper reminds us this morning of where our sin, where we left to ourselves, actually go. So great, think of this, so great was our bondage to our desires that it took the death of the sinless Son of God to free us from our sins. Think of that. Our sins, our bondage was so great that nothing other than the death of the sinless son of God could free us from our sins. How great must our sin have been? There's another question I want us to think about this morning. When God gives us what we want, what does God do with us then? Remember the psychiatrist last week and her client that she had? She said her client spent most of her professional life planning for retirement. And she had set that goal so far out there that it shaped her decisions and shaped her work hours and everything about her. But then she said that eight months after she had retired, she was completely miserable sitting in the psychiatrist's office. And the psychiatrist concluded, we can learn a great deal from the examples of my client, people who suffer from getting what they want. So when we begin to experience the suffering of getting what we actually want, where is God? What's He doing? Well, that's what we'll see in our passage from the Bible today. Would you please locate 1 Samuel 9 and 10. 1 Samuel 9 and 10. Originally my plan was to cover these two chapters this morning. I could have done it. We have communion. So I stopped at the end of verse nine. We'll take ten and eleven together next week. But I want to begin in a moment by reading the end of chapter ten. And if you're not aware, first Samuel one to seven, all about God provides Samuel at Hannah's request. Chapters eight to twelve now show us this. God is going to provide a king at the people's request. God provides Samuel at Hannah's request. Now God provides a king at the people's request. Remember from last week, Israel is about to ask for a monumental change in their governmental structure. They're moving from 12 individual tribes ruled by generally localized judges, now to one united kingdom under something they've never had before, a king. And anytime any people changes their government wholesale, the implications are massive. But behind Israel's request for a monarchy, behind their request was something sinister. Israel is getting what they want. They're tired of waiting on God to keep His promise. So they're going to take matters into their own hands. Channeling, now you've given me the name, channeling their inner Baruch assault from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they demand a king now. They want a king like all the other nations now. We're tired of waiting, God. And even after God kindly warns them of what their request will mean for them, The text says, no, we want a king. Let's read now First Samuel 10, 17 to 19, to remind ourselves what lay at the heart of that request in chapter eight. This is the divine interpretation of their request. First Samuel 10, starting in verse 17. This is what Holy Scripture says. Now Samuel called the people together of the Lord together at Mizpah and he said to the people of Israel, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, said a king over us. Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. This is the word of the Lord. You notice again two things about this request. First, you see again that their request for a king is a rejection of God himself, a God who's described, who loved them, who's redeemed them, who has fought battles in their behalf. And we do that, too, every time we sin. Every time we sin by throwing a fit when electronics are withheld from us, every time we sin by erupting in anger, we're saying God's love for me is not enough. We sin because we choose the love of a person or thing over God's amazing love. That's the horror of this request. And we do it. Trace your sin and your temptation to being beguiled by somebody else's love other than God's. But at the Lord's Supper, the Lord gently and lovingly shows us how foolish, how fleeting the love of others is compared to His redeeming love for us. Do this in remembrance of My love for you, He says. A love that's meant to make us run from our false lovers and run into the arms of Christ who's loved us. The second thing we see from their request is this. God actually is going to give them what they ask for. Now, present yourselves and get ready. I'm about to present to you your king. In an act of discipline, God gives them what they want. You have a category for that. that sometimes God gives you what you want and it's an act of loving discipline so that you'll come back to Him. God is about to give them a King. And just who is this King? Well, that's what we're going to think about this morning and the next few weeks. That's the story at the end of chapter 8. Chapter 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 tell us the story of the rise of this King. And it's an epic story. It's like reading about the childhood, the rise of George Washington, America's first president. In chapters 9 and 10, we read about the rise of Israel's great king. It's an epic tale and a true tale. And remember, this is the question that hangs over. Chapter 8 and 10 show us God's people have rejected God. So what is God going to do to people who've rejected them? Here's what we're going to see. God provides a reluctant king. That's chapters 8 and 9. God provides, in 8 and 8, 9 and 10, a reluctant king. That's her title. God provides a reluctant king. And as we read and work through chapter 9, I want you to look for three themes. They don't appear in any chronological order, so don't think, you've got them out of order. But these three themes circle into the text. God's providence in ordinary events, God's provision in ordinary events, It's not a P. God's mercy in ordinary events. So His providence, His provision, and His mercy in ordinary events. That, as God provides a reluctant king, we're seeing God's careful providence, we're seeing God's provision for them, and His mercy to them. So, and in looking at this reluctant king this morning, as we've already celebrated in our order of worship, I want us to see a different kind of king. A willing king. King Jesus, who willfully and joyfully came and laid down His life, that we can be forgiven, that we can love each other. So, let's go to the very beginning of the story. Turn over to 1 Samuel 9. Who is Israel's king? What's his backstory? Where does he come from? Well, let's read now 1 Samuel 9, verses 1 and 2, setting up the story. The story of Israel's king begins. There was a prominent man of Benjamin named Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekoroth, son of Aphia, son of Abednumite. And he had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive or handsome among all the Israelites than he. And he stood a head taller than anyone else. I should have told you, I'm reading now from the Christian Standard Bible, if that threw any of you off, or some of you thought, finally, you're reading from my translation I have. Well, what a grand introduction to this man named Saul. It's like we've been given a casting sheet with a biography about who's going to be in this play, in this film. And everything on the casting bio is intriguing. Other than great King David, we have one of the most famous kings in all of Israel's history, we're about to meet. And chapter 8, verse 10, the people ask for a king. And what do you suppose Saul's name means? Asked. The narrator is already showing you. The one they have shalemed is Sha'al. It's Saul. This is who they've asked for. And Saul hails from the tribe of Benjamin. This was the smallest of the tribes of Israel. They also had a terrible past recently. The tribe of Benjamin at the end of Judges is almost wiped out for their gang rape of a of a priest's concubine. And what was he doing with a concubine in the first place? These are the people of God. It's a small tribe with an ugly past. And this is where Saul comes from. God often picks people from the unlikeliest of places, people like you and people like me. And boy, does Saul look the part of Hollywood's next leading man. He's the classic tall, dark and handsome figure. We're told that the phrase is young and good. He's young and handsome. He's young and impressive. And he's taller than anybody else. If any king is going to be distinguished by his physical traits, writes one historian, then Saul is every inch a king. Israel wanted a king in whose power, in whose appearance they could trust in and celebrate. And boy, does Saul fit their desire. God's given them what they asked for. This is who you're really asking for. And this is the kind of leader we all typically default to towards, don't we? Someone who's attractive and stylish, who's head and shoulders above the rest, who comes into the room and kind of takes over. And not only that, but Saul comes to the stage, he walks onto the stage in an unassuming way. We like that in our leaders, too. He's about to be sent on an errand for lost donkeys. He looks the part of a leading man, but our first sight of him shows he's not seeking the part of a leading man at all. So now we move from Saul's leading man looks to Saul's every man actions. We find Saul dealing with his first crisis. His dad's donkeys have wandered off. How is he going to handle it? Well, let's read. Verses 3 to 6. One day the donkeys of Saul's father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys. Saul and his servant went through the hill country of Ephraim, then through the region of Shalisha, but they didn't find them. They went from the region of Shalim, nothing. They went through the Benjamite region, but still didn't find them. When they came to the land of Zuf, Saul said to the servant who was with them, come on, let's go back or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and stop and start worrying about us. Look, the servant said, there's a man of God in this city who's highly respected. Everything he says is sure to come true. Let's go there now. Maybe he'll be able to tell us which way we should go. Now, I suspect this would have been a common experience, though certainly unwanted. I mean, somehow the donkeys have gotten out and now we don't know where they've gone and wandered off to. So Kiss charges Saul and most likely a leading servant to go along with him. And they search far and wide through four different regions to try to find these beasts of burden. And it just so happens they stop and catch their breath in the land of Zuth. Why is that important? Because this city, we're told by the servant, just so happens to have a man of God there. The servant remembers there's somebody important here and whatever he says comes to pass and he may be able to tell us where to look for the donkeys. Let's not give up now. Well, imagine that chasing down donkeys has led Saul and the servant to a city that just so happens to have a man of God in it. And we don't know who the man of God is, but this is the first good news these two have had for several days. But then they're faced with another crisis of sorts. Saul remembers something. They're out of food. They're not only out of places to look, they're out of food, and they didn't bring any money. They didn't expect to be gone this many days. So let's listen in on their conversation in verse 7 and 8. "'Suppose we do go,' Saul said to a servant, "'what do we take the man?' The food from our packs is gone and there's no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have? The servant answered Saul, here, I have a little silver. I'll give it to the man of God and he will tell us which way we should go. Now it's lost in translation a bit, but the servant is surprised that he found any money on his person. It's more like he's like, You're not going to believe this, but I actually found some silver on me. Here's what I found. I read this story and kind of looked at the tense of the verb of it, and I thought a story in my own life from around 1994. I'm not sure how that happened to them, but something like what I think happened to them happened to me. I was working in a church that summer with my best friend. We were given an old beat-up green station wagon, army green, to drive around. I don't know who owned it. At the end of the summer, all the teenagers got together and put a sledgehammer to it, a big car crash thing. That's the kind of car that we drove. One day, we were driving outside of Chicago somewhere on a toll road, and we were a bit panicked, not knowing what was going to happen as we approached the toll road and we had no money. They didn't know what was going to happen. What were they going to do to us church interns in a car with no money? There were no iPhones or iPads or whatever to figure it out. So I quickly actually jumped in the back seat of this car with vinyl seats and started looking in crevices to see if I could find any loose change as the toll booth gets closer and closer. The car was not ours and I thought, maybe somebody left something in here that we can find. Then I even jumped over the middle seat into the back seat and started looking in these vinyl pockets. Anything, anything, anything. I jump back to the front and, dude, there's no money. What do we do? Toll booth is getting closer. My friend says to me, let's pray. I say, pray? He says, yeah, we don't know what to do. We have no money. So we actually pray. And I kid you not, I jumped in the back seat. I was on my stomach. I lift up the floor mats and I found the exact amount of change that we needed. I'm on the floor and I say, And my friend, he's the reverend mirror, and he goes, ah! And I jump in the front seat. And it's a dumb and dumber situation. And I look and we both go, ah! And I got the money right here. We have the money. What just happened? I don't know. We prayed and there was money. And now we can get through the toll booth. Now I think that's the kind of excitement this servant has. He's not expecting it. He's patting himself down. Here, look what I just discovered. You're not going to believe this. I actually found some money. The search for the donkeys just so happened to leave them in a town where there's a prophet, and it just so happens that he finds some loose change on his person. Well, Saul's not wasting any time. They've been gone long enough. And listen to what he says. Good, Samuel replied to his servant. Now come on and let's go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they were climbing the hill to the city, they found some young women coming out to draw water and asked, Is the seer here? The women answered, yes, he's ahead of you. Hurry. He just now entered the city because there's a sacrifice for the people at the high place today. And as soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes to the high place to eat. The people won't eat until he comes because he has to bless their sacrifice. And after that, the guests eat. So go up immediately. You can find him now. Well, this is another surprising turn. As Saul and his servant now are climbing up the hill that leads to the city, it just so happens at the time of day, probably in the evening, when ladies are coming out to draw water from the well. And it just so happens that these two ladies who just left the city just saw the man of God. Up to this point, the pace has been slow and plodding. And the anticipation is building. Will we find the donkeys? Will we find the man of God? And now the urgency ratchets up. Hurry, they say. Go. You'll see him now. Immediately, go. The urgency now matches the level of anticipation. Where are we going to see him? Is it time yet? And then look what happens. The next verse. So they went up toward the city, Saul and his servant were entering the city when they saw... They saw Samuel coming down toward them on his way to the high place. We found out something at this point that Saul and a servant don't know yet. We're told who this person is. Up to this point, we've been reading the story. Saul's had a GoPro camera on his head, and we've been looking at the story through his eyes. Now for the first time, the narrator tells us, guess who Saul just bumped into, and he has no idea who it is yet. What a great bit of storytelling. Their search for donkeys has led them to bump into one of the most towering figures in all of Big Bull history. And the irony, Saul has no clue who he just bumped into. We come face to face with Samuel himself. A search for donkeys led them to the right city to meet the right ladies at the right time of day to meet Samuel himself. A search for donkeys has led to this. It reminds me, of course it does, From Bilbo's words, it's a dangerous business Frodo going out your door. You step under the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to. That's what happened to Saul and his servant. They've been swept off into an adventure that's controlled beyond their understanding. Unless we think any of this is an accident, Let's look how it's described in the next verses. The action pauses. The next verses make sense of the whole chapter. Now, the day before Saul's arrival, the Lord informs Samuel, at this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel. He will save them from the Philistines because I've seen the affliction of my people for their cry has come to me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, here is the man I told you about. He will govern my people. Well, for the first time, we realize that God has been controlling everything in chapter nine. Now, think about it. I mentioned it several times, but now put it in context again. God caused the donkeys to be lost so that Saul would be led to Samuel himself. The donkeys wandering off. Their extensive, fruitless, frustrating search for them. They're coming to Zuf. They're meeting the ladies. They're coming at this time of day. We've now seen every ordinary detail was orchestrated by God. And yet Saul's doing what he wants the whole time. Why? Because God is providing his people a king. God's providing their requests. And in God's provision, we see God's providence in ordinary events. We tend to think that God's power is only seen in the miraculous. Oh, that I would see God's power. But have you learned to see God's power in the ordinary events of your life? God's powerful providence at work in a search for donkeys. Remember Hamlet's words to Horatio? There's a divinity that shapes our end. Rough hue them how we will. Open your eyes to behold the power of God in the ordinary. Because guess what? Ordinarily, God works ordinarily. And when he works ordinarily, he works powerfully. He's giving them a king and a search for donkeys. We see God in the miraculous, but beloved, do you see God in the ordinary? George Herbert wrote a little line, teach me my God and King and all things thee to see. Is that how you look at life? Teach me my God and King and all things thee to see. Think about it. Your parents, your personality, your school, a trip to the bank, losing your job, A flat tire. Your trip to Home Depot for a part. All of it orchestrated by God to bring about his loving and wise plans. Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush of fire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit down and pluck blackberries. Do you see God in ordinary things and events? His working, your address, your condo unit number, your neighbors, it's no accident. Your co-workers that you hired, the boss that you're under, it's no accident. And brothers and sisters, even the dark nights of the soul are under His providential control. Even your battle with depression, your battle with same-sex attraction, your struggle with the darkness of not having children, all of it is under His providential care. Listen, if God doesn't exist, there is no suffering. Stuff just happens. If God doesn't exist, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug that gets hit by the windshield. But guess what? Stuff happens and people just keep driving on. Life is meaningless if there's no God. But because God exists, He's the shepherd of the green pastures, just as much as he's the shepherd in the valley of deep darkness. Think about God's providence in another time of darkness. Where was God's providence when the world went dark for three hours as his only son hung on the cross? You know what God was doing? He was ruling and reigning as he made his soul an offering for sin. Don't judge the Lord Beloved, don't judge the Lord by the darkness in your life now. Judge Him by the darkness of His Son on the cross when He was showing you the full extent of His love. In 1 Samuel 9, every step of Saul's search was directed by the hand of the Lord to provide for His people. And do you see? Do you see? Have you stopped to look? Have you asked somebody to help you how your own life has been and is being led by the providence of God? That means it's no accident that any one of us are here and this church building this morning during this hour. We take the Lord's Supper, it's no accident you came to church this Sunday for the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper tells us many things. And you know, one of the things the Lord's Supper tells us, it's similar to what Samuel told the people. Guess what? I know what you've done. I found you out. I know exactly what's going on in your heart. Whomever you are today, however guilty you are, do you see that you're deserving of a loving God's punishment for your sin? He has found you out this morning. But He's not found you out to condemn you. And Christian, the Lord knows what you're doing too. He knows what you're thinking about doing. He sees what no one else sees. He knows what no one else knows. You know, when Paul first applied, when Paul said, if you'd say, how did Paul apply the message of the Lord's Supper to a church? You remember how he did it in Corinth from our series there? Paul applied the Lord's Supper to a church that wasn't centered on the gospel. Church family, Emanuel Bible Church, are you undermining the unity of this congregation by the way you talk about this church to others? Are you undermining the unity by the way you talk about other members to other members? Are you undermining the unity by how you've listened a little bit too long to somebody's complaints? There are a thousand ways to undermine the unity in any congregation. And Paul says the Lord's Supper displays your unity that when you come there are all kinds of factions in your church family. The Lord's Supper is a time to confess the ways that we might be undermining the unity in our own church body. Why? because we're one body taking of one loaf, celebrating the one work of Christ in our behalf. We share the forgiveness of sins, the inheritance of heaven, the third person of the Godhead dwells in the person next to you, and the brothers and sisters in this congregation. And your union with Christ, you are united to the people here and God's people everywhere. In God's providence, we gather around the meal today, the Lord is gently, kindly reminding us of things that are hindering our joy, like our sin. But the Lord's Supper tells us that the Lord is more merciful than we realize. God's greater desire is to actually forgive our sins, not condemn them. Listen, remember, God so loved the world, He didn't send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to forgive the world. You may not know it, Or I can put it this way, will you come today to the one who's been chasing you down in love for a while? You may be a child here. God's been chasing you down. A guest, a member. Listen, God is giving Israel their king. On the one hand, it's an act of discipline that He does. They're rejecting Him and they should repent. But on the other hand, I want you to notice now, do you see how God often hides His mercy in the medicine of His judgment? How do we know that? I want you to listen again to how God speaks about their request. Anoint Samuel, ruler, over my people. He will save them from the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people and their cry has come to Me." Do you hear His compassion still? A love that will not let them go even though they're pushing away from God? He still says, My people, My people, My people, their cry has come to Me. I have heard their affliction. God hides His mercy. in the medicine of His judgment. He's heard their cry. And He will give them Saul who will in some measure actually defeat the Philistines. We'll see him defeating enemies in chapter 11. When you read 1 Samuel 9 and think about Saul in the beginning of his life, you should behold God's providence and you should behold God's mercy. And even at the Lord's table, We who have rejected Him or made our hearts cold toward Him are told from the Lord's Supper, I have seen your affliction and I've given you a Savior. That's the message to all of us here today. Oh, how the Lord loves the unlovely. We come to the one today who harnesses the ordinary events of our lives to chase us down in mercy. You may be chasing donkeys in your life. But the Lord is chasing you down. If you stop and look around, you'll see goodness and mercy circling you, chasing you down. This is the story of Saul's life thus far. God's providence. His mercy. And the ordinary events of life. I mean, do you see the love of God here, even though his people want nothing to do with him, he still provides for them. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. On the day God was rejected, he gave them a king. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he gave his life for our sins. Christ is the willing king. Now, I told you earlier, Saul still doesn't know who he just bumped into. We have the advantage of that. Let's watch as it dawns on Saul, who he just bumps into to finish as part of the chapter. Verse 18. Saul approached Samuel in the city gate. Notice the humor. Would you please tell me where the seer's house is? I am the seer, Samuel answered, and go ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today. When I send you off in the morning, I will tell you everything that's in your heart. For the donkeys who wandered away from you three days ago, don't worry about them. They've been found. And who does all Israel desire but you and all your father's family? It's all that's taken back. Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest of Israel's tribes? And isn't my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjamite tribe? So why have you said something like this to me? And what a moment this is. This is epic drama. One of the greatest kings in Israel's history has just bumped into unwittingly one of the greatest figures in biblical history. I don't know how it would go, but if this were a film, I think the camera would pause and then slowly spin around the characters, capturing every moment of this introductory meeting. This is a towering, significant moment in Israel's history. And what do we see in this momentous meeting? We see again, God was controlling the donkeys the whole time, just like just like those two nursing cows in chapter six, walk back from Philistia straight into Israelite territory. God made these donkeys wander off and now they've accomplished their mission. They've been found. They'll be returned. Don't worry about it. God is in control of our lives and God is in control of the possessions that we have. This is Providence in everyday, ordinary parts of our lives. Second. Do you see what a model Samuel is? What would it be like for you if your company came together after they said you've been stellar and exemplary as our company leader, but they have a vote of no confidence in you and want nothing more to do with you? Then they they task you to go get your replacement and want you to train him and exalt him in front. That's what's happened to Samuel. This man who's done nothing wrong is now trained and he does so with graciousness in training his replacement. What a model Samuel is. He bears patiently with the sins of God's people. He bears with them in love. Is that how you're bearing with one another here? And doesn't it remind you too of Christ? who was born our approaches and born our sins. And when we wanted nothing to do with him, he keeps coming after us. Third, I want you to see how Saul is surprised by grace. And he's right, he is from the smallest tribes and he wants to know why would God pick me? Are you sure you've got the right person? All of Israel desires me. What we're seeing is that early on in Saul's life, God not only provides for the nation, we're going to see how God provides for this new king. In other words, you see, God doesn't pick a lowlife. Oh, you want a king? Let me get you this guy. He gives them somebody who's set up for success. He picks a dashing figure. But even Saul knows at this point what grace this all is. We're going to see that God sets the nation and Saul up for success. But if we go on the rest of the story, we know the rest of the story. And what does that tell us? After everything God does for Saul, who's responsible for Saul's fall? Saul is. Beloved, don't blame God for the consequences of your sins. Do what Saul never does in the end of his life. You know what Saul never does in the end of his life? He never owns his sin. It's never his fault. It's always somebody else's fault. There's always a reason. Own your sin. Confess it. Because he will abundantly pardon you. We sin in our lives against mountains of grace, so we should be ashamed. But we should be hopeful. Because love bids us welcome to this table today. That we would forsake our sins and once again sing of his redeeming love. You want to know how much the Lord loves you? Take this bread and drink this cup in remembrance of him. The God who provided a reluctant king is the God who provided the willing king, Christ, for us today. Do you know how much he loves you? Do you know how much He loves you? Let's take and eat and remember how much He does.