Sunday Recap for 10/15, Why should we listen to wisdom from others?
Sunday, October 15, Evident Grace Fellowship looked at 1 Samuel 8:10-22
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 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 and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. 19b And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 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.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
We looked at this Big Picture Question from that passage.
Why should we listen to wisdom from others?
- It an be wisdom from God
- Forces us to sift our desires
- Yet, God doesn’t reject us when we don’t
It can be wisdom from God
1 Samuel 8:10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 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 and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.
We should be stuck with the book ends of this section of text….it starts with,
“Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people…..but they refused to obey the voice of Samuel. Which we know is the voice of God.”
What don’t we see here? We don’t see any dialogue or interaction with Samuel here, do we? It really doesn’t matter at all what he said to them. Their mind was made up and nothing was going to change it. We need to realize that God often uses others in our lives to speak truth into ours and vice-a-versa.
Forces us to sift our desires
19b And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 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.”
As we are seeking wisdom out from those with greater experience and life than us it should bring us to a place a sifting our desires. Asking hard questions about ourselves
Or said another way, if someone is speaking into our lives, our first response shouldn’t be to dismiss their words but to genuinely hear them…and then begin the process of asking hard questions about them. Are these words true? Am I in error? Have I sinned? What our my motives/desires? Are they good? Until we have done that hard work and come through it with a clear conscience that you have taken their words and examined them from every angle, there’s work to be done.
Yet, God doesn’t reject us when we don’t
21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
Through all this, and so much more – good and bad, as the history of kings unfold for Israel and Judah, God doesn’t reject his people. He keeps his covenant, he keeps his promises even though his people, even though we, sin against him, reject his words, his wisdom. Even though we seek to replace Christ as King in our lives in so many ways.
Ultimately, we know who the true King is, don’t we? Jesus….In spite of all this stuff going on with God’s people…..He is still sending his son to live for them, to die for them, and to be raised for them. And this is true for you as well!