Obey the voice of the people in all that 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 I brought them up 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.” (I Samuel 8:7-9 ESV)
Enough Rope
God loves us enough to let us see the effects of our bad choices. He could simply arrange things so that we never have to learn about pain, sacrifice, or suffering. But instead, as the saying goes, He often gives us just enough rope to hang ourselves.
The tribes of Israel wanted a king like other nations had. God warned them of what kind of king that would be, but they persisted. So God gave them what they wanted. He gave them Saul.
And they suffered.
If that was the end of the story, we would wonder what God was doing.
But the story goes on to David. After they had endured Saul, God gave them a king after God’s own heart, David. They learned the hard way. And God gave relief.
But the story doesn’t even end there. David was not perfect. Subsequent kings were tragedies. Because God was still giving that rope… so that eventually they (we) would realize just how much we need the One True King, Jesus.
And we are learning that lesson, yes? When we trust in other things, like our money, our government, or our abilities, it ends usually like Israel and Saul.
But then, we get to turn to Jesus… again and again.
He gives us enough rope… and He continually saves us.
We are peculiar, God gives us enough rope, and then saves us from our choices.