The People Who Begged for a Smaller King

Old Samuel had gray in his beard now. He had led God's people all his life, and one day the leaders of Israel came walking up the road to his house with a demand ready on their lips.

"Give us a king," they said. "Give us a king like the other nations. We want to be like everybody else."

Now, God's people already had a King. Not a king you could see with your eyes, but the greatest King there ever was. He had carried them out of Egypt on his own strong arm. He had split the sea so they could walk through on dry ground. He had fed them in the desert with bread that fell soft as dew. And years before, when they had lost the holy box to their enemies, he had brought it home all by himself, with no army at all. He loved each one of them as if there were only one of them to love.

But all the lands around them had kings. Real kings, with crowns and thrones and shining swords. Kings you could point to and say, that one. That one is ours.

And the people ached for that. If only we were ordinary, they thought. Then we would be safe.

Samuel was sad. So he prayed.

And God's answer was gentler than you might expect. Samuel, he said, it is not you they are turning away from. It is me. They have always wanted a smaller king than the one I am.

They had the King who loved them most, and they traded him for a king they could see. They wanted a crown they could touch, even a crown that might one day let them down.

So Samuel warned them. A king will take, he said. He will take your sons for his armies and your daughters to work in his house. He will take your fields and your fruit and the best of everything you have. The day will come when you cry out for help, and a king made of dust cannot save you.

But the people would not listen. "No," they said. "We want a king like the others. We want to be like everybody else."

And God, who loved them, let them have what they asked.

So the long age of kings began. King after king after king. Some were tall and some were brave, and every single one let them down. Not one of them could love the people the way their hearts were starving to be loved. Because the King they truly needed could not be found in any of the lands around them.

One day a King would come who would not take from his people but give himself away for them. He would not sit far off on a throne of gold. He would kneel down low. He would wear a crown of thorns, because that is how much he longed to be theirs.

But first, God gave the people the king they begged for. Turn the page and you will meet him: a young man taller than anyone in Israel, out on the hills hunting for his father's lost donkeys.