God and the Candidates

Some of the Republican candidates for U. S. President—Bachman, Perry, and Santorum come to mind—would have it that they prayed, and that God told them He wanted them to run for president.    Each seems to have taken that to mean that God wanted h/h to be king president.  But clearly they can’t all be right.    Did they consider that perhaps He wanted them to run in order to add some levity to the race?  Or because He wanted to see millions of dollars wasted?    Or because He wanted to keep people guessing as to who His real candidate was?  Or were some of them mistaken?  Or were some praying to the wrong god?*  
Because we know He does pick the president, does He not?   As in 2000, when the race in Florida wasn’t going the way He intended, He just told His judges to appoint George W Bush, and they did.  Funny, though, one wonders if He is against Democracy—if not, He would have let the democratic process take its course; He would have trusted the election to reflect the will of the American people.  If He is really so in control, why couldn’t He have just turned a few more minds to vote the ‘right’ way, to reflect his will?   
Anyway, why should God care who rules a given nation?  And does he?  Some nations have kings, ruling by the “divine right of kings,” as do England and North Korea.  Some have dictators, benevolent or malign, but very, very rich, as have been some of our very own presidents.   And some of our own presidents have acted as though they thought they were ruling by “divine right,” sometimes referred to as “mandate,” or “political capital.”
There is, of course, precedent for judges to select a nation’s ruler.  Consider the story in the book of Samuel.  About 3200 years ago, the Israelites, who had been governed for generations by judges, had started agitating to have a king.  Other nations had kings, why shouldn’t they?  (They seem to have been worried that one of Samuel’s sons would rule when he died, and his sons had “turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.”  Hmmm…we don’t know anyone like that, do we?)  Samuel, the old, wise, current judge, said, “no, no, no…” but they said “yes, yes, yes…”  So Samuel  went to God with their request and God said, “Tell them I say no, no, no…and also show them just what a king would do to them” and so Samuel did, and he warned them:  “This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you:  He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaires, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.  And he will take your fields and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants.  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.  He will take the tenth of your sheep:  and ye shall be his servants.  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”  (I Samuel 8:11-18, the lofty King James version)  But again the people cried to have a king, that they might be like other nations, and that the king might judge them, and fight their battles.  So Samuel returned to God, and this time God shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh, well, what the…” or words to that effect, “Let them have their king, I will even pick one out for them.”  So Samuel promised the people they could have their king, and told them to return home.  And God chose a very tall and comely young man by the name of Saul, and Samuel anointed him, with oil, to be king, and we all know how that turned out.  Or if you don’t, read the rest of the Book of Samuel for yourself, or google him.   (Now it is not recorded whether George W Bush was anointed with oil by one of the judges, although we do know that John Ashcroft,  Bush’s Attorney General  and later aspirant to the presidency, anointed himself, with vegetable oil.  Didn’t help though.)
Perhaps instead of thinking of themselves as chosen by God, they should think of how they should live as president if they should happen to achieve that goal, however that is done.  “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”  (Micah 6:8)  “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”  (II Timothy 2:5)
[An aside, but not unpertinent.  Just watched Countdown on Current tv, David Shuster hosting, and he interviewed a comedian, Jamie Filstein, about the phenomenon of Tim Tebow, the Xtian football player, and displayed a poll that showed  54% of  Republicans think God helps Tebow and helps the Broncos to win.   You can catch it here http://current.com/shows/countdown/   Pretty funny and true.
*Do you suppose that Jesus is circumventing His Father in this political event?  Consider, He was the one who chased money-changers out of the temple, he is the one who said it would be difficult for rich men to get to Heaven, now he must be very disturbed  about the devastation wrought by the financial class, and, despairing of the Democrats ever taking on that issue, manipulated this whole Republican campaign in order to get them, in the person of Gingrich and aided by Perry, to expose the whole rotten system.  Do you think?