The King
14 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,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18 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 Levitical priests. 19 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 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
God did not encourage Israel to appoint a king. He was against the idea. God knew they would demand a king for selfish reasons, so he wanted to make sure they chose the right person. God included instructions for the benefit of the people and for the king they would choose. The king would need to seek to lead the nation according to God’s Laws. The nation would face many problems due to kings not heeding God’s instructions. Some kings were good and some were not. A king was to be a man of God’s Word. He was to keep a copy of the law with him at all times. He was to read it every day. He was to obey God’s Laws. This would teach him respect for God, keep him from getting too full of himself with pride, and help him to remember God in prosperity. Do you read God’s Word daily? Do you keep God’s Word with you? Do you obey God’s Word? You cannot know what God wants except through his Word. God’s Word will affect your life if you read it and think about it regularly. Read your Bible daily and gain access to the source of wisdom. Follow.
Spirit and Truth
