1 Sam 8:19+20, Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
	We have before us, once again, the so sad truth that man is delusional with respect to our stand before the Lord God Almighty. There is some inner sense of stupidity within the sinful old nature of mankind which puffs him up to the heights of futility by thinking that the manifest wisdom and might and power of a created being can withstand the mere breath of his Creator. Throughout the history of mankind, we have stubbornly and uselessly tried to exalt ourselves above the Omnipotence and the Omniscience and the Omnipresence of Yahweh, The Creator of the heavens and the earth.
	As we have previously discussed, in this morning’s passage is the conceit and the deferential attitude and demeanor of the nation of Israel in turning away from Jehovah and the warnings expressed through the Prophet Samuel. They chose, willingly and purposefully, to turn their backs on the Lord as their Sovereign. Rather, they set their minds and their hearts on being just like all the other nations of the humanity surrounding them. They discarded The One, by Whom they were a most distinctive and blessed nation, for the dregs and the slavery that having a human king would put into place over them. 
	This course of foolishness and futility would eventually lead to their complete overthrow by those surrounding nations. The testimony of the nation of Israel was bemuddled with the willing surrender of their hearts and minds to be just like everyone else. They allowed themselves to be led into bondage and servitude with the complete demand for a governmental system unto the limited abilities of a human being rather than the Divine Providence of the Lord God Almighty. Thus the history of this people resulted in their constant subjugation and eventual demise at the hands of other peoples more powerful and more technologically advanced than was this foolhardy populace.
	In the midst of one of the major conquests of Israel, we have the truth of the real Sovereignty of God over all the nations and tribes and peoples of this earth proclaimed by the Prophet Daniel. He was taken captive into the very heart of the nation of Babylon, and made, by God, a source of wisdom to three succeeding earthly monarchs. 
The first, with whom we will deal is King Nebuchadnezzar. In Dan 2:20-22, Daniel was providing Godly instruction along with a warning to this most mighty of kings. This was with regard to the fact that no matter how powerful a man might become on this earth, The Lord God Almighty is the One to whom all must bow and offer allegiance.  
Dan 2:20-22, Daniel answered and said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. "And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding. "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 
	It was to be very evident to Nebuchadnezzar, as it was to Daniel, and to all those in captivity who held true to the Lord God Jehovah, that only God had the power to rule and overrule in the every life on this earth. Man may become strong and wise and rich, but it all comes from God and can be removed with all swiftness by the very breath of the Lord as He so chooses to deal with each one. Nebuchadnezzar was ruling only because God had so ordained for him to rule in the righteousness judgment of God upon His nation. As much power and prestige as the king had, it was all nothing in comparison to the might and the wisdom and the Sovereignty of God.
 	Nebuchadnezzar, as well, was not wise enough to recognize the absolute Sovereignty of God over mankind. Despite the very specific warning issued through Daniel, the king took it upon himself to declare his majesty on this earth. That resulted in the following as recorded in Dan 4:31+32. 
	Dan 4:31+32, "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.' 
	Notice how Daniel understood that every human king was only in place because of the permission that was granted by Jehovah. None could rule apart from the Hand of God installing that person into the place of power. As quickly as one could be installed into authority by God, so swiftly could that person be removed from that position of power by The Lord. All were completely subject to the plans and the purposes of God Almighty. That was the warning that had been issued through Daniel to this monarch.
We are very familiar with the outcome of the arrogance of this king of Babylon before the Lord God Almighty. Nebuchadnezzar was removed from his place of power and had to live as a wild creature in the wilderness for seven periods of time until he was brought back to his senses. He was one of the most powerful of men who ever lived on this earth, and yet even he was subject to the awesome power and dominion of the Eternal Lord of Heaven and earth. Such was his interaction with the majesty and the glory and the splendor of God that we have the following reality voiced by that humbled king in Dan 4:34-37.
Dan 4:34-37, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 
	The same learned wisdom was not shared by the next ruler of Babylon. Here as well, Daniel had the opportunity to proclaim the fact of the Divine Sovereignty of God over every man, woman, or child. All are under His Hand of operation, no matter what the station they may have on this earth. 
Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar failed to grasp the folly of self-exaltation over the realm which God, Alone inhabits. Therefore he faced the consequence of that folly as voiced by Daniel in the interpretation of the Divine Handwriting on the Wall, as recounted in Dan 5:18-23.
	Dan 5:18-23, "O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. "And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated, and whomever he wished he humbled. "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him. "He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified. 
	The next Prophet in our consideration of the Sovereignty of the Lord is Hosea. Please open to Hos 13:1-11, where the Lord set before His people the encouraging reminder of the fact that He has always had them in His Hands. Even when they turned away from Him and sought for an earthly king, The Lord was there, ruling and overruling according to His great mercy and tender care.
	Hos 13:1-11, When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, But through Baal he did wrong and died. And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!" Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud, And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor, And like smoke from a chimney. Yet I have been the Lord your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me. I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought. As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore, they forgot Me. So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them. It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help. Where now is your king That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you requested, "Give me a king and princes"? I gave you a king in My anger, And took him away in My wrath. 
	No matter how much the people rebelled against the Lord God Almighty, He was there tending to their every need. He would discipline them for their faithlessness, and reprove them for their iniquity and their adultery and their idolatry, but He never gave up His care of them. Even when they demanded that an earthly king rule over them, God made that happen. It might not have always been the king of their choice, but they had earthly kings who were all under the Divine Sovereignty will of God. 
	Then, through the Prophet Micah is declared the outcome of all this awesome work of God in the midst of His people. Please turn to Mic 4:1-7, as we will share together in those so great promises of the Lord of which we have sung so many times together. 
	Mic 4:1-7, And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. And many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths. "For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. And each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. "In that day," declares the Lord, "I will assemble the lame, And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. "I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcasts a strong nation, And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever. 
	This is the tremendous promise of the King of kings and The Lord of lords Who will establish that rule over the lives and the hearts of not just the Children of Israel, but of all the Children of God and all of humanity. No one will be outside the realm of the Kingdom that will be set into place in Jesus Christ, the Messiah to the Jews and the Savior to all who will but call upon His Glorious and Most Sovereign name. 
Our prayer is that He is willingly acknowledged by all on this earth. He will be exalted! He will be honored by every man, woman, and child throughout the whole of the history of humanity! Every single person will have to proclaim the victorious Sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty in Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God!
	We conclude this morning with the Prophet Zechariah, in Zech 14:9-11. This is the declaration that is the hope of all those who know that the Sovereignty of God is assured and is the reality of eternity. Nothing can stand against what God has done in the victory of Jesus over sin and death. No man can stand against Him, no matter what the earthly power that may be wielded into battle. All will know Who He is and be in complete subjection to Him. 
	Zech 14:9-11, And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. And people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. So be it and amen!

This morning’s benediction is Rev 19:11. And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. Amen.