Until the 20th century one of the most popular cure-all's was something known as quicksilver. Quicksilver was said to be the cure for indigestion, syphilis, hair loss and old age. It was a fantastic medicine, it would do it all. The problem with quicksilver was that it didn't do all these things. It does not cure anything, and as a bonus it is highly poisonous. Quicksilver is a really cool name for the element Mercury. Mercury poisoning causes "paralysis, insanity, loss of motor control and death." During the better part of three or four centuries people would take quicksilver with the effect of getting worse and not better.
So the question is how did mercury get a reputation as a cure all when it poisoned? The answer seems to be that mercury looked kind of magical, its a metal that stays liquid at room temperature. It was a case where it looked magical, it looked like a medicine. There was certainly no empirical proof that mercury lived up to its reputation, in fact it was quite the opposite. It was easy, it did everything, it was supposed to cure everything you could possibly ever have, take it, its easy, it will solve the problem.
Kingship. The closest thing we have now is the royal family of Britain. They are a far cry from the old school kings. The traditional kings, the historical kings seem dated, and foreign to us in a way that the current British crown does as well. The idea of giving complete control to one man, setting him up as absolute authority seems like a disastrous and idiotic idea. So when I read through Samuel and reach the 8th chapter I have a hard time comprehending the request "give us a king". It seems odd to have a group of people asking to be relieved of their money, their children, the best of their property, and their right to complain or stop any of this from happening. This is exactly what the people of Israel are asking for, they are asking for someone to come in, steal, kidnap, rape, murder, and to do it with the full weight of the law. What??!!??
When they come to Samuel with this request he isn't pleased, and neither is God. God being good and gracious does not just grant them what they ask for and let them find out the joy of being a subject to a king, he actually lays out exactly what the king will do.
"This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for 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 groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." I Samuel 8:11-17
The Israelites live in a country surrounded by kingdoms. They have plenty of object lessons on what it is like to live under the rule of men. They have been oppressed historically, they know what having a king is all about. Just in case there was some kind of misconception, some belief that it will be different God lays it out. Here is everything a king will do to you, your children, and your children's children. This is the system you are asking for. Then God puts it to a vote, after hearing all of this, do you still want a king? Do you want to take quicksilver? Its poison, it will kill you, I know it looks good, but it will cause insanity and death.
Yes, not just yes, but heck yes, give us that!!! Give us a king!!
WHAT???!!!
Seriously?
This is what you want?
Here is the thing, this is what they wanted, and its what we want too. We are all quick to give up responsibility. Responsibility is heavy, it weighs on us. Lets start simple with a simple example, a houseplant. How many have had the experience of going out of town and thinking as your getting in the car, I wonder if the plants will be alive when I get home, guess I should have thought of that. What about a pet? Can't just leave them, have to get someone to watch them or bring them with you. Get married, be a man who takes on the responsibility of a wife, have children. Finances, home repair, dinner, its heavy, its hard, we just want to give it to someone else.
Do we as a society want someone to fix things? What are all these "public services" if not? Public education, transportation, healthcare? People just want someone else to fix it, to take care of it, to do it for them. There is a cost though.
When transportation is public you don't get to go directly where you want, or stop wherever you want. You don't get to choose the amenities. You get in, you sit down, and you ride. You involve government in education and you don't get to dictate what your child learns or the quality of their teachers.
Now imagine that responsibility being national defense, not in the sense of being part of the National Guard, but in the sense of supplying the tanks, guns, missiles. You were responsible as a people to individually go out into battle trusting God to deliver you from the people you were fighting.
Israel of the time had faced war for countless years. They had been beaten and oppressed by all the surrounding peoples. We have the benefit of seeing these struggles as ordained by God, a way of God bringing his people back into his will. In our everyday lives we react like the Israelites did. We see trials and we seek to solve the trials in pragmatic ways. We see financial struggles we respond with hiring financial advisors. We have medical problems we go to the doctor. Now there isn't anything wrong with those things, but trusting in those things, believing they will save you is wrong. The Bible is very clear that God was using the various people to bring the Israelites back to him. Their sin was the root cause of their continuous struggle, yet like us in our lives they looked for a physical solution to a spiritual problem.
Their burden of responsibility was heavy, they were tired of fighting for themselves, they just wanted to have a guy who would do it for them, take on the job of national defense. If it costs them, it was a price they were willing to pay.
"We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." I Samuel 8:19-20
The Israelites wanted a warlord. They wanted someone to fix the problem, they wanted someone to lead them up into battle. The oppression they had experienced was from God, he had brought them the trials. This was their solution. They rejected God as ruler, they turned to man, a warlord to fix their problem.
We never get what we want. As Goliath taunts the Israelites Saul hides along with his men. David stays in Jerusalem in the time when kings go out to war. Israel will find out that a king is just a man, and he will seek others to shoulder the burden that is his own. He will sin and cause them suffering, he will take and not give. He will not protect them, in fact he will seek to murder them. Sin is quicksilver, it looks good but it will cause insanity and death.
