This passage makes me sigh. “Really, Israel?” It is almost like the Israelite’s greatest skill is complaining and discontentment. God responds with such patience and care and leaves me feeling even more angry at the Israelites until I realize that my whole life, I have acted just like them. I have been on mission trips and have seen extreme poverty, as an entire school in Honduras was made out of mud, bricks, and no electricity. I have seen an orphanage in Mexico housing 10 kids in a house the same size I live in today. I have seen their contentment and joy from the Lord. Still, when I am home, I complain about the wifi being slow, I complain about having to clean so much, I complain about any car troubles, and I ask “God, why me?”.
God still hears those prayers; He still cares no matter how silly or discontent my prayers are. God makes a good point in verse 8 on how He might have desired the Israelites to go about their requests for a new king. God mentions that the Israelites have done it since He took them out of Egypt, not to only give a timeline of how crazy their complaining is but to also suggest maybe they should look back and remember how God has delivered them time and time again. If they did remember God’s faithfulness, they would still want to pray for a new king because they were right; they needed a decent leader. They would likely have changed how they prayed. The Israelites could have gone to Samuel to mention how God has done so many miracles for them and how he can do it again by raising up a good leader if it is in His will for them.
That is the challenge from this verse: not to stop praying for the silly small things in life but rather have a more genuine heart posture towards God when I do it. When my car breaks in any way, I can either complain to God for the inconvenience, or I can thank God I even have a car that needs fixing in the first place and then ask God to help me in my inconvenience as He has repeatedly. Pray that even if God says “no” or “not yet,” you will still trust and praise Him. All of our challenges this week are not to pray less but to pray with remembrance and gentleness.