I gave you a king in my anger, and took him away in my wrath.
Read Chapter 13
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Praise wicked King Saul, because he also was a punishment for sinners, as the Lord says: “I gave you a king in my wrath.” Praise the demon that king suffered, because it also was punishment for a sinner. Praise the blindness of heart that has befallen Israel, and do not be silent about why it is said, “Until the full number of the Gentiles should enter,” although you will perhaps deny this is a punishment. If you were a lover of the inner light, you would cry out that it is not merely a punishment but a very great punishment.
King; Saul, Jeroboam, or the Assyrian.
Away. Osee, (Calmet) so that you shall have no more kings of Israel. (Haydock)
Septuagint alone have, "I took (Calmet) or had him in "(St. Jerome)
But let no one who suffers such a ruler blame him who he suffers. His being subject to the power of a wicked ruler was no doubt of his own deserving. Let him, therefore, rather blame the fault of his own evil doings rather than the injustice of his ruler. For it is written, “I gave you a king in my anger.” Why, then, do we scorn their being set over us, whose authority over us we endure from the anger of the Lord? If we receive rulers according to our deserving, from the wrath of God, we infer from their conduct how we really think in our estimate of ourselves. However, even the elect are frequently placed under the reprobate. Therefore David also for a long time endured Saul. But it is proved by a subsequent sin of adultery that he then deserved to be heavily oppressed by the cruelty of the one who was set over him. .
