God Bless America's Leaders

God Bless America: I Kings

Slide show from Pat on God Bless America.

Video Clip from the Patriot- “I failed because I did nothing!”

Theme: The failure of earthly Kings and the successful reign of the Divine King.

Key Verses: I Kings 9:4,5 4 "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

Key Words: King, evil (21x), upright, right, righteous

Illustration: Quote: Independence

(Our) striving after wind is motivated by a sinister desire to be independent of God, free from the frightening vulnerability of His watch-care. If we really do leave the securing of the universe up to Him, there is no telling what He might pull. When God calls the shots, people turn into prophets, mountains get cast into the sea, and dead men come back to life. Better we should be in control and have some idea of what is coming next. We will keep things on an even keel we so desire. I can’t help but feel that the Second Coming itself would be an inconvenience for many of us.

--James Sennet in "The Wittenburg Door"

(Aug./Sept. 1986), Christianity Today - Vol. 33, #6

Introduction:

The reality of I Kings’ message is clear. Mankind fails without God, Nations fail without God, leaders fail without God. Yet mankind always thinks they can do better without God!

Morgan states, "This book has something to say to us about human government and about Divine government, which is well for us to hear and heed. Concerning human government, it declares one thing. If God be counted out, every method ends in disaster. . . God bears perpetual witness to truth in the midst of falsehood and always causes some measure of light to shine in the midst of darkness. He keeps alive in the consciousness of at least a remnant the fact of Himself and His government." (187-189)

The eternal message of I Kings is that those who follow God and seek His divine direction are blessed. But when a nation and a King believe they do not need God to lead and guide their nation, they end up in disaster.

Our progressive look at the Old Testament reminds us that back in I Samuel, 8:7, that Israel rejected God as their King. Note "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."

The problem in I Kings becomes clear. We see a nation who has rejected Jehovah as their king and they have decided that they have the wisdom and knowledge within themselves to govern themselves.

T.S. A nation that asserts that it does not want God to reign over it but believes it’s earthly leaders can do a better job, is headed for destruction.

I. THE FAILURE OF ALL EARTHLY KINGDOMS THAT LEAVE OUT GOD.

A. Solomon’s Failure (I Kings 11: 6-13)

So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 7On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.9The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’S command. 11So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

1. Rejection of God brings disaster to an earthly king and earthly kingdom.

a. Morgan’s quote: "In order to discover the permanent values of this book, we must keep before the mind two thrones - that on earth with its succession of kings, and that in the heavens with its one King. In looking at the former, we see the failing government of men, and in looking at the latter, we see the unfailing government of God." (77)