1 Samuel 8:11, commentary and pictures

God gave this word through Samuel as His solemn protest against Israel's demand for a king like all the nations, to show them the cost of their choice. Its plain manner is that the earthly king they chose would take their sons and young men for himself for his chariots and horsemen, with some running before and around his chariots to uphold his standing army, royal display and burdensome rule. In asking for a visible ruler to judge them they rejected God as their Supreme Ruler and exchanged His merciful guidance and safety for human judgment and worldly policy, and they were told they would cry out because of the king they had chosen and the Lord would not hear them. That same folly is repeated among God's people today whenever they lean on human leaders and their own judgment instead of the Lord, which will stand only as divine power is combined with human effort in humility, prayer and trust in God.

Samuel's Solemn Warning

This will be the manner of the king was God's solemn protest through Samuel against Israel's demand for a king to judge them like all the nations. It was given by special direction from the Lord and spoken faithfully as all the words of the Lord to the people who asked for a king, to show them the cost of their defection. It plainly told them that having a human king was not the right way and the best way.

Its specific manner is that the earthly king they chose would take their sons and young men and appoint them for himself for his chariots and to be his horsemen. They would serve as charioteers, with some running before and around his chariots. That service would help support a standing army and the king's military power. It would bring burdensome demands on the people and serve the ruler's power and royal display. It showed a ruler exalted for himself who demanded kingly honors and heavy tribute and used the people and his authority for his own purposes and oppressed them, unlike rulers who judged them and taught them the Lord's ways.

The warning was joined to the declaration that in that day they would cry out because of the king they had chosen and the Lord would not hear them. If heeded it would have saved them from the distress that afterward came from leaving the merciful guidance of God and accepting the rule of men secure in following their own way and judgment.

Rejecting Divine Rule

Israel's demand was to be no different from the surrounding nations, asking for a visible, earthly ruler to judge them like all the nations instead of trusting God as their Supreme Ruler who had guided and delivered them and given them victory through unseen power. In that choice they rejected God and discarded Samuel before God had released him, leaving first love and refusing to be under God's jurisdiction and to have God's will and ways and honor kept before them. The demand was rooted in their own mind and judgment and unsanctified desire to bring glory to themselves as a nation, to be esteemed great and make display of external prosperity before surrounding nations. They were weary of God's rule and wanted reformed religion and rule, bent on following their own judgment and casting aside God's judgment and wisdom, continuing the rebellion that left their fathers dead in the wilderness.

The verse plainly told them that having a human king was not the right way and the best way, but an exchange of the blessing and safety of being led and controlled by the Lord in all ways for human judgment, worldly policy, and desire to be recognized by the world. The solemn warning did not change their purpose, for their minds were bent on following their own judgment, so the Lord permitted them to have their own way and granted the desire of their unsanctified hearts. That course brings the Lord's controversy with His people and gives authority to human power to control them. It separates His work from His management and control through spiritual blindness by those without experience of His power in its establishment, and reacts upon those who lay such plans.

Unless the human king trusted God for wisdom he could use his authority for his own purposes, causing innocent people to suffer and exalting the unworthy. Dependence on human authority weakened the nation, and God's warning was fulfilled in distress, in Jerusalem's destruction and the people's dispersion. The folly and mistake of rejecting Samuel became clear when the course of Saul was contrasted with that of Samuel, for Samuel from his youth had walked before Israel in integrity of heart with a record of faithfulness, obedience and devotion, judging Israel all the days of his life. While Saul as acknowledged king exerted a widespread influence that left society fast becoming leavened with irreligion and godlessness, Samuel's death as a great and good prophet and eminent judge was regarded as an irreparable loss with deep grief and alarm. Their choice stands as an example of choosing worldly patterns for gain and human approval instead of God's design for them to be a model nation.

Folly Repeated Today

The verse belongs to the follies of Israel in the days of Samuel, when they turned from the Lord God of Israel as Ruler of the people to desire a human king. That turning was a leaning on men and on their own judgment instead of the Lord. The same folly will be repeated among the people of God today when they trust in human leaders or their own judgment instead of the Lord.

It will be repeated unless there is greater humility, less confidence in self, and more trust in God. The work will abide the test only as divine power is combined with human effort. That combining comes when men no longer lean on men or on their own judgment but make God their trust. Then there will be less talking and much more praying, with meekness of spirit and caution in plans and movements, revealing dependence on God and the mind of Christ.