1 Samuel 8:5, commentary and pictures

The elders asked Samuel to appoint a king to govern them like the surrounding nations, giving as their reason that he was old and his sons did not follow his ways. Their complaint about his sons was largely a pretext for a change long desired from pride and discontent, for they found no fault with Samuel's own rule and were seeking worldly display and standing among the nations rather than correction of wrongs. In demanding a visible human king to judge them, lead their armies and unite them under a strong central power, they were rejecting God Himself as their Ruler and Sovereign and not merely setting Samuel aside. The request showed lack of faith in His wisdom, care and power to defend and guide them, choosing seen human strength above His invisible rule and trusting their own judgment instead of His counsel. God therefore let them have their own way after solemn warning, and their choice exchanged His mild and beneficent government for royal pomp, tyranny and distress.

Elders' Plea and Motives

The elders came to Samuel with stated grounds that he was old and his sons did not walk in his ways, and on that basis they asked him to appoint a king to govern them like all the nations. Their demand was to be judged and governed after the pattern of the surrounding nations rather than under the rule God had given them.

His sons had been educated and trained and were well qualified to judge Israel if they had purposed in heart to be true to principle like Daniel in the courts of Babylon, with God to be with them and honor them if they had sought His counsel and honored Him. Instead they turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment, becoming unjust judges through love of money. Samuel was not to blame for their wrongdoing though he carried a sore and disappointed heart, showing how children by their course can weaken and counteract the best efforts of their parents.

That complaint about age and corrupt judges was a pretext for a change already desired from discontent and pride, not a sudden concern for justice or a sincere effort to correct abuses. They found no fault with Samuel's own administration, yet he felt the request as censure upon himself and an attempt to set him aside. Their sons' injustice caused dissatisfaction, but the people were more troubled by threats to their material interests than by the earlier religious corruption of Hophni and Phinehas, and complaints against the sons gave them a pretext for pressing a change they had long wanted. It illustrates how hearts estranged from God may use almost any pretext to disregard His authority to satisfy pride and self-love, even at the cost of His cause and by imitating the world's customs to satisfy ambition.

Their real motive was to be like the surrounding nations and to be recognized and esteemed great in the eyes of the world. They were weary of the rule of those who kept before them God's will, God's ways and God's honor, and wanted reformed religion and rule so they might make a great display of external prosperity before the world. God had brought them out of slavery and idolatry in Egypt to keep His law including the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and to preserve a peculiar, holy character to represent Him under His own rule, but in this demand they set that distinction aside. They treated that distinct way of life as unwelcome instead of a privilege and blessing, exchanging the simplicity and self-restraint needed for their highest development and for God's plan of their education for the pomp and self-indulgence of heathen peoples. As they adopted their neighbors' customs they lost reverence for God and pride in being His chosen people, despite His purpose that they remain a distinct people devoted to His service.

They wanted divine rule made visible in a man, a human king they could see to judge them and to lead their armies, instead of being satisfied to have God for ruler ruling through wise men who waited upon Him for counsel. They desired to unite under a strong central government and wrongly thought a king would restore harmony among tribes weakened by jealousy and tribal conflict and left exposed to enemies. The demand sought worldly power, plans and policy and blamed their government for troubles instead of relying on God's invisible power and unseen wisdom which had led them, guided and delivered them and given them victory.

Rejecting God's Rule Answered

In asking for a king who pleased them, Israel refused to be satisfied with God as Ruler governing through wise men who waited upon Him for counsel. The demand discarded Samuel before God had released him, and in doing so dishonored the Lord God of Israel, for they had rejected not Samuel but God that He should not reign over them as divine Ruler and Sovereign.

That act continued the rebellion carried on since He brought them up out of Egypt, when they forsook Him and served other gods and left their fathers' bodies in the wilderness. Their minds were bent on following their own judgment and casting aside God's judgment, revealing that they had left first love to follow worldly policy and human judgment in spiritual blindness that refuses His jurisdiction and separates from His rule and safety.

The demand showed lack of faith in His care, providence, wisdom and power to rule, defend, support them, settle their difficulties and raise up rulers for them. They failed to appreciate His sufficiency and coveted the influence of men, sacrificing faith to be like the nations and choosing to be guided by seen human power rather than the invisible theocracy that had led them and given them victory. They failed to recognize God speaking through Samuel, and afterward neither the people nor their king thought it necessary to follow His commands implicitly but trusted their own wisdom.

A human king could claim the honors due to God and, unless he continually trusted God and sought wisdom from Him, could become proud, lead the people away from God, and use authority unjustly to harm the innocent and favor the unworthy. They valued royal appearance, personal courage and military ability without seeking love and fear of God, and God gave them the kind of king they desired whose character reflected their own.

Samuel was distressed and displeased and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord directed him to listen to the people's voice and let it decide. He permitted them to have their own way with all its consequences after faithfully telling them through Samuel all His words about the manner of the king and plainly warning that it was not the right and best way. They persisted in self-will from unsanctified hearts, imagining in their own mind and judgment that it would bring the most glory to themselves as a nation, and solemn protest and warning did not change their purpose.

God manifested displeasure by thunder, lightning and hail, yet pride kept them from retracting though they could have done so. Royal pomp brought tyranny and heavy demands in place of His mild and beneficent rule, with distress from leaving His merciful guidance for the rule of men secure in their own way and judgment. Many who wanted a ruler meeting their own expectations rejected Saul when chosen without expected pomp, and envy, ambition and disappointment followed, while Saul himself was afraid and could not expect God to save through him. The people afterward recognized the choice as a mistake amid growing irreligion, had to confess the sin before finding peace, and learned their error to return to allegiance, while the final result of their own choice was seen in Jerusalem's destruction and the nation's dispersion.

Call to Trust God

The request to be judged like all the nations exposes the folly of turning away from the Lord God of Israel as Ruler to lean on men and on human judgment. It revealed lack of humility, self-confidence, self-sufficiency and pride of heart without giving glory to God, for all human ability and wisdom is only derived from Him. It was reliance on human judgment and on seen human power instead of trusting God, their Ruler, and wanting human rule like the surrounding nations. That same folly will be repeated among the people of God today unless there is greater humility, less confidence in self, and more trust in the Lord at every step.

Depending on men and on one's own judgment is the great weakness of the church, and Israel made herself weak by dishonoring God, failing to appreciate His sufficiency and coveting the influence of men. They chose a visible human king to guide them rather than the divine theocracy, the invisible power that had led them and given them victory, and the end of their own choice was seen in the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the nation. The work will abide the test only as divine power is combined with human effort. That combination is shown when men no longer lean on men or on their own judgment but make God their trust, with meekness of spirit, less talking and much more praying, caution in plans and movements, dependence on God, teachable humble unselfish sanctified labor, and the mind of Christ. Unless Christ serves not only as Captain but as Pilot, and unless men inquire at every step if their way is the way of the Lord, the church will make shipwreck amid the perils of the last days.

The same persistent self-will warns against putting self where God has not placed it, as in wanting one man's mind to control institutions and churches and thereby becoming a channel of darkness. It warns against imitating the customs and practices of the world to satisfy pride, self-love and ambition, even at the cost of God's cause, and against adopting worldly plans and policy instead of trusting God as Ruler. Giving up even a little faith to meet the world and gain more converts separates souls from God. All whom God has placed in positions of responsibility who depart from God are left by Him, with the people that sustain them, to their own human wisdom. Therefore His people must not repeat Israel's sins of worldly policy but trust the Lord as their ruler rather than relying on people or their own judgment.