as a political science major, i am always interested in the state of governments all around the world. one thing i learned in political science is that there is no perfect government, that every state has problems, both internal and external. it confused me how this was so because these governments are supposed to work.. in theory. so i began to ask, why are there no perfect governments? were we not meant to be ruled in a state? if God had appointed kings over his people, why would he allow it to be so faulty?

my search for an answer led me to 1 samuel 8. israel asks God for a king to rule over them. God did not willingly appoint a king over his people, they asked for one. they saw that other nations had kings and believed that they needed to have one in order to be safe. this angered God because his people didn't see him as their king. however, because israel insisted on a king, God gave them one, but only after warning them. he warned them that israel would have to sacrifice some of their things in exchange for a king. a king will have the power to do anything and the people must follow his orders.

there aren't too many kings who are currently in power. however, there are many heads of states who hold the same kind of power as kings. most governments have all its power concentrated into the hands of one person. no one person was ever meant to have that much power. power, even in small portions, changes people. it manipulates, it covets, and it corrupts. there are many broken governments in this world because people have been seduced by power and are unable to see the ways their greed has eaten away at their country.

God knew that we are weak when we come face to face with unlimited power. although it wasn't his will to have nations ruled by one person, he made it so because his people asked for it earnestly. however, in the end, we are only crippling ourselves.