阅读经文 

撒母耳是士师时代（这个时代在摩西和约书亚时代之后持续了大约三百年——参书 1）末期以色列的先知。在今天的经文中，膏立了扫罗为以色列王后，撒母耳便对众人说话。

撒母耳与神紧密同行，他是一位忠心的领袖。可是百姓已经时常转去敬拜在他们周围的国家的神祉，尽管独一的真神是他们的王，现在他们却坚持要像其他国家那样有一个君主。在他的讲话中，撒母耳提醒百姓留意他们的罪行，他又祈求神用一场风暴来证明。

在当日的社会，很多人都是农夫，他们时常需要观察天气，在收割的季节就要格外留意。庄稼湿了就会发霉，便不适合收割和储藏了。故此，对撒母耳的听众来说，这场雨令他们感到不安。

然而神却是常施怜悯的。百姓现在明白，他们要求立一个王是多么严重的罪，现今耶和华和撒母耳已经取得他们对此的注意了。撒母耳也向他们保证，他会为他们祷告，并且必继续以“善道正路”指教他们。

Samuel was Israel’s prophet at the end of the period of the judges (which lasted about 300 years after the time of Moses and Joshua—see Joshua 1). In our reading for today, Samuel gives a speech after confirming Saul as Israel’s king.

Samuel walked closely with God and was a faithful leader. But the people had often turned to worship the false gods of the nations around them, and they now insisted on having a king like the other nations, even though the one true God was their King. In his speech Samuel reminded the people of their sins. He also asked the Lord to use a storm to prove his point. And the Lord sent a storm.

In that society many of the people were farmers. They were always watching the weather, especially at the time of harvest. If the crops became wet, mold would grow on them, and they could not be harvested and stored. So this rain was very disturbing for Samuel’s audience.

Yet God’s mercy is always available. The people now understood how great their sin was in asking for a king, and the Lord and Samuel now had their attention. But Samuel also reassured them that he would pray to God for them and continue teaching “the way that is good and right.”