Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning, we're at Deuteronomy chapter 17, verses 14 through 20. We're going to talk about the laws for the kings. Yeah, the laws for the kings. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. Oh, hold on. I thought you just drank that. You didn't just have your milk. So you want a coffee, too? Oh, I think you're a coffee addict. Just a little sip. Just a little. OK, that's good. That's good. That's good. That's good.
All right, let's pray. God, thank you so much for this day. Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you that you have given us Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We pray that as we read your word, your spirit would help us to understand that we would know what to believe and how to live in Jesus's name. Amen.
All right. All right. So here we go. We are at Deuteronomy chapter 17. Well, Oh, thank you very much for getting that. OK, let's move that back here so it doesn't fall again. I'm glad I had a lid. I've been big mess. We would have cried over spilt milk. All right. Here we go. Deuteronomy chapter 17.
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 are around me. You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your brethren, whom you shall set as king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother, but he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 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 Jehovah his God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandments 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.
Well, we got some questions, right? A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize? And C, what are we called to do? What do you think this is about? You weren't listening. Oh, I think you were. Maybe it's just maybe it was just back here. It was about when they go into the land.
They're they're going to want a king. They're going to want a king. Right. Even though God is their king, eventually they're going to want a king. And yeah, God's our king. Right. But they're going to want they're going to want a king that they can see with their own eyes and want to rule over them like the other nations have. And so God says, OK, I know you're going to do that. But when you have a king, This is what he's going to be like.
Is he allowed to go down to Egypt to get horses? No. No, he can't go down to Egypt to get horses. Is he allowed? No, please don't do that. Is he allowed to have a whole bunch of wives? Mm hmm. No way. Is he allowed to, like, get a ton of money, a bunch of silver and gold? Mm hmm. Right. If he does those things, he might end up trusting in himself and turn away from the Lord. Right. And so the Lord says, mm hmm. Nope, no money, no gold. Right. Don't go down to Egypt. Don't multiply horses. None of those things.
But when you sit on your throne, what's the king supposed to think about? He's supposed to think about God's law. Yeah, right. So they're going to have judges and they're going to have elders and officials and they're supposed to judge according to God's law and the king Is supposed to is supposed to know God's law Yeah, so the king right the the king supposed to know God's law because who's over the king God is over the king. That's right That's right. God is over everyone. Right.
But you know what will happen if he goes and marries a bunch of women? What does his heart will turn away from God? Do you know what happens if he goes and multiplies horses? What do I mean? I mean, like, get a whole bunch. Add, add, add, add, add. Because his heart would turn away from the Lord. And if he had if he had a whole bunch of horses, guess what would happen? You would trust in his own heart, his own strength, and he would turn away from the Lord. If he gathered up a whole bunch of money, guess what would happen? His heart would turn away from the Lord. Because he would trust in his own money. But I lost all my money. You lost all your money, right?
Yeah, but the point is, right, the king, who was the king supposed to think about? Yeah, the king was supposed to think about God was the king supposed to love God Was the king supposed to lead them according to God's law Yeah, right. And so this is what this is what this passage is about if they were gonna have kings This is how these kings were to behave Guess what? The sad thing is what Israel got Kings and guess what they did They got a whole bunch of money Israel got kings and guess what they did? They multiplied horses and chariots.
That's not good, is it? That was very rude. I don't think you should burp into the microphone. That was rude. Israel got kings and guess what they did? They multiply. They had a whole bunch of different wives. And guess what happened? Their hearts turned away from the Lord. They didn't listen to God and their hearts turned away.
Yeah. Well, I think the best verse to summarize all of this is verse 15 or verses 14 and 15. So that's what I would say is the best verse. Last see calling. What are we called to do? Well, who is our King today? Who's our King today? God. Who's our president? You know his name? Nope. Our president is Joe Biden. And did you know the Bible tells us to pray for those who are our leaders? To submit to them and pray for them to live quiet and peaceable lives.
Weird. It's not weird, it's godly. It's still weird. Well, some people might think it's weird, but it's what God's commanded us to do, right? Fear God and honor the King. Yeah, so God is it's Jesus, who's the king of kings and lord of lords and all the all the rulers, all the princes and the and the presidents, they all have to bow to Jesus. But sometimes they don't like to. And so we pray for them. Can we pray for them now? Well, there's all sorts of leaders of the world. Let's go and pray for them now, OK? You play because I don't even know that. OK, I'll pray. God, we pray.
That we would follow Jesus, the king of kings. Who did all things perfectly. Lord, we thank you that you have placed the crown upon the head of your son, that Jesus. Jesus dwells in unapproachable light. And that the lamb who was slain is the one who sits upon the throne of judgment.
Lord, we thank you that you gave us a just judge. Father, we pray that you would please help us. As we live as sojourners and strangers upon the earth, we pray for our kings, our presidents, our judges, for those in authority. Lord, we pray that they would be just and that they would bow the knee to Jesus. Lord, we pray that no matter what they're doing in places of power, that we would have the hope of Jesus in our hearts.
That we would live reverent. And peaceable lives. As a testimony to those. That we follow our king in his name, we pray. Amen. All right, you want to say goodbye? Well, may God bless you as you look to King Jesus. knowing that all the rulers of this world will fail you. But he never will. We'll see you next time. Bye.