(a) Israel wanted a king (why?).  The Lord didn’t want them to have a king (why?).  And yet the Lord allowed them to have their king (again, why?).

(b) Some people assume that God has a single, fixed, plan for everyone.  If we depart from that plan, then we can never experience God’s full blessing again.  In what ways does this passage tell us that things are not as simple as that?