1 Samuel 8:4-22

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 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.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 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. 8 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” 10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “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 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.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 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.

Chuck and I stayed up until Fox News declared Obama the winner of the 2008 election for president of the USA.  I went to sleep listening to my ipod as I often do and woke up again about 3:20 AM and had a horrible headache and my bones were hurting.  I got up and took some medication and came into the living room  to hear the latest news.  As I walked from our bedroom I heard the word of the elders to Samuel “give us a king”.  Then I heard what the Lord told Samuel, “listen to what all the people are saying to you, it is not you they are rejecting, they are rejecting me as their King”. Mid morning today a friend from St Louis sent me a word from Jan Markell entitled “Give Me A King”.  I knew then I had heard for the Lord.

For the last few days I have thought that I sure would be glad when this election was over.  To be honest I have entered into some spiritual warfare like I have not been in before and it has taken a toll on my body.  I thought it will be great to get some relief.  But I kept hearing that the battle was not ending on Nov 4th.  I tried to ignore it, but that did not make it go away.

For months now I have had it in me that I needed to watch Amazing Grace.  I even went to rent it at Block Buster and came up against so much stuff from a clerk that I just said forget it and walked out.  Then I was going to rent it in Indy and that did not work.  Last night out of the blue I came across a website that had free movies and there was Amazing Grace.  It was God’s timing for me and I watched as they counted the votes.

Amazing Grace is based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce who was a member of parliament and a friend of the Prime Minister of England.  God chose Wilberforce for this one battle and he  committed his life to fighting for this injustice in an environment full men who had financial interest in the slave market.  It cost him his reputation, his friends, his health, his life.  He almost gave up a few times but in the end God handed him his enemies and he was eventually given honor.

Well, here we are.  The lines have been drawn and we will have to decide if we are willing to pay the cost to stand on the side of justice for the unborn and all that is good and righteous.  We are admonished to pray for those in authority over us. We must pray for Obama’s protection and pray for him to have wisdom from the Lord and be surrounded by Godly counsel.  We must pray with great fervor.  But on the other side of the coin we can not compromise or we will loose all.