19But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
It is a sad day when a godly nation wants to be like their ungodly neighbors. But that is exactly what Israel asks for. It can be difficult to follow an unseen God. We are a very concrete type of people. We want to be able to put our hands on things, to see, taste, hear, and smell. We are tactile. God created us this way. Remember all the sacrifices and rituals in the book of Leviticus? The Lord uses our senses in worship. The Tabernacle would have had the smell of burning flesh and pooled blood. Incense smells and the sound of animals would have been present. The sound of trumpets would have summoned us to gather. The carefully woven curtains created the Tabernacle, colors and designs to catch the eye. There would have been food to eat after many of the sacrifices. Later there were Psalms that were sung as a regular part of the celebrations. There were instruments and dancing. Worship was noisy, smelly, visually stimulating event. This is in great contrast to most of our worship today. Perhaps we need to add a little more to our current worship.
The Arnold Journey 