Today I am going to continue the sermon I gave last time called “Are you ready to be king?” In Part one, we discussed how God is grooming His people to one day rule with His son starting at Christ’s return. We talked about how God felt about being King over Ancient Israel and how His people treated Him that lead to the death of Uzzah while improperly transporting the Ark of the Covenant. Lastly, we talked about the conditions that need to be in place before God will bring us into His Court to rule with His son. First, we must want to be led by God. We cannot rule with Christ unless we willingly submit to the rule of God. We are being tested now to see if we indeed want to be led by God. If, we truly want to follow Him, he will delegate leadership. The question is up to us.

Today in part II I want to cover 7 specifics attributes of a Godly king. We have so many examples to choose from both good and bad but today I want to focus most on positive attributes. Now have you thought much about ascending to the throne prepared by God for us? We should probably start with; do you even want to rule as a King? Over the years I have gotten to know many types of people. Some are very comfortable with leadership positions, being in charge. Others, I have learned, do not want to be in charge and are uncomfortable with the notion of being the one that has to make all the difficult decisions in life. What is our view of authority and leadership? Where do we get our ideas? We don’t live in a kingdom after all and the examples we have of rulership are not always stellar. But we do have some Idea of what it is like to be in charge but as a King? What do we know about being a king anyway? We could ask the kids here what stories they know about being in a royal family. Do we know any stories about being a member of a royal family? If you watch many Disney movies you can’t help run across stories of Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses galore. We see that some are good and some are bad. But is that what we want?

Well, most girls go through at least a portion of their childhood wanting to be a princess. Generally, the Boys relate more to the hero of these stories than the King. They see themselves as the valiant Knight that protects the Kingdom from evil but even in that they often end up with the princess and prepare for the throne. Is that what we want? Well, Hollywood gets some things straight but often leaves out much of story as we will see. For instance, how do you rule with Christ anyway? We get a clue from Revelation 5:9-10 Revelation 5:9-10 9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." We see that we will be either Kings or Priests, or maybe both to God. One example is to look at the US government. Not everyone in the government is the president. There are congressmen, Senators, Judges, as well as Secretaries of State, Defense, Education, Agriculture and many other areas of responsibility. Even though these are very different jobs, they are all part of the same leadership of this country. Take a look at what Jesus promises in John 14: as He is preparing His disciples for what is to come to pass at His return.

John 14:2-3 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. We are being prepared to be part of God’s government to rule with Him as part of His administration. Paul also gives some vital information on this subject to the Corinthians as he chastises them about taking one another to court. 1 Corinthians 6:1-3 NKJ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? Later, in chapter 12, Paul gives an analogy about the functioning of a human body and how it is like the church representing the body of Christ; Each one different but all vital to the healthy functioning of the body.

Reading from the New Living Translation we can see the detail that Paul gives to this analogy starting in verse 18: 1 Corinthians 12:18-27 NLT But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. 19 What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." 22 In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, 24 while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27 Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it So we should not worry about the job we are being called to do is outside of our gifts or that we will hate to role that has been prepared for us. What we want to focus on is how to ready ourselves to serve. I hope that gets you fired up and thinking about your future.

God knows us and what we like and don’t like. What is planned for us is so much more than we can even imagine. God did not call us to play a harp on cloud 9. To sit around for eternity; we have an exciting future and we should spend some quality time thinking about what that will mean to us. These promises were given to inspire and strengthen us through the many hard times of life. So what does God want from each of us to be a member of His ruling family? What attributes should we work to strengthen and what should we seek to develop? When you think of Kings from the Old Testament you almost immediately think of King David. But David was not the first human King of Israel as we discussed last time in part I. God ruled Israel until they rejected Him and asked for a King and Saul became that king. Now history records that Saul was a poor example as king and so we often do not study him. The purpose for the sermon today is not to pick out the negative attributes to avoid, but to focus on the positive. So you might wonder why we will start with Saul? Through this sermon we need to see ourselves as future rules with Jesus Christ.

Few people would say, “Yea, I’m just like King David”, we see ourselves flawed and unworthy to be compared to the one defeated Goliath. Saul, on the other hand, with all his faults, seems more human, more down to earth; and if there is good in him that we can find, then in some ways he is more relatable. Expositors Bible Commentary describes Saul this way. Expositor's Bible Commentary Scholarly studies of Saul, the first king of Israel, have depicted him as (among other things) villain, tragic figure, flawed ruler, naive farm-boy, degenerate madman, fate-driven pawn, reluctant king—the list goes on and on. Such characterizations are at least partially true; Saul was surely one of the most complex persons described in Scripture. Notice that almost all the above portrayals are decidedly negative. Historically writers have focused on the darker side of Saul's nature. While not wishing to deny that side, I am sympathetic with those scholars (still in the minority, to be sure) who attempt to portray Saul more fairly by means of a closer reading of the text itself. Fresh winds are blowing in Saulide scholarship, and Israel's first king is undergoing a long-overdue rehabilitation. Although at times moody, impulsive, suspicious, violent, insincerely remorseful, out of control, and disobedient to God, at other times he was kind, thoughtful, generous, courageous, very much in control, and willing to obey God. There is a lot to relate to in that sentence. Both Moody, and thoughtful, impulsive, yet generous, both out of control and very much in control, and willing to obey God.

You see, in Saul we can see both our strengths and weaknesses and it is here that we begin our search for the 7 positive Attributes of a Godly King. You will remember last time we read in 1 Samuel 8:6-7 that Israel goes to Samuel and asks for a King and God replied that the people were not rejecting the Judges but that they were rejecting God that He should not reign over them. Picking up the story in Verse 22, I want to read from the NLT because the story flow is so much nicer. NLT 1 Samuel 8:22 - 9:3 22 and the LORD replied, "Do as they say, and give them a king." Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home. 1 Samuel 9:1 Kish was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin. 3 One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, "Take a servant with you, and go look for them." So let’s not kid ourselves. The donkey did not just run away. God is working out this plan to bring a new king to Israel. Moving down to verse 6: NLT 1 Samuel 9:6 6 But the servant said, "I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go." Again, do you really think that this servant was not inspired to go to the very man that God has commissioned to anoint a King?

Continuing on to verse 15: NLT 1 Samuel 9:15-17 15 Now the LORD had told Samuel the previous day, 16 "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry." 17 When Samuel noticed Saul, the LORD said, "That's the man I told you about! He will rule my people." So when we think of the problems that Saul had as King of Israel, let us first remember that the people did not pick Saul, it was God who chose him. Through this incident Saul was introduced to Samual and Samuel anoints him ruler over the people. He tells Saul to do a number of tasks and that certain things would happen to him. Notice in chapter 10: starting in verse 6. NLT 1 Samuel 10:6-7. 6 At that time the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you with power, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. 7 After these signs take place, do whatever you think is best, for God will be with you. So we see here a number of things. First of all God chose Saul because He had mercy on His people who rejected Him.

Second the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and changed him by giving him power and gifts he needed to continue. And last we see a test of Character for Saul that Samuel told him to do what ever he thinks best. After all these things came to pass, Samuel announced that Saul was chosen by God to be their king. But this reminds us when we judge Saul we must remember that He was the Lord’s anointed and while it is OK to learn lessons from his story, we should never condemn anyone, much less one anointed King by God. In verse 23 we get a clue why God chose Saul. NLT 1 Samuel 10:23-25 23 So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to all the people, "This is the man the LORD has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is his equal!" And all the people shouted, "Long live the king!" 25 Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were. He wrote them down on a scroll and placed it before the LORD. Then Samuel sent the people home again. So God chose a man that would be respected by the people to lead them. This was exactly the type of man the people could get behind.

Can you imagine if God would have brought someone like David, who was neither impressive to look at or looked anything like a king. God knew what the people were looking for and gave them just that. But God also gave Saul help in the form of the Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps. But this does not tell us much about Saul does it. What kind of man was he? Why did God chose him over all the others. So picture this, You have been make King over the whole land. God’s prophet has given you a scroll with your duties and responsibilities and told you to do what you think is best. What do you do? NLT 1 Samuel 10:26-27 26 When Saul returned to his home at Gibeah, a band of men whose hearts God had touched became his constant companions. 27 But there were some wicked men who complained, "How can this man save us?" And they despised him and refused to bring him gifts. But Saul ignored them. So Saul was a man of some humility in that he was larger and stronger than any other and could have dealt with them if he chose but he chose to ignore them. Proverbs 11:2 2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom. And we will see the wisdom in this decision coming up in the next passage. When we forget this we risk not only failure in life, but our eternal life. Remember that Lucifer felt he could do all things without God.

This is not an example we ever want to emulate. But Saul was Humble at the start. Rather than build a palace, or assemble a government, what do we find him doing? NLT 1 Samuel 11:1-5 About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite city of Jabesh-gilead. But the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. "Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants," they pleaded. 2 "All right," Nahash said, "but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!" 3 "Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!" replied the leaders of Jabesh. "If none of our relatives will come to save us, we will agree to your terms." 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah, Saul's hometown, and told the people about their plight, everyone broke into tears. 5 Saul was plowing in the field, and when he returned to town, he asked, "What's the matter? Why is everyone crying?" So they told him about the message from Jabesh. 6 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused. 7 So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, "Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen." And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. So we find our would-be king back home plowing the field.

Not judging matters of state. What we see here is that Saul was a humble man besides his physical strengths. God chose someone who was not self-promoting and seeking to elevate himself above his fellow man. At this crisis he showed great courage in uniting the people and going to war against the Ammonites. One of the reasons the people wanted a human king is that they were not united and often fell prey to outside armies. When this threat immerged, the people assumed that no one would lift a finger as in the past and they would suffer the consequences. Once again the spirit of God came upon Saul and he united the people to war, not for himself, but for the good of His people. He could have let this city fall to the Amorites and not risk a confrontation without a standing army, without training, just faith. NLT 1 Samuel 11:11-13 11 But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together. 12 Then the people exclaimed to Samuel, "Now where are those men who said Saul shouldn't rule over us? Bring them here, and we will kill them!" 13 But Saul replied, "No one will be executed today, for today the LORD has rescued Israel!"

Can you see how effective it was to let the comments go and when this turn of events happened, and Saul showed mercy it won not only them over but everyone else. It is also clear here that Saul did not take credit for this victory, he gave credit rightly to God. He also did not hold a grudge to those that spoke badly of him. This is the leader that God chose for his people. This was a Hollywood king for the ages. He had everything going for him and he got off to a very good start. It is easy to focus on Saul’s faults. But Saul was someone who could not ultimately handle the power that God had given him. He had flaws and power and wealth have a way of exploiting our weaknesses. So as we look at King Saul and then King David, I will give you 7 attributes that we can draw from the stories in our bibles. These are attributes that God is working with each of us to develop so we can one day Join Jesus Christ in administering the Government of God upon this entire world. King Saul had the first four of these attributes in some measure during his life. And while he ultimately did not continue with many of these we can see them in him and can learn from these stories. 1. Humility Saul went home and began to plow the field rather than work to elevate himself to his fellow man. He was willing to forgive others and submit himself to the God who placed His trust in him. He did not take credit for works of God and pointed out his own sub ordinance; at least in the beginning. We can draw much from these examples. God has called us to humble ourselves and serve Him. NKJ 1 Peter 5:5-6 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, Less we begin to thing more highly of ourselves than we ought we must remember that anything we have that is good did not originate with us. NKJ James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 2. Selfless service of God’s people When we first find Saul in our bibles we see someone who diligently serves his family. As King, he organized an army to come to the aid of his people and he led that army into battle at great risk to himself. a. We have many opportunities to serve God’s people today. We do not have to wait for rulership to serve now. b. Service does not require abundance or planning, only a willingness to serve.

When Saul organized the people he did not have any assets to bring to bear against his enemy. 3. Courage Now, If you compare David and Saul, then you have to give the courage attribute to David. But I chose to bring out this trait while we are talking about Saul because this is one of the most misunderstood traits God wants us to have. Most people believe that courage is something that some have and most do not. When danger comes, those with courage stand and fight and the rest of us hide. When Saul was confronted with the great trial, just one month into his reign, it was the spirit of God that gave him the courage and strength to command the people. God does not want to find people that have enough courage to fight any battle. God wants us to trust him so much we will stand when we need to and not be afraid. Not because we are so brave, but because we trust in God and stand with His strength and not our own. NKJ Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. NKJ Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' The lesson here is obvious. God wants us to take courage from Him. Be strong because God strengthens us. Stand up to problems because our faith says we can do it. That is walking by faith and not by sight. 4. Mercy Early in his reign, Saul had mercy and it served him well. We need to focus on mercy because we ask for so much of it from God. We are always asking God to show mercy on us for the many faults and sins we have. Can we really deny others the very thing we ask for in such abundance?

There are so many examples in the bible about the need to have mercy. The model prayer talks about forgiving us as we forgive. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the Master had compassion for this servant owing him a debt that could never be repaid only to have that servant turn around and demand payment of a small debt from someone else. Matthew 6:14-15 14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. For our last three attributes I would like to pull them from David’s life. Now, since David is so well known the stories are well known so it won’t be necessary to turn to each of them. That David shared these four attributes with Saul is not surprising and David had them in abundance. Through the many stories of David’s Life we see the Humility, selfless service, courage and mercy; from risking his life before Goliath, to taking men into battle for his country. David humbled himself before Saul even though God had anointed him King while Saul ruled. But on top of these traits we will cover three more. So what were some other traits that we can learn from David? 5. Having the Heart of God If you could say one thing about David, above all others is that He was a man after God’s Heart.

1 Samuel 13:14 14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." David started out as a man after God’s heart before he ever took the throne. We need to seek God now. To learn His wisdom and to really get to know Him so we can be more like Him. We can become more like God and have a heart like Him if we take the time to get to know Him. Philippians 2:5-7 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 6. Honesty David, like Saul, was not perfect. He made mistakes and at times even tried to hide his sins. But when God reveals the sin, David always came clean. With his sin with Bathsheba he owned up to the entirety of his crime and made amends. We can see this openness in David’s Psalms. The psalms are filled with his intimate thoughts and relationship with God. He was totally open to God and to others as he wrote these thoughts down for others to read.

Psalm 32:5 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin Psalm 51:2-4 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight -- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 7. Loyalty You need only look at the life of Lucifer to see the value of Loyalty. With all of David’s strengths, Loyalty becomes one of his most important because He remained loyal his entire life. To God, but also to Saul. When Saul turned from God and began to hunt David out of jealousy and fear, David remained loyal to him. On two occasions The most famous of these stories is when David caught Saul in the cave as Saul was covering his feet to go to the bathroom. David crept up and cut a piece from his robe. And later showed Saul that he could have but would not because Saul was God’s anointed.

Later David killed the man who killed Saul even though he did it for David. We can learn a lot from David’s fierce Loyalty. We need to be loyal in this life. To our families, to our Jobs, to our friends. Only then can we truly be loyal to God. If we find fault in earthly things and turn our backs on them, then we might turn our back on heavenly things. How often do people get mad at God because life can be really unfair.