In 1 Samuel 8:4-5 we read, "So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, 'You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.'" The prophet Samuel was upset at the children of Israel's request for a king; however, God knew what was happening. And in 1 Samuel 8:7-8 we read, "And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.'"

God had everything under control and many years before He had given Moses instructions as to how a king was to be selected. God knew the sinful hearts of the children of Israel and He also knew that one day they would want to be just like everyone else. In Deuteronomy 17:14-15 we read, "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, 'Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,' be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite."

We serve an all knowing God, who prior to the children of Israel entering the promised land, knew they would one day desire a king to rule over them. He was to be an Israelite and was to be chosen by God. Samuel in 1 Samuel 12:12-13 admonished the children of Israel with these words, "But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'--even though the Lord your God was your king. Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you." And so God granted their request for a king as we read in Acts 13:21, "Then the people asked for a king, and He gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years."

God gave Moses specific instructions regarding a potential king. Deuteronomy 17:16 tells us the king was not to acquire a great number of horses for himself and was not to cause or command the children of Israel to return to the land of Egypt. And in verses 17:18-19 we read, "When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees."

The king was to make a copy of the Bible; i.e. Torah, for himself. The king, under the direction of the Levitical priests, was to hand-write a copy of the law, was to read it daily, and was to live according to its words. This was so the king would remain humble and not think too highly of himself. He was also to hold and view God with a proper perspective; with awe and reverence.

The king was to literally make a copy of the Bible for himself. By doing so the word of God would become a part of him. I can only imagine the time, energy, and level of commitment this task would require. God's desire was for the king of Israel to be a man who was different than all of the other nations' kings. God knows the hearts of men and as He warned in Deuteronomy 17:17, "He [the king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray." King Solomon must have forgotten to copy this part for in 1 Kings 11:3-4 we read, "He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been."

Very few of us have been called to be kings on this earth, yet how often can we say that we have been guilty of forsaking God? And how many times have we fallen into the sinful trap of desiring to be like others? May we be encouraged by the words of Joshua 1:8, which read, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." I pray that we would become men and women who delight in and meditate upon the law of the Lord. Amen. (See also Psalm 1:2).