Samuel Anoints David
Illuminated initial on parchment showing Samuel anointing David with Jesse nearby; from the "Bedford Psalter and Hours" between circa 1414 and circa 1422. Held and digitized by the British Library.
Having a king in Israel was not God's idea; it was the people's demand, so they could be like the nations around them. Samuel resisted, but they persisted. Samuel consulted God about it, and God enabled him to see that their request was not a sign of obedience, but rather one of rejection. In so many words, God said, "Give them what they want, and in the end, their desire will be their downfall." ( I Samuel 8).
And so it was, beginning immediately with their first king, Saul. The downward spiral continued for 300 years, until the time of the fall of the Northern kingdom, followed about 135 years later with the fall of the Southern kingdom. And after returning from exile in 586 BCE, things were never the same again.
All this raises the question, "What was so bad with the people wanting a king? The overarching answer is, "Both the people and the king forgot that God alone is king." The people looked to a humans to save them, and Saul was ready to accept their invitation. Today, narcissists are always present step in to accept the crown. Once you have a king, you think he is king--and once someone is made a king, he thinks he is a king-- and acts like it.
As that mindset increasingly took over in Israel, it did not make the nation strong, it made it weak. The fact that kings did some good things did not change the fundamental sin; actually, it provided a smoke screen to keep the nation from realizing it was moving, not toward greatness, but toward collapse – what we call the Babylonian Captivity.
We are once again living in a nation where many (as in Samuel's day) are wanting a king to "make the nation great again." In Donald Trump (like Saul) we have a narcissist willing to accept the crown and act like a king every chance he gets. And like ancient Israel, enough good things are happening (e.g."the economy's good" – what else could you ask for?) to hide the fact that Trump is a bad king – for one fundamental reason: he is not a king, only God is King.
Eugene Peterson wrote about this, "Internally, there is a fatal flaw that shows up sooner than anyone would have ever thought possible...Because [Saul] was the king, he assumed that everything, even God, was at his disposal. But God will not be used." [1]
The tragic thing in our nation today, is not that there are narcissists ready to be kings and "save the day," – that has always been true. The tragedy in our nation now, as with Israel then, lies in masses of people who want a king, are willing to coronate him, and believe that in doing so they are are headed for greatness. [2]
[1] Eugene Peterson, "Every Step an Arrival"(Waterbrook, 2018), 64.
[2] The problem is compounded (then and now) as segments of the religious community fawn over the king, give him godlike status, and believe he is in office because God is pleased with him. Some priests did the same in ancient Israel, eating at Jezebel's table (1 Kings 18:19). Some well-known religious fundamentalists are doing it in our nation today, and exhorting their followers to do the same.
Steve Harper New
The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper and his wife, Jeannie Waller Harper.
The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is a retired seminary professor, who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of 31 books and a retired Elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, he and his wife Jeannie Waller Harper are frequent leaders of workshops and spiritual retreats. This post is republished with permission from his blog Oboedire.