“In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. I’ve mentioned that phrase before on this podcast specifically, when we read about Samson choosing a wife, according to what was right in his own eyes.”
– Judges 17:6
Here, this verse is far more encompassing of everyone. That word, everyone among God’s people did what was right in his own eyes and the effects of everyone doing what was right in their own eyes were unimaginably disastrous, and deadly, and sobering, and serious.
Everyone was living according to their own authority. That’s what’s interesting about the phrase right before this in Judges 17:6, when it says in those days, there was no king in Israel. And who was the king supposed to be? God. They were supposed to be living under the authority of God, their king. And yet they had all, everyone had rebelled against God as king.
Judges 17:6 Reminds Us that We are Prone to Sin
We are all prone to turn from God to our own ways and to do what is right in our own eyes.
And as a result, they were living under their own authority. This is maybe one of the clearest pictures of sin in the world and our need for salvation. So put it together. We are all prone to turn from God and his ways to our own ways, to do what is right in our own eyes. This is our sinful nature. And as a result, what we most need is a savior, a savior king who will make a way for us to be forgiven of our sin, freed from sin, reconciled to relationship with God. That we might live and experience life to the full under the kingship of the one who created us and knows what is best for us. And Jesus is this savior king.
Judges 17:6 Frees Us from the Power of Sin
So we say together in light of Judges 17:6, Lord Jesus, you are our king. Lord God, you are our king. We need you as our king. We need you to save us from ourselves. Lord, we praise you for all who have placed our faith in you, Jesus. For the forgiveness, you have granted us for our sins. For the way you have freed us from the power of sin. To live under your kingship, to experience life, to the full under the authority of the one who’s created us, and loves us, and knows us.
Thank you for your salvation. Oh, God. And we pray you’d help us to live in it to the full today. And you would keep us today from doing what is right in our own eyes. You have saved us from what is right in our own eyes. God help us not to turn back to it. Lord keep us all day today, walking in step with your spirit, according to what is right, according to your word, help us to live under your authority. And God help us not to hold on to anything in our lives.
There’s No Better King
Help us to submit every facet of our lives, our thoughts, our desires, our words, our actions, our plans, our dreams, our possessions, everything we have to your authority. We are yours. You are our king. You are the Lord of our lives. So lead us today. We pray. Guide us today. We pray. And we are so thankful even as we pray that, we’re so thankful that you are our king.
There’s no better king. There’s no other capital K king in all the world. And God, we pray that your king ship will be made known through us. God, we pray that your fame, and your love, and your mercy, and your majesty as our king would spread through our lives to more and more people.
Judges 17:6 Leads Us to Pray for the Bakhtiari of Iran
Help us to lead people to trust in you as king, right around us, far from us, God, we pray for the Bakhtiari people of Iran who don’t know that Jesus is king, 1.3 million of them. They’ve never even heard the good news, the truth about Jesus, the king. God we pray that would change among these isolated mountains of Iran.
God, we pray that Bakhtiari people would be reached with the good news of Jesus, the king. Even as we look forward to the day when Jesus, the king will return and will receive the praise he is due from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation from our lives to the Bakhtiari of Iran and everywhere in between.
Live in Submission to God
Oh God, we pray that you would help us to live in submission to you as king today. That you help us to make the good news of your kingdom known right around us and far from us. As we look forward to the day when you, our king will come for your people. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Judges, chapter 17, verse six. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
