The Rejection of a King

This week, we will see the Israelites ask for a king to judge them and lead them in their battles against the nations around them. They believed a human king would do better than Samuel and his sons to protect them from their enemies. But in rejecting the leadership of Samuel, they were actually rejecting the kingship of the Lord. The king they would get would fail to be one devoted to God’s own heart. Instead, he would fail to trust the Lord for provision and protection and he would fail to obey the Lord’s word. The people got whom they wanted, but who they wanted didn’t measure up.