“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.” (1 Samuel 12:12)

I hadn’t noticed the role that fear played in this sinful episode, when the Israelites rejected the kingship of God and opted for a human king. The Ammonites were coming. They had come before, dominating Israel during the period of the judges (Judges 10-11). They were coming again, and the people were scared. Were they really supposed to just depend on God’s protection? It was time to act!

So they went to Samuel and demanded a king. A king to lead them in battle. It was logical. It was necessary. It was the only thing to do.

That’s what fear told them. And it was the beginning of the end for the nation of Israel. They had the chance to have God as their king, to have God fight their battles. But they chose to depend on human strength and human wisdom.

Would we have done any better? With an enemy knocking at our door, would we have dared rely on God alone? Would we have trusted God’s promises or sought the comfort of strong human leadership and military might? I’m not sure that I would have done any better than they.