Episode Four: God Save the King with Bishop Andrewes on Judges 17:6

Episode Four: God Save the King

Andrews on Being in Want for a King in Judges 17:6

August 1, 2020

Sermon 8 of Lancelot Andrewes’ Certain Sermons Preached at Sundry Times upon Several Occasions before the King’s Majesty at Whitehall on March 24, 1606 roughly 4 months after the Gunpowder Plot to blow up King James I attempted on November 5, 1605

A copy can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume Five, pp.169-185, or on The Project Canterbury Website.

 

Sermon Summary:

        Looking at the historical point of God’s people in which it became most clear of both their need for a king and God’s desire to establish one, Bishop Andrewes examines both the negative effects produced in the lives of men in women who are without a king (such as encouraging their propensity for misusing religion, liberty, and behavior), as well as the positive effects provided by having a king (especially in preventing idolatry and cultural syncretism). His outline is simple:

1. Introduction
   1. Opening acknowledgements of both the blessing of now having a king, and the painful realization of their necessity when their seat in not filled
   2. Judges 17:6 and the others like it (18:1; 19:1; 21:25) begin to build anticipation in the mind of the reader for the Books of Kings
   3. Andrewes shows how kings were always a part of God’s perfect plan for His people (Deut.17:14-20)
2. The Effects of Being in Want of a King
   1. Upon the eye (when individual perception is king)
   2. Upon the hand (no restraint but will and strength)
   3. Confusion wrought when both work together in rebellion (any man doing any thing)
   4. Remedy: 1) eye salve; 2) led by the hand; and then 3) hand restraint
3. The Cause: Being in Want of a King
   1. No king to keep religion from idolatry, lives & goods in safety, and vessels in honor
   2. No king in Israel to keep the LORD’s Israel from becoming like the world’s Babel
   3. No kingly rule to govern and maintain the love of God and love of neighbor
4. Conclusion
   1. Seven reasons to be thankful for having a King: 1) a King, 2) a singular King, 3) a local, non-foreign King, 4) a Christian King, 5) a wise King, 6) a King of peace, and 7) a King with a successor

 

Music & Sound Attributions:

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions “Lost Shoe” (www.sessions.blue). Sounds used are as follows: “Beer Can Opening” recorded by Mike Koening found at (http://soundbible.com/216-Beer-Can-Opening.html), “Pouring Drink” recorded by Mike Koenig found at (http://soundbible.com/2115-Pouring-Drink.html), and “Time Warp” recorded by Mike Koenig found at (http://soundbible.com/978-Time-Warp.html)