Clandestine Regime Change
1 Samuel 10:1-13; Psalm 51:10-14

Clandestine regime change. When we hear this phrase, we think of the Central Intelligence Agency. We think of countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, where our CIA has supported, trained, and, in some cases, armed an insurgency sympathetic to the United States of America. The end goal is to topple the government and replace it with one more in keeping with our national interests.

In a way, we see this dynamic at work during every presidential election, too. It is not clandestine exactly, but there certainly is mass manipulation by underhanded means.

For instance, our politicians use attack advertisements to smear their opponent’s character. Then there is always the “October Surprise.” A classic example from the 2016 presidential race is the spurious “Russia Collusion Scandal” put forth by the Hillary Clinton campaign. After two years of investigation by a special prosecutor and millions of dollars spent, there was no evidence of collusion, and no indictments were made. Another example from the 2020 presidential election was the “Hunter Biden Scandal.” Hunter Biden made a handsome living off of selling access to and influence with his father, Joe Biden, while President Biden was President Obama’s Vice-President. Tragically, Hunter Biden was also a drug addict whose life spun completely out of control. He abandoned at least one laptop in a computer repair shop. The content of the laptop was secured by the New York Post, a paper sympathetic to Republican interests. They published the story, but it was labeled “fake news” by the legacy media outlets, and social media giants like Facebook and Twitter scrubbed the story from their platforms. The end result was that most Americans were unaware of the story.

In both cases the “October Surprises” failed in their attempt at regime change, but all of these kinds of things can have a powerful effect on elections. It is not clandestine regime change, but it is not completely upright or transparent either. This is true of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Clandestine regime change could be the title of I Samuel Chapter 16, but the change in regime was not of human origin! King Saul had disobeyed the LORD’s commandment, and God had rejected Saul as the king of Israel. Samuel said to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:28, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this very day, and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.”

God’s plan for regime change in Israel was initiated clandestinely. God spoke to Samuel. “The Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.'”

Samuel was afraid to follow God’s command because he knew Saul would kill him if he got wind of it. Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me” (1 Sam. 16:2a). That is when God initiated his stealthy plan. The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you” (1 Sam. 16:2b-3).

This time Samuel did what the LORD commanded. He traveled to Bethlehem and invited the elders of the town, along with Jesse and his sons, to the sacrifice. Seven of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel, but God rejected them as the future king. Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these” (1 Sam. 16:10).

Samuel inquired if Jesse had other sons, and he learned that Jesse’s youngest son, David, was tending the sheep. David was summoned. He was only a youth. The text notes that David was ruddy (rosy cheeks and a nice complexion), had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. God does not look on the outward appearance, but the author of 1 Samuel could not resist describing David.

The LORD said to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one” (1 Sam. 16:12b). God secretly initiated regime change in Israel. The only ones who knew were Jesse’s family and the Bethlehemites who attended the sacrifice. God brings down, and God raises up.

After many years in relative obscurity, David replaced Saul as the king of Israel, but David never lifted a finger against Saul, although he had a number of opportunities to assassinate him. David repeatedly said, “I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed” (1 Sam. 24:10b).

David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). He was the sweet psalmist of Israel. He played the lyre for King Saul to sooth his madness (1 Sam. 16:14-23). David was also a gifted leader. When David became king, he organized Israel’s army, expanded Israel’s border from the Nile to the Euphrates by conquest, instituted an effective system of government, and centralized worship in Jerusalem. David also aspired to build a temple for the LORD in Jerusalem, but that task was entrusted to Solomon, his son. David was a man after God’s own heart.

All that being said, David was far from perfect. He notoriously committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, one of David’s loyal soldiers, killed in battle so he could marry Bathsheba. Our reading from Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance after this heinous sin. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.”

David, like all human leaders, had feet of clay, but God still used him mightily. Through David, God instituted regime change in Israel and established the Davidic dynasty from which the Messiah would come.

It struck me that David’s secret anointing as king of Israel is akin to God’s anointing of Jesus to be the Christ. Jesus’ anointing as God’s chosen king was not done secretly, but it did happen in relative obscurity. In a backwater of the Roman Empire, on the banks of the Jordan River, before a crowd gathered to hear the fiery message of John the Baptizer, God the Father anointed Jesus, his only begotten son, with the Holy Spirit to be the king of Israel and Lord of the universe. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:13-17). And so, Jesus became the secret king of all the earth.

Caesar and all the lesser kings of the ancient world had no knowledge that their kingship had been usurped by God. None of the kings of the earth realized that a new kingdom had been established, displacing their own. The kingdom of the world became the kingdom of our LORD and of his Christ, who will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:5).

The world is still oblivious to God’s King and kingdom. This is painfully apparent by the way the citizens of earth and their rulers conduct themselves, including our own nation.

Jesus Christ will come again. His second appearing will not be in obscurity. As Revelation 1:7a says, “Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him.” Then every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, willingly or unwillingly, that Jesus Christ is LORD (Philippians 2:10-11).

Then God’s kingdom of righteousness and justice will be established on earth, and every power that would challenge God’s sovereignty will be forever defeated and banished from God’s good creation. This is our great hope for the world.

As I said last Sunday, we are living in the in-between time, the time between Jesus’ first advent and his second coming. While any change for the better is temporary and mutable, God is still at work in the world and in history in this interim period. As one commentator wisely observed about the story of David’s anointing, “The hidden purpose of Yahweh is worked out through the awkward and raw events of historical interaction.” The same is true today.

Could it be that God is grooming some young, unknown person to become our leader in years to come? As the LORD says, “The LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7b). Perhaps there is still a person like David, a young man or woman after God’s own heart.

Lord knows, our nation needs change for the better. As a people we need to learn to love what is good and hate what is evil. We need leaders who embody righteousness and justice. I at least no longer believe that our permanent political class or the entrenched bureaucracy of Washington, D.C., really have our best interests at heart. They are like Saul, who clung to power at any cost, but our God is still the God of regime change. God has the power to bring down and to raise up.

As people who swear allegiance to the LORD and his Christ, as people who are awaiting the return of the true king and the establishment of his kingdom, we are largely powerless to effect change against the powers that be, but we can wait in hope, and we can pray.

Let us begin to pray each day that God would raise up a leader in our country, a man or a woman after God’s own heart, a person who can bring positive and lasting reform to our nation for God’s glory and our welfare. God is able to do far more than we can ask or think.

So, let us trust ourselves fully to God’s ways and God’s purposes until our God raises up a new leader for our nation. While we wait for God to act or for Christ to return, let us sing boldly of our glorious hope. As I composed this sermon, the words of the great hymn “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed!” kept coming to my mind.

Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free;
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.

He comes with succor speedy
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
are precious in his sight.

To him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend;
his kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.
The tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his name shall stand forever;
that name to us is love.

Lord Jesus, deliver us in our time. Raise up a man or a woman after your own heart. Come, LORD Jesus! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Amen.