A Blueprint For Kings

# 140 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 10:25, “Then Samuel explained to the people the behavior of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. (1 Sam 10:25) Samuel explains to the people what God expects from His appointed leaders. The behavior has already been spelled out in God's word years before Israel even thought of having a king. As usual God is way ahead of the game. De 17:14-20 says, "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 that are around me,' 15 "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. (First rule, no foreigner shall be king, seems to me that we have a similar constitutional provision for our prospective presidents. I wonder where the founding fathers got that idea?) 16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, (that is he shall not amass personal power, ruling by force) 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.' (he shall not lead the country to dependence on foreign powers) 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; (he shall not seek alliances with other nations, lest the interests of God and his own nation become secondary) nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. (He shall not use his position to amass personal wealth. Finally, he must keep these rules ever before him. 18 "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. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment 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. (Sounds like a good plan for all leaders doesn't it?)