Judges 17:6

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Is a king the answer to Israel’s problems?

No, God makes this clear when He tells Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:9 to warn Israel about what a king will do.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. … Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” … “However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.” — 1 Samuel 7:15, 8:4, 9b

So, if having a judge is so much better than having a king, why even mention not having a king? And why connect it to the main problem—that everyone did what was right in his own eyes?

A king can lead Israel in righteousness. Deuteronomy 17:14–20 spells out how a king should rule Israel.

“When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. … Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.” — Deuteronomy 17:14–15, 18–20

If they had a king (a good king, who ruled according to these rules) he would set the right standard and all would be fine, but right now they have no judge and no king and they’re going to hell in a handbasket.

They seem rudderless because they are rudderless.

Sound familiar? Our society is rudderless. Many are doing what is right in their own eyes, and it’s amazing some of the things people think are right. It’s not working for them; yet they can’t see that.

We know the rudder. We have the compass. So, what can we do? Should we be involved in politics?

Politics isn’t wrong, but it poses risks, and it isn’t the final answer anyway. The fundamental answer is just to be the compass—to point in the right direction. This is tricky because we’re not perfect and will make embarrassing mistakes. Politicians aren’t perfect either, so we should be careful to not hitch our wagons too tightly to those stars. Lastly, we must patiently endure being criticized, even ridiculed.

Our job is simply to stand for truth as best as we can and wait for God to open people’s eyes.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.