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Our text today follows a powerful display of God’s power and help. A time when the people were following God’s plan and turning, directing their heart to God. and the people saw wonderful blessings and protection. 

They saw God deliver them, bless them. 

But sadly it did not last. 

Our text today picks up around 30 years after the revival and deliverance of Israel in chapter 7.

Let's Pray. 
Have you ever researched a product before you bought it? 

When you buy something like It’s important to be aware of what it is capable of. 

But investing in something isn’t the only area of life you need to know what something is capable of.

As we live our life, we need to know what the human heart is capable of. 

One of the powerful purposes of the Old Testament is how often it shows us what the human heart is capable of. Not just human heart in general but your heart and mine.

In the Bible, we learn the heart that is capable of so much.
It’s capable of loving God and worshipping Him with “all our heart” but is also capable of much destruction, idolatry, rejection of God’s path. 

in our text today, the story of the monarchy comes to the front, 

what becomes clear is the heart of man and the corruption that can flow out of it. 

God’s own people, who in chapter 7 followed God’s plan, turned from idols to God and saw amazing deliverance and protection now 30 years later have once again turned their hearts from God 

In our text today,
We Need to be aware of The Corruption Of The human heart 

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

The corruption of the human heart is seen in 3 different ways/examples

First of all, The corruption of the human heart is seen in 

1. The Demand for a king 

God had established pathway for introducing a monarchy, doing it in submission to his ultimate authority. 

What the people asked for was different. They wanted a king in their way according to their timeline.  Our text shows us the backstory to this self-centered demand. 

A. The Leadership problem 

1 Samuel 8:1 -3

Samuel’s ministry began against the backdrop of two wicked sons perverting justice and performing great wickedness. 

Now sadly, Samuel’s son are no different, not walking in his ways and perverting justice, taking bribes, dishonest gain. 

Even here, there hearts are so easily turned from the ways of God.  

This is a serious leadership problem 

which brings us to the 

B. The Elder’s Solution 

The elders see a genuine problem. They don’t want a repeat of Eli’s sons. The elders seem to be knowledgable enough to know that kind of leadership only leads to more evil. 

but… instead of trusting God and turning to Him they take matters into their own hands. 

We saw ch. 4-6 what happens but those events are over 50 years. 

Their solution here is to demand a king. 

A valid desire but done in all the wrong ways.  

 

Deuteronomy 17:14–15

“make us a king” vs “provided myself a king”

1 Samuel 16:1 

The people were not willing for God to establish the monarchy in his timeline and provided a king in his way. 

They were done relying on judges to lead them. Because of the condition of their hearts, they were no longer willing to trust God and rely on Him to provide for their needs. 

C. Samuel’s Response 

“So Samuel prayed to the Lord.”

1. Samuel is displeased. This is evil to him 

Maybe partly personal, his own sons have failed. his families influence will be greatly limited. but whatever personal reasons there may be it is true that Samuel knows a monarchy is not to be done for selfish reasons. It is not to be requested simply because the people are tired of the way things are.
So Samuel is displeased. He considered it wrong or evil but 

 

Samuel’s role is not to make the decision about a king. So Samuel performs his role as priest and prays to God. He knows God is not pleased with the request but He knows God’s ways are not his ways. 

D. God’s Verdict

 

The Verdict: Obey/listen to the voice of the people. Give the people what they want. 

“7 they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 

The reason for the verdict: 

“they have rejected me” 

       “I should not reign over them”

reign means submitting to God, obeying Him, waiting on Him, serving/worshipping Him. 

The people no longer wanted this. 

No longer willing to submit to the reign of God. 

No longer willing to trust God alone. 

 

The danger of the human heart. 

“they have forsaken me and serve/worship other gods”

in their rejection of the true king, they have become like all the other nations in putting their trust in someone or something other than God. 

This pattern has followed Israel since the Exodus, over 400 years. 

 

What God is showing is the path of destruction that has flowed out of the hearts of Israel. 

Generation after generation. Despite seeing the Exodus, deliverance time and time again continually fail to worship God exclusively 

Let’s turn a few pages over to Judges 2, 

Judges 2:10-19 gives us a glimpse of this pattern 

This is a serious problem embedded deep in the human heart. 

Following other gods, serving and bowing down to them. Giving worship to someone or something other than God. How tragic. 

The Heart will always worship. The question is who or what will the heart worship? 

God knew this, He’s seen it all along and is not surprised by this generations failure. Despite the amazing victories he once again provided in ch. 7. 

 

This should serve as a wake up call to the corruption that is possible in the heart of man. God’s own chosen people continually follow their corrupt heart and turn from God, they forsake God as they serve other gods. 

This should at least make us pause to reflect on how lengths the human heart will go to cling to anything or anyone. 

Look at what the heart is capable of. 

And then we have to stop and look at our hearts. 

What would God say of the last year, the last 5 years of our heart. How much have we given God our whole heart? 

or how much would the story of Israel’s heart, their track record match your heart? 

For Christians, we have the amazing blessing of being given a new heart at salvation but we still must be cautious of hearts. Honest about what the human heart is capable of. 

As God’s response to Samuel finishes, he once again tells Samuel to heed or obey the voice of the people. To listen to them. But he also gives Samuel a specific command. 

That command is to warn the people. 

The corruption of the human heart is seen in 

2. The Behavior of a King (vs 9-18)

 

Rejecting God as THE King bring consequences 

As God responds to Samuel’s request, he tells Samuel to obey the people and warn the people. 

If they want a king in their way, it’s going to cost them. 

In part because of the logistics of building a kingdom but throughout these warnings, the heart of a man with that much power will display the corruption of man’s heart. 

The Cost of having a King.

That cost will come in part because of the danger’s that come from power. 

The Cost of “royal control”

Once a King is anointed, there will be many new ways of doing things, a military, much of what has been divided will now be united and there is a cost for all of this. on top of that, the King’s corrupt heart is going to bring a cost as well because he has access to so much power. 

So Samuel gives a warning about the behavior of a king and in so doing also gives a warning of the human heart. God knows the heart and knows what it is capable of. If the people want a king they need to know what the consequences are. they need to know giving a man that much power brings many consequences and risks. Israel seems all too eager to get the answer to their request but God wants them to be aware of the consequences that come with their demand. 

So Samuel walks through all that is included 

uniting the tribes of Israel will bring many logistical challenges, and Samuel warns of the cost to the people.

There will be be people required for military, for administration, resources to sustain the monarchy 

1 Samuel 8:10-11

Take language. 6 times the language of “take” is used to show the cost to the people of Israel.
Someone has to pay for the King and the kingdom that follows.

The text also refers to the personal cost of this when the personal pronoun “your” is used 12 times. 

This is the cost of having a human king in their way. With God as a King he had claims on all these, now a man will lay claims to what belongs to the people. 

The Consequences of demanding a king

The consequences will bring loss, fear, pain. The people will cry out. 

Wanting freedom from the very thing they asked for, 

They people wanted a protector but instead would receive a tyrant. 

the very man they thought would bring security and victory brings oppression and depression. 

The corruption of the human heart that lead to this demand will be displayed in the answer to their demand. 

The power given to one man will not help his corrupt heart. 

There will be good examples of a King ruling well but in light of the corruption that flows from the human heart, their will be many more examples of corruption that flows form the position of King. 

God knows our hearts and was very specific with his instructions for establishing a monarchy for this exact reason. Power + Corrupt heart is a recipe for disaster. 

And the Israelites will have this recipe given to them just as they demand. 

Sadly, these consequences will be much more than they ever considered. 

Samuel concludes with a sobering warning 

“18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

warning:  “the Lord will not hear you in that day”

In chapter 7 the people asked Samuel to cry out on their behalf and God heard them. 

Here in Chapter 8, the people have rejected God’s plan and when they will cry out for relief from the wicked actions of their demanded king, the text says 

“Now the people cry out and the Lord does not hear them”

They have rejected God as their king. Unwilling to put their trust in God. and the response from God is silence. 

This warning brings us so close to the dangers of demanding of God. 

Led by their heart instead of God’s plan, the people got the very thing they wanted. and it failed to deliver what they wanted 

 

Question: Have you ever pleaded with God for something only to get it and realize just how wrong your request was? 

One of the blessings of unanswered prayer is that God often is protecting us from our corrupt heart. By not getting what we asked for, wanted so badly, we get more of God. We grow to rely on God more than if we had been given the answer to our prayer and in return trusted God less. 

What does this mean for prayers. Scripture invites us to ask, but we must check our motives, not asking selfishly as James warns us, asking submissively as Jesus prays and then waiting in faith as we put our trust in God and not in the answers to prayer that He provides. 

Test: When you pray, is God enough? Would God be enough if they prayer you’ve been praying is never answered. 

The corruption of the human heart is seen in 

3. The Reasons for a King 

After Samuel gives the warnings and consequences of picking a king, the people boldly refused Samuel. 3 times in our text today, Samuel was told to obey or “listen to the people” yet sadly, the people never listened to Samuel. Their own representative before God. 

Once again, Samuel opens up the human heart and walks us through the ways it can be deceived. 

the people demanded  “We will have a king over us”. 

Their response is very telling. In their heart, they had already decided what they wanted. Nothing Samuel or God said was going to change their mind.

Deuteronomy 1:30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

The problem was not simply an external problem that would be fixed with a king. Israel’s problem was a spiritual problem. A problem of their heart.

a “No” wasn’t all they responded with. 

With their heart set on getting what they wanted, they respond to Samuel with their reasons for wanting a king. 

Observations: The heart is easily influenced. As the people give their reasons they make sense to them. It doesn’t matter how much it goes against God’s will. Against what they know is right or wrong.  once their heart is set on it 

Their reasons for a king revealed…

1 Sam 8:19-21

A. A Lack of Identity 

Verse 20 

“that we also may be like all the nations”

Direct contradiction  “Set apart” “Be like all the nations”

God called Israel to be Holy. set apart. 

Leviticus 20:26

Looking at God not other nations. 

yet the people have grown tired of being different. they’ve lost their identity as God’s chosen people. 

 This is such a dangerous place to be in. Your God given identity is something you must never let culture trample. The lies all around us in our culture will give you an endless list of options to use to form your identity. 

Israel sadly looked at the cultures around them and gave in, they rejected their identity as set apart, as holy.
their heart craved to fit in, to be accepted, to be like everyone else. 

and this flows from their hearts to their mouths.
We don’t have to wonder what they were thinking. 

As Luke 6:45 says..For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

 

Their reasons for a king revealed  

B. A Lack of Patience
“and that our king may judge us”

Israel no longer was willing to wait on Judges who received their direction from God. 

They wanted direct access to the king. They didn’t want to have to wait.

Israel craved security and in return received sorrow and sadness. 

The Security they craved can only be found in right relationship with God. Internal not external change. 

it happened 30 years before when their hearts turned to God. 

Their reasons for a king revealed 

C. A Lack of Trust

“and go out before us and fight our battles”

Where was there heart? Would they trust God?

Look what happened in Chapter 7:8, 10, 12

God was able to do all the was necessary to provide salvation for Israel. He had never failed them in the past. Every time they trust God he delivered them. He provided a rescuer. Look at Samuel. A Miracle 

Yet Israel, little by little had become inpatient, unwilling to trust God to deliver them. They gave in to their hearts desire and demanded a king like all the other nations so they could put their trust in a person to rescue them at any moment instead of God. They had rejected God as their King 

 

Samuel reveals here 3 wrong motivations. Three ways their heart had turned from God’s way 

The main issue for Israel here is they abandoned God. No longer willing to rely and trust on God. 

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Wanting to be like others. Not content or patient Not willing to Trust God’s plan 

 

Here are Israel’s reasons for a king. Their own sinful heart is revealed in these requests. 

The text concludes our passage showing Samuel repeating their reasons for a king 

and the Lord’s simple response is “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”
Give them what they want. 

The people have hardened their hearts so much against God’s plan and his messenger and yet God choses to give the people what they ask for.
Here, God’s power is on display, the people have rejected God so much in the over 400 years since the Exodus yet He is patient and loyal to them.
God knows the king is going to bring much sorrow and difficulties but even in this failure, God will powerfully bring good from it, to accomplish His perfect plan.  

God will rescue people from their corrupt hearts and sinful actions.

The chapter comes to a close then with Samuel send the men to their homes, almost leaving some sense of suspense, and you have to come back next week to find out what Samuel’s response is to the Lord’s answer. 

Conclusion

3 examples of the corruption the human heart is capable of. 

Sad, sobering examples. How do we respond? 

No matter who you, be willing to be honest about what your heart is capable of. 

We need a rescuer. Someone to free us from the evil’s that the human heart can produce. 

Jesus came to rescue us not only from sin but also our own selves. 

Romans 1 speaks of the depths of the human heart. 

As dark as the Bible’s descriptions of the human heart may be, there is hope. 

When Jesus forgives us of our sin, he gives us a new heart 

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

When Christ saves us from our sins we are given a new heart, one that can love God but  the battle for our hearts continue. we must guard our hearts. 

or as Proverbs 4:23 says… Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

We have to constantly be on guard for sin, for ways our heart is pulled to this world, areas where the flesh is winning. Aware of ways we are slowly pushing God out and making room for idols. 

These changes are often gradual. Our text today picked up 30 years after Israel’s obedience and God’s display of amazing power.  This didn’t happen overnight. 

Their hearts drifted from loving God. 

This drift can be so subtle but so dangerous 

When you look at your heart, where is your heart today? 

Are you becoming someone who loves God more and more? Or is your heart drifting little by little from loving and serving God completely 

This drift happens little by little. one compromise at a time. 

But if you’re not careful you can find yourself a year from now in a place you never thought you would.
This is why Proverbs 4 is such an important reminder. Keep your heart daily! 

Continually examine your heart. As you read God’s word, does it bring conviction of sin? Does it reveal areas of your life you need to confess?
Scripture is so powerful because it is a living and breathing book, it reveals God and it reveals our sin. It allows us to little by little direct our heart back to God. 

So that we can keep our guard our heart. So that we can love God. 

This task of guarding your heart is something that only you can do. 

no one else can guard your heart, can keep your heart. 

How do we guard our hearts? 

What this means is we have to
1. Daily ask the Spirit to search out hearts. 

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

As the Spirit searches our hearts, we recognize sin as sin and we confess that sin. 

Look for areas where you have rejected Christ as King of your heart.
Look for areas where you are not willing to submit to Christ as King, as Lord of your life. It may be your time, your money, Holding back part of your life, not willing to trust God and submit to Him. Confess this 

2. We must sow to the Spirit 

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 

 

3. Renew our minds 

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

 

We must live aware of our easily our hearts can be pulled to the world. Knowing what the heart is capable of, we never enter a day confident in our own strength.
We look to the word, continually seeking to be transformed by it. 

When you understand the sinfulness of your heart you realize how essential God’s word is. Not just on Sundays at church. You need to feed on the word throughout the week. Read it, study it, meditate on it so that your heart grows to love Christ more and the world less. 

4. Seek after God 

Colossians 3:1-5

This is your identity. A child of God, redeemed by God.
Your heart no longer belongs to the world, it belongs to King Jesus

Do you pursue your King? submit to Him and worship Him? 

We must put all of our energy to loving God, to learning more about Him and worshipping him. Not giving our heart any occasion to grow cold, to love the World. to love something more than God. to give it a place of higher importance than God 

The heart of man is capable of so much. 

As we have seen today, we need to be aware of the corruption that is possible of man’s heart but we also know what God can do with our heart. 

With the help of the Spirit, may you guard your heart, protect it from the flesh and the world and day by day grow to love and serve the true King with all your heart!