【１ Samuel 8:5】

「and said to him,

　"Look, you are old,

　and your sons do not walk in your ways.

　Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."」　　　Amen.

　Samuel grew old, and his sons were worthless men. So the people pleaded for a king. Ultimately, both God and Samuel permitted this, and Israel shifted course from a theocracy to a monarchy. Yet the nation of Israel, beginning with King Saul, though it prospered for a time,eventually split into two kingdoms, faced captivity by Assyria and Babylon,and ultimately lost its nationhood, becoming a scattered people dispersed throughout the world.

What they truly should have sought was not a king, but the true God. But all is in God's hands.

　May we dwell today beneath the shadow of the Lord's wings...　

God bless you.   See you tomorrow.