And that's remained the tradition since. But we need to think about it as one single book, one single coherent message. I'll be reading from the English Standard Version. When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel. The name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders gathered and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them, according to all the deeds that they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt, even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice. Only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who are asking for a king from him. He said, These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to chariots, to his chariots, and to be his horsemen and to run before him, before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground. and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war in the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards. and give them to his servants. He will take a 10th of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and your female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take a 10th of your flocks and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you chose for yourself. But the Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to obey. the voice of Samuel, and they said, no, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like the nations, and that king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. And when Samuel heard all these words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, obey their voice and make them a king. Samuel said to the men of Israel, go every man to his city. This ends the reading of God's word. May the spirit of God make the reading of the word a powerful means of convincing and converting the lost and building up the Christian in holiness. and comfort. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the gift of your word. We do thank you that you have chosen to spoke clearly to us in words and sentences and stories, and not just in vague impressions or intuitions, but words that can be studied and pondered and meditated upon and listened to and believed and obeyed. We do pray that we would learn something new, something transformative, something that will empower us to glorify you more fully, that we will not leave this place the same. We do pray all these things in the name of the Father and the Son and your Holy Spirit. Amen. The word church, it should not be a word that conjures up images of just a single people group, a single location, or a single nation. But I gotta confess to you that when I say the word church or hear the word church, the first associations of that word are this place and many of the people in this congregation. Some of you may not recognize me or know me, but I was raised in this church. And many of the men sitting in this church, I count as spiritual fathers. So I come to you as a son, as a spiritual son, to share with you what God has revealed to us in his word. As Matt did mention, I recently graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi with a Master's in Divinity. It has been a long road, but that part of my journey is done. Presently, I teach as an adjunct professor at Belle Haven University. I've been given the rare opportunity to begin to teach as a college professor in biblical studies and theology. My long-term plans are to pursue a PhD to be qualified to teach full-time, but that's presently what I do. I also teach through the public schools as well as preach through the circuit that the Reformed Theological Seminary orchestrates. I have two little girls. I have a three-year-old daughter named Anastasia. She's wonderful. And then I have a five-month-old named Samantha. And then my wife, Emily, of course, is just a wonderful gift. And she is a wonderful mother and just does above and beyond what I could even explain to you today. But the book of Samuel, let's turn our attention to the book of Samuel, because this is what I came here to talk to you about. The book of Samuel is one book, and that book concerns one message. And it tells a story of one king. In many ways, the book of Samuel can almost be considered the first gospel story. It's interesting to go back and read Samuel and think about it in those terms because you'll see many of the same themes that are repeated in the gospels in the book of Samuel. The beginnings of a king, the acceptance of that king by followers, and even the rejection of that king by Israel. But what I want to talk to you about today is 1 Samuel chapter 8, which is an extremely important chapter. Because in that chapter, what we see is the institution of a new office. We see a monumental change happen in the life of God's people. And that is the institution of the office of king. The office that Christ himself would eventually occupy. But let's give our attention to it. The first Samuel chapter 8 can be divided into more or less four divisions. The first three verses really tell us something about the circumstances that surrounded the institution of this office, what gave birth to it. The next section can really be verses four to six, which tells something about why it gives us insight into what the people are actually asking for when they ask for a king. And then verses six to nine, kind of give the theological evaluation. What is God's actual analysis or response? What's His diagnosis of what's going on when the people ask for a king? And then finally, Well, I guess in, yeah, finally really in verses 10 to 22, we can kind of see the conclusion. And we can see the full sense of the, we really get a full sense of the wickedness of this request. But what we'll see when we finish here tonight is out of the great evil of this request comes great good. Okay. In verses 1 to 3, we get a picture of the circumstances that give birth to this request, this evil request for a king. Now, let me just say from the outset, and I'm so thankful that Ray Loyk has read Deuteronomy 17 this morning, because Deuteronomy 17 lets us know that the request for a king as such was not evil. But it's the motivation. It's what they're looking for. God had made provision. And Ray read that this morning in Deuteronomy 17. That there will be a king that will come from them. One whom God chooses. But we're going to see what the evil is here. Look at this in verse 1. Now it came about Samuel was old. And he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. And it gives the name of his sons. And then it says in verse 3, and his sons did not walk in his ways, and they reached out for a bribe, they accepted unjust gain, and they perverted justice. Now, initially when you look at that you might think, okay, that's horrible, they're perverting gain, they're perverting justice, they're accepting bribes. But the question we need to ask is, Why can Samuel appoint judges? There's no precedent in the history of God's people that Samuel had the authority to appoint judges. Judges were not appointed, they were chosen by God himself. God appeared to the judges. So yes, they're evil, they're unjust, but what's going on? Why can Samuel do this? Now, the text honestly doesn't answer it. The text is merely giving and narrating in a very kind of dry form. This is what happened. This is the circumstance that gives birth to the office, the institution of king. Now notice, notice what goes on next in the text. And the elders of Israel gathered together. All the elders of Israel gathered together. And they came to Samuel at Ramah and they said, Behold, you are old. and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now therefore, appoint for us a king who will judge us as the nations." Now, on the face of it, it looks like they're saying, your sons are screwing things up. Your sons are messing up justice. They're messing up the order for God's people. That's what it looks like they're arguing. But you've got to ask yourself this. If Samuel appointed his own sons, whom he should have known very well, and they were unable to enact justice and establish peace and rest, what makes the people of God, what makes the elders of Israel think that appointing a king is going to be any better off? So their argument here is merely a pretense for what they want. They want a king who will judge them like the nations. Like the nations. And what they're doing is basically what they've seen is they've seen that Samuel has the power to appoint. They see that precedent and they're like, well, if he can appoint his sons, surely he can appoint a king for us. Now, The text says that this matter was evil in the eyes of Samuel because they said, give us a king to rule over us or to judge us. And you've got to remember that this idea of kings, yes, they enforce the law, but kings are also judges in the ancient Near East. They serve both offices. We tend to separate those because that's the way it works in our justice system. But the king was both a judge and the enforcer of law. Now, notice what Samuel does. He says, Samuel prays to Yahweh, and Yahweh says to Samuel, Listen with the voice of the people. That's what it literally says in the Hebrew. It says in your translations, probably, obey the voice of the people. But it's listen with the voice of the people to all they say to you. Because they have not refused you from being king, but they have refused me. Or they have not refused you, but they have refused me from being king. Now notice God does not comment anything about the appointment of his sons. Then notice this, he says, all the deeds which they have done from the day that I caused to bring them out from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and served other gods. Thus, they are doing also to you. There's something about what they're doing that harkens back to the very history of these people from the beginning. What they're doing is a form of idolatry. They want not just a king to enact justice, that's not what they really want. What they want is a king who will rule them according to their standards. They're not just setting aside the presence of God as one who governs them, but they are setting aside the law of God, the very perfect righteousness of God that He has communicated to His people. This is not just throwing off of, we don't like God, we don't like the Lord, we don't like Yahweh, but we also don't like His law. They want to have a king who will rule them according to their standards. They want a king like the nations. Which is interesting. They want to throw off their identity. But notice Yahweh's evaluation of it. They are forsaking me. They are serving other gods. Thus they are doing to you. Now therefore, listen with the voice of the people. However, solemnly warn them. Tell to them the plan or the, literally you could translate this, the blueprint of the king, the law of the king, the rights of the king, whom will rule over you. So what follows here is the blueprint that God gives for the king, what the king will be allowed to do. Now notice what this king is allowed to do. This shall be the blueprint of the king, whom will rule over you. Your sons he will take and appoint for them and place them in his chariots and his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots. And he will appoint them as chiefs over 50s and 60s. and chiefs over thousands and fifties. So notice what this king is going to do is he's allowed to take their sons and use them for vessels of warfare. But not just warfare, but also peace. What does he say to them? He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your orchards and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards. He will take your male servants and your female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to work. Notice the pattern. Notice we have sons for warriors, daughters for cooks and bakers and perfumers, land, servants. What he's taking away from them are the very emblems of their royal identity. Remember, God had said to them in Exodus, you will be a kingdom of priests. And yet, they are willing to use everything that God has given to them that symbolizes their royal identity as a kingdom of priests, and to give it over for a king who will rule them like the nations. He will take a tenth of your flocks. And notice the punchline right here. Finally, what does this mean for them? And you shall be his slaves. You will be his slaves. Notice the irony. They're acting like how they have acted during the golden calf incident in forsaking God as their one true object of worship. And the trade-off is now they're also going to be returned to their previous status as slaves. What they're asking for is not just autonomy. That's what they think they want, autonomy and freedom. But what they're really asking for is slavery, the return to slavery. They will have a new pharaoh over them. That's what they want. That's what they're going to get. And notice the consequence. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, and notice this clause, whom you have chosen for yourself. That's contrary to the law. Yahweh was to choose the king, whom you have chosen for yourself, but the Lord, that is Yahweh, will not answer you in that day. So in other words, they are returned to the status of slaves, And they will, in turn, give up the salvation of Yahweh. They will give up the help and provision of God's presence. Now notice, it gets worse. It gets worse. Notice, it says, But the people refused to listen with the voice of Samuel. And they said, No, but there shall be a king over us. that we also may be like the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. So God says through Samuel that they will be returned to the status of slaves. There will be no salvation for them when they cry out on that day. And they say, sounds good to us. Now, what's fascinating about that is, remember during the golden calf incident, when basically, after the golden calf incident, when Moses intercedes for them, and God does preserve them, remember Moses, he appeals to the divine name of Yahweh and says, what will the Egyptians think, that you brought us out here to the hills, to the mountains to slay us? You appeal to the name of Yahweh, and Yahweh preserves God's people. But notice, remember what Yahweh does. He says, okay, you will be preserved, but my messenger will go out before you. And they don't like this. God says he will remove his presence from them. And remember how Moses responds to that. He says, if you do not go with us, we will not go. Why? Because the divine presence among the people of God defined their very identity. It pained them to realize that God would leave them, but here they willingly forsake, knowingly forsake the divine presence. God will not be there to deliver them, and they say, sure, why not? Let's sign on the bottom line. But more than that, more than that, their arrogance does not stop there. Their arrogance does not stop at a desire for autonomy. Notice what it says, that we may be like the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. Our battles. That pronoun, our, is extremely arrogant. Remember, they were to be led in the promised land. And the way they were to occupy that promised land is Yahweh himself would fight their battles for them. Right? Remember, God said to Joshua, be strong and courageous. But that courage was fortified by the very presence of God. Remember, remember, before the Battle of Jericho, which in our little kid songs, we say Joshua won the Battle of Jericho. But that's wrong. Yahweh won the Battle of Jericho. I tell that to my little girl every time she sings that song. No, Yahweh won the Battle of Jericho. No, Bob, it's Joshua. but it's Yahweh, because what's the story that precedes it? The story that precedes it is Joshua, the divine warrior appears to Joshua. And when he appears to Joshua holding a flaming sword, Joshua says, are you for us or for our enemies? And what does he say? No, I am the commander of the captains of the army of Yahweh. Meaning, Joshua, you don't have enemies. I define the enemies. I define who's your friends and who's your enemies. In other words, the captain of the army of Yahweh says, are you on my side? That's how that works. Yahweh is the one who fights battles. So when they say our battles, they are severely mistaken. Severely mistaken. So the wickedness is not just for autonomy, but it's the fact that they are now claiming every battle that has delivered them up into that point as their battle. This is Yahweh's battle. Now, let me point something out to you also. Remember, they said that what? We want a king to rule over us like the nations. There is a stark irony to this. There's a drastic irony to this. They want to give up their identity among the nation. They want to be like the nations, give up their distinctive identity among the nations. But more than that, more than that, in the book of Samuel, we actually see We actually see Israel becoming like the nations, which actually is a theme initiated in Judges, but we see the nations becoming like Israel. Let me show you something, and I think this is so cool. Turn to 1 Samuel 4. 1 Samuel 4. And it says, in 1 Samuel 4 verse 1, now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men on the field of battle. And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, why has the Lord defeated us today? They acknowledged that the Lord, Yahweh, had defeated them. But notice the statement that follows. The statement that follows is, Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it, not he, may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies. They're claiming their enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Notice this parenthetical comment, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. Now, if the elders of Israel had been thinking correctly, and they said, why has the Lord defeated us today? They would have made inquiry. They would have said, send a priest to see why the Lord has done this. But instead what they do, they say, let's get a good luck charm. Let's bring the ark. Let's bring the ark. Now why the ark? Why the ark? Because the ark was what led Israel. The ark represented, well scholars are actually divided on this, it may either represent the footstool that Yahweh would have ruled from or perhaps his throne. But whatever the case, the ark represents the ruling presence of God among his people. Now let me show you something. Turn to Numbers chapter 10. I told you I was gonna follow your pastor's precedent. Numbers chapter 10, starting at verse 33. So they sent out from the mount of the Lord three days journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days journey to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, but whenever they set out from the camp. And whenever the ark sent out, Moses said, arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered. and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, to the 10,000 thousands of Israel. There are two states for the ark, the ark at war and the ark at rest. But the ark was not the instrument of divine war. It merely symbolized what God himself had already begun. God had to be the initiator of warfare. Now, there are so many other themes in 1 Samuel chapter 8 that I wish I could unpack for you and I wish I had more time and maybe I'll just, I'm just gonna go home and I'll let you pose all those questions to Matt and I'll let him unpack them for you. But I want to unpack this theme a little bit more for you. Because they're claiming that these wars are their wars, and yet what we see is that that they don't understand divine warfare. And they're claiming that they want a king to rule over them like the nations, but what's actually happening is that the nations are becoming like them. Now, look at this. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 4. First Samuel chapter four, notice this, it says in verse five, as soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the voice of shouting, they said, what does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean? And when they heard the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, a god has come into the camp. And they said, woe to us, for nothing like this has happened. Woe to us. Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? Notice what follows. These are the god who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. They recognize and remember the history of this great god. Israel does not. Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have become slaves to you. Be men and fight. They do not want slavery. But Israel is willingly taking slavery on. Notice what else follows. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled every man to his home. And there was a great slaughter, for there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers, and the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. So the Ark is captured. Now, notice what's really interesting. Hophne and Phinehas die and what's narrated next is news is brought to Eli that Hophne and Phinehas has died and it doesn't bother him. What bothers him is the Ark has been stolen. And then notice, you know, you think, okay, so it's just the father that doesn't like the sons. But notice what else. Look at this, verse 19. Now his daughter-in-law, that's Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinhas, was pregnant and about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death, the woman attending her said to her, do not be afraid, for you have born a son. But she did not answer or pay attention, and she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory has departed from Israel. And Ichabod in Hebrew means, where is the glory? The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God had been captured, and because her father-in-law and her husband And she said, the glory had departed from Israel for the ark, and God had been captured. So notice the narrator emphasizes that what she's really upset about is the fact that the ark is gone. The emblem of the divine ruling presence was gone. And notice who's responsible for bringing it, for getting it captured. It's the elders of Israel. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, the people that are approaching Samuel for a king is not all Israel. It's the elders of Israel. The elders of Israel. The ones who were appointed to be the representative rulers of God's people would like to forfeit their own authority and responsibility for a king. Now, sometimes when we read Samuel, we can think, well, you know, Israel was kind of bad off because there was Hophni and Phinehas. And Hofne and Finhoff were bad priests. They were not only robbing the people, but they were sexually exploiting women. And so the reason why the people are so bad off is because of the priests. And that is true. But it's also the elders. The elders are the ones that would like to forfeit their responsibility at the price of not only their identity among the nations, but salvation. the fact that God could come and fight their battles. Now, I wish we had more time, because there's so many more themes, but let me keep just developing this theme of warfare. Notice the king that they ask for is a king whom they are going to choose, whom they are going to choose. And it's really fascinating. In the next chapter, in chapter nine, it says, there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, a son of Avigil, Right, this is Saul. And Saul in Hebrew means the one asked for. He is the king that they ask for. And I wish I could unpack for you how this all works, but sometimes we read the book of Samuel and we think, okay, this was plan A and it failed, and therefore God anointed David. But David was always plan A. David is God's king, the one whom God chose. What we see unfold with Saul is the one whom they choose. And let me just show you how the narrator of Samuel shows how Saul is not the one, he's not the divine warrior that was to fight Yahweh's battles. In the book of Samuel, you'll notice a very interesting phenomena, and that is the idea of poetry in Samuel. Now, as modern readers, we look at poetry in narrative and we tend to skip over it, much like genealogies, like Matt was talking about this morning. We see it and we kind of pass out. But, Because maybe we had bad memories of memorizing Emily Dickinson or something in high school, I don't know. But poetry has a very significant function in narrative. And what it does, it really has two functions. The first function is it structures narrative. It structures it. If you notice, if you've read through the book of Samuel, and if you haven't, go home and read it. But when you read through Samuel, you'll notice something very important. There's poetry at very important points of the book of Samuel. Think of 1 Samuel 2, Hannah's hymn. My horn exalts in Yahweh. There is no one like Yahweh. Right? And then think about this. Then we get the 2 Samuel 2 and we get this eulogy for Saul and Jonathan. Tell it not in gasp. And then at the end of Samuel, we get those two very long pieces of poetry, that song of deliverance, and then the final words of David. That shows how poetry actually structures the whole story. It structures it, but it also interprets it. Poetry, you have to take a lot of time to read. You have to slow down, you have to soak in metaphors and make sense of them. And in some ways, poetry helps draw attention to themes that the narrator wants you to see. And so to spend a week or two in these poems is actually quite beneficial because it begins to show you what the author wants you to see, which is important. And I'm going to show you something about how 2 Samuel chapter 2 actually tells us something about Saul. Let me just show you this. Look in 2 Samuel chapter 2, actually chapter 1, I'm sorry. Chapter 1 verse 19. What did you say? 2 Samuel chapter 1 verse 19. And notice the first words of David's lament. Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places, how the mighty have fallen. Notice, your glory. This is not the glory of Yahweh. Your glory. Saul is the glory of Israel, not of Yahweh. Your glory, O Israel, is slain. Remember, the glory had departed. The glory had departed with the ark. Now there's so much in this song, but now look at the last line. How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished. Saul was Israel's glory and their weapon of war. He's perished. It's a lament, but it's actually good news. This lament must precede the good news that the book of Samuel wants to present to us. What is that good news? That good news is shown in the story of David. Interesting, David gets anointed by Samuel. And when he gets anointed, right? God says to Samuel, he says, go to the sons of Jesse, for I have chosen from among him a king. I have chosen from among him his sons. I have seen to it, is literally in the Hebrew, I have looked to it. And then notice what else. When he chooses him, he says, behold, the man anointed this one. Right? And he anoints him. And then when he anoints him, the spirit of the Lord rushes upon David. Which is interesting, right? The Spirit of the Lord rushes mightily upon David, which is unprecedented, right? When the Spirit of the Lord came upon the judges, he merely clothed them. But with David, he rushes upon him. This is the same divine presence that they had willingly forsaken now rushes upon one man. But remember, in the David and Goliath story, what's one of David's words that he says right before he defeats Goliath? The battle is the Lord's. Israel thought it was their battle. David recognizes this is the Lord's battle. Now, let me show you one other thing. Because we get excited about, when you read the book of Samuel, you get excited about David. And it's a book that does get you excited about David, even the first song with Hannah, where she says, and the Lord will give strength to his anointed, to his king. And David does arise to the throne, and he does it without shedding blood. He gets to the throne. And then in 2 Samuel 7, which Matt read part of this morning, we get the Davidic covenant. I mean, the whole book of Samuel is a covenantal document. The whole book of Samuel is a covenantal document. And then notice what I want to show you In 2 Samuel chapter 7, starting at verse 9, we read the Davidic Covenant and we go, that's great news for David. Christ will come from, we know on this side of the New Testament, Christ himself will come from David. He's the one that will rule forever on David's throne. But then we may come away from the Davidic Covenant going, but how is that good news for me? That's a good question to ask. How is this good news? This good news is hinted at in verse 10. Yahweh says through his prophet Nathan, and I will appoint a place for my people Israel and I will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly from this time that I appointed judges over my people. Notice, the whole reason they wanted a warrior was so that they could secure the land. that they could secure a place, but they couldn't. I mean, that's why they wanted a king. They gave up on trusting Yahweh for it, so they wanted a king like the nations. So what happens here is as God brings David and places him on the throne, We have embedded with the Davidic Covenant this promise of land, of a place where God's people can dwell with God. Okay, so where's the good news for us? It's found right here in the Davidic Covenant. That's good news for us. Because if the trajectory was to keep going without a king, it would just keep getting worse, right? Which it was, you know, the Golden Calf incident was bad. And then we have, you know, Numbers 25, where they, as they're about to enter the promised land, right, they give themselves over to cultic prostitution. And then here in 1 Samuel 8, it's even worse, because they want to willingly give up their identity and divine presence. But it's when we get to the Davidic Covenant that we get the good news. The glory that they had exchanged will now return in the person of David and what God will do through David. But it's not David himself. And that's what we do need to come away with. When we read the book of Samuel, it can be extreme, it is, it's extremely disappointing. Because what happens nearly one or two chapters later, the whole Bathsheba incident. So when we leave the book of Samuel, when we read it, we started off with Hannah's song saying, Yahweh will give strength to his king, and we see this king with no strength. We get extremely disappointed. Why didn't David continue to fight Yahweh's wars for him? Because he's not the king whom God will give his strength to. And that's through Jesus. And I'm glad you guys are going through the book of Matthew, because Matthew shows that theme very clearly. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David. It's awesome. I want to show you one more thing. The book of Matthew does definitively show that Jesus is that Davidic king whom David failed to be. But turn to the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians tells us more clearly and explicitly in non-negotiable terms that Christ himself has obtained all this. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places. far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. He has received all authority. All authority. Jesus is that Davidic king. That king that every king from David to every king in between Jesus failed to fulfill. Like Matt said, even the good kings were a mixed bag. Now the good news for us is we can be part of that royal kingdom. And Paul says it so clearly in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ. The blessing is in Christ, in our union with Christ, in our relationship and fellowship and participation with Christ. And he says, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The spiritual blessing that God promised in seed form to David. The blessing of a land that the people of God can dwell, where we will not be shaken, where we will not be disturbed. as in the times past. Our blessing is secured, not in David, but in David's son. The thing I want to leave you with is, you know, this can sound really cool. This can sound really fascinating. But to break it down to where we are, we need to think a little bit more personally. And I want you to think about this question. The question I want you to think about is, in our moments of free time, of absolute free time, where we have technically no responsibilities and we can pursue what we like, what do we do? What do we do with our free time? See, that's precisely what the elders of Israel wanted. They wanted free time. They didn't just want autonomy, but they wanted the space to do what they pleased. So we gotta ask ourselves that question. When we're in our moments of free time, what is the thing we choose to do? Because the thing we choose to do reveals what is governing us. Is it the divine presence? Is it that presence that sat above the cherubim? Is it that divine presence that rushed mightily upon David? That led Israel through the wilderness? Is it that divine presence that governs us? Or are we like the elders of Israel that say, give us a king like the nations? Do we not just cast off that God is king, but the God is king who has given us his law, who has spoken clearly to us? Is that the thing that governs us? If it's not that thing that governs us, if Yahweh himself, if Jesus himself, the one who sits enthroned in heavenly places, is not the one who governs us, well, you fill in the blank. You fill in the blank. I mean, Hannah says that God will pursue his enemies into the darkness. David himself says that he has shattered the teeth of the wicked. The prophet Nahum says that God pursues his enemies in the darkness and he does not rise up twice. So if God, if the divine presence, if the son of David does not rule and reign in our hearts, let alone in our church, then what? What does? And that's the question we need to ask. Because it's what we do in our moments where we think we're free and not responsible to do anything or to pursue the mission of God. that we've given up and forsaken the Divine Presence. Let's bow in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Blessed Son, Eternal Spirit, we acknowledge that You are three Persons and one God forever. And we do thank You for bringing sinners to Your knowledge and to Your Kingdom. We do thank You that You have spoken clearly to us in Your Word We do thank you that you provide a place of redemption and hope, that you are the one who rules and reigns above all things, that the gods of the nations are idols, but you alone have created heaven and earth. And we do thank you that you do rule and reign despite our callous hearts, despite our sinful inclination for autonomy and free time. We thank you that there is good news and that there is hope and that you offer it to us freely in the gospel. I do pray that we would freely embrace it, that we would not be unchanged by the truth that we have learned. Lord, I do thank you for this dear body of believers, this dear group of saints. I do pray that you would continue to dwell among them and to quicken them and to give them more life, life abundantly. I do pray that your presence and your joy would reign through them and in them and permeate everything they do and say. I do pray In your name, Jesus, the one who authorizes us to pray and put our petitions before the Father. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, brother. I was really hoping that you would get a dose of the Apostle Paul and preach till midnight because I would I for one would not have fallen out the window. We're all riveted and what a river of truth and blessing the word of God is. Amen. Be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Glory to God. I just aren't you thankful for for God's word? God's Son. Well, let's stand and sing about this Son. There is a Redeemer. Let's sing a cappella. Jesus, God's own Son, Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One. Thank you, oh my father, for giving us your son and leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done. Jesus, my Redeemer, Name above all names. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, O for sinners slain. Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, and leaving your Spirit till the work on earth is done. When I stand in glory, I will see his face. There I'll serve my king forever in that holy place. Thank you, Amen. I'm going to ask Dennis Mitchell, if you would, to close us in prayer tonight. Lord, we are grateful. We are grateful that you have chosen to communicate to us through your word. We're grateful and thankful for what it does to us, Lord. Not only what it says to us, but what it does to us. And I would pray for us as we leave this place, that what we had heard tonight would take deep root in our hearts. Lord, I love how intricate and how deep your word is. Lord, it doesn't matter how much time you spend, there's always more deep things to mine from it. And I pray that as we give ourselves to your word, Lord, it would be the catalyst to change us into the image of the invisible God and make us, Lord, into Christ's image for him that we represent. And he is our King, as we've heard tonight. He is the King of Kings. for you to ever be praised, Lord God. Thank you so much, in Jesus' name, amen.