Peer Pressure

1st Samuel 8

Peer Pressure gets to all of us at one time or another. I was having lunch with my family and the server mentioned that sounded good so I said, “I will have that.” Then my brother in law, Aaron, said, “That sounds good too, I’ll have that.” When it came to Adam my other brother in law, he said, “Fine I will have that too if everyone else is.” The server laughed and said, “Nothing like peer pressure.” Now this was a time where peer pressure worked on the behalf of a simple decision as food but peer pressure can get us into a lot of trouble. 

In this chapter we see Israel demand a king because they want to be like the other nations.

The apple does fall far from the tree

Samuel was getting old and his sons were helping in the judging of the people. The only thing was his sons were taking advantage of the people. They would bribe the people for them to rule and judge in their favor. They were nothing like Samuel. Samuel feared the Lord, his sons did not. Samuel had a love for the people, his sons did not. 

The people called to Samuel and asked they could have a king just like the other nations and he said why and they even replied with, “Your sons are nothing like you.” This probably was a piercing blow to Samuel to hear about his own flesh and blood.” The cool thing we see is that Samuel goes straight to the KING of KINGS for help.

Peer Pressure

We see that the people asked Samuel for a king so they could be like the other nations twice. Samuel even warned them that the king will have the young men join the army, take the best fields for himself and the kingdom and that they will be obligated to him but they did not listen. We see the true heart of Israel right now. They cared more about being like the other nations than being a nation under God. In verse 7 we see that the people have rejected God as being their King. 

We too can fall into this peer pressure and make compromises. We can care so much about the opinion of man that we forget the most important opinion, God’s. We fear man and what he thinks more than what God thinks of us. Peer pressure is a mighty weapon of the Devil. He will have us get worked up over what others think and forsake him. We can give into the snares of others so easily. It was just 1 chapter ago that Israel had true repentance but whether this was a new generation or they were getting comfortable they forgot about God. That is why it is so important that we never stop seeking the Lord.