God loves us, even in our rebellion; but He will not bless us very long in our rebellion. One can only presume upon the grace of God for so long. There comes a payday at some point. You see, the Bible teaches, in the epistle of John, that if a believer, once gloriously saved, turns his back on the Lord, goes after the world, and continues to sin, God, in His judgment, may take his life. Have you lost ground? Have you dethroned King Jesus? If so, this is the Word of the Lord. It is from Revelation 22: "The spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' and let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whosoever is thirsty, let him come" (Revelation 22:17).
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In Hebrews we read, "Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart." Jesus came to be King again; he can be Lord again. It can be like it once was. God spoke to Samuel and said, "All right, I'm the one they are really rejecting. It's not you" (I Samuel 8:7). Then, He said to His prophet, "Listen to the people, but make sure that you warn them, and let them know what the king who reigns over them is going to do."
Samuel stood before all the people, and he said to them, "Before you dethrone God as your king and subjugate yourselves to a man as your king, you need to know what he is going to do to you. You see, heretofore, you have never had to deal with conscription and had your sons and daughters carted off to fight the king's battles. You have never had to pay great taxes to support a standing army. You have never had to deal with federal officials, claiming the right of eminent domain. However, that is what your king will do to you. When I was your King, I gave you the land. However, when a man becomes your king, he will come and take your land, indeed the choicest parts, for his own benefit. Indeed, he will take one tenth of your flocks. Many of you will be forced to serve his purposes. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you chose. However, the Lord will not answer in that day."
Note the people's response in I Samuel 8:19, "But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. 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."' Now, we come to chapter 9, which introduces the young man who would ultimately be made Israel's new king. We could go in many directions, but I would like to develop this story a little differently, looking at it from the standpoint of an experience all too common to many believers, yet frequently denied.