1 Samuel 8 (written around 1050 BC) records the moment when God’s people—the nation of Israel—rejected God as their King and demanded an earthly king to judge them “like all the other nations.” In verse 7, God tells the prophet Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” Despite Samuel’s solemn warnings about what would happen under a human king, the people refused to listen. And they got exactly what they asked for: a crown, a throne, and a king.

Fast-forward about 3,075 years, and we find an ironic turn of events. On October 18th, over seven million people across all fifty states participated in more than 2,700 protests declaring that America has no kings—that power belongs to the people. The stated agenda of the nationwide No Kings movement is a sustained resistance to tyranny, spreading from small towns to major cities and aiming to “defend democracy.” Their rallying cry?
“No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.”

Yet if you read all of 1 Samuel 8, the very warnings God gave Israel about earthly rulers—abuse of power, heavy burdens, self-serving leadership—still ring true today, even in the most “advanced” democracies. I am grateful for the country I live in, but we should never place our hope in the “little kings” who roam the halls of Congress or the White House. Our hope rests in our Eternal King.

So which is it? Do we want a king or not? Politics aside, the No Kings movement unintentionally illustrates something deeper: humanity’s long-standing pattern of resisting, rebelling against, and rejecting God’s rule in our lives.

Until we recognize our fallen state, and until the Gospel of Jesus Christ penetrates our hearts, we remain blind to the reality that we were created for the very purpose of worshiping Him and bringing glory and honor to His name. Only then do we see that no matter how loudly we claim we want “no king,” we are deceived. Apart from Christ, we simply trade the true King for the counterfeit throne of self—crowning ourselves rulers over our own lives.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9–11

“For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.”
Psalm 47:7

“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:16

One Crown. One Throne. One King.

Starting Monday join me for a 7 day devotionals series: One Crown. One Throne. One King.

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