“But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
1 Samuel 8:19-22 NIV
The people said: “Give us a king to lead us”
Samuel was dismayed
To the LORD God he prayed
God said: “Listen”
“It is not you they are rejecting
“They have shunned me as their king”
God said: “Listen to them
“But warn them too
A king will demand his due”
Samuel said: “Listen you who want a king
“A monarch will claim his right
Your fields, your produce, an army to fight”
The people said: “We want a king!”
The Lord said: “Listen to them
“And give them a king”
Samuel acquiesced,
The people dispersed
Sometimes God gives us what we want
And not what we need
We are free to choose our course in life
And so we often cause our own strife
Yet God still brings blessing from pain
He will be King over Israel again
Though great evil came from the wickedness of kings
A true King was born to save us from our sins