1Sa 8:6 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD’s answer in gives reason to think that Samuel’s personal feelings have been hurt and that he does not like the people’s request. Yet that is only a guess. If there is any hurt at all, Samuel does not let himself be led by it. He brings these things to the LORD. Samuel’s reaction is prayer. This may be the reaction for every disappointment that can happen to someone in life. He is the spiritual leader and is put aside, but he does not complain or sue the people – unlike Elijah ( ). He does not feel offended either. A man with his spirit and mind can bear this. He has never sought himself. He has not claimed his position either. It is the position the LORD has given him. He did not suddenly appear as a prophet but grew in this position. Everyone has been able to observe his whole life. He also did not use the death of Eli and his sons to become the leader of the people. He has always waited for God’s time and God’s command. That the people reject this man is not to be excused. The LORD soothes Samuel’s displeased feelings by reminding him of the people’s continued ingratitude to Him Himself. God therefore tells Samuel that by asking for a king like all nations, the people in fact reject Him as their King. God is wronged more by His people than they wrong Samuel. This answer of the LORD is also an encouragement to Samuel in case he should wonder if they reject him because he failed in some way. The spiritual minded person will first examine himself in such situations. Samuel must listen to the voice of the people. He must show them what they ask, although they do not ask in accordance with God’s will. They need to learn what it is like to have a king to their own taste. Only when they have experienced this, God gives them the king to His heart. In the book of Hosea God comes back to their request here. There we hear that God has given them a king in His anger ( ). Listening to the voice of the people is democracy. We find this in politics and in the church. Nothing is more unclear and fickler than the will of the people (cf. ; ). If man absolutely wants something, God sometimes gives what he demands ( ). Sometimes God withholds something in His love and sometimes He gives us something in His anger. God tells how the people constantly rejected Him. Samuel is now gaining the same experience. The rebellion of the people has also proved itself in more than one occasion toward Moses and Aaron. The desire to have a king is the lowest point of centuries of dissatisfaction with the place where grace has brought them. In His grace God connects Samuel to Himself and lets him share in the reproach that the people have done to Him over and over again (cf. ; ). Paul longed for such conformity to Christ ( ).

‏ 1 Samuel 8:6

Samuel Must Listen to the People

The LORD’s answer in 1Sam 8:7 gives reason to think that Samuel’s personal feelings have been hurt and that he does not like the people’s request. Yet that is only a guess. If there is any hurt at all, Samuel does not let himself be led by it. He brings these things to the LORD. Samuel’s reaction is prayer. This may be the reaction for every disappointment that can happen to someone in life. He is the spiritual leader and is put aside, but he does not complain or sue the people – unlike Elijah (Rom 11:2b).

He does not feel offended either. A man with his spirit and mind can bear this. He has never sought himself. He has not claimed his position either. It is the position the LORD has given him. He did not suddenly appear as a prophet but grew in this position. Everyone has been able to observe his whole life. He also did not use the death of Eli and his sons to become the leader of the people. He has always waited for God’s time and God’s command. That the people reject this man is not to be excused.

The LORD soothes Samuel’s displeased feelings by reminding him of the people’s continued ingratitude to Him Himself. God therefore tells Samuel that by asking for a king like all nations, the people in fact reject Him as their King. God is wronged more by His people than they wrong Samuel. This answer of the LORD is also an encouragement to Samuel in case he should wonder if they reject him because he failed in some way. The spiritual minded person will first examine himself in such situations.

Samuel must listen to the voice of the people. He must show them what they ask, although they do not ask in accordance with God’s will. They need to learn what it is like to have a king to their own taste. Only when they have experienced this, God gives them the king to His heart. In the book of Hosea God comes back to their request here. There we hear that God has given them a king in His anger (Hos 13:10-11).

Listening to the voice of the people is democracy. We find this in politics and in the church. Nothing is more unclear and fickler than the will of the people (cf. Acts 19:32; Lk 23:23). If man absolutely wants something, God sometimes gives what he demands (Psa 106:15 ; Psa 78:26-31). Sometimes God withholds something in His love and sometimes He gives us something in His anger.

God tells how the people constantly rejected Him. Samuel is now gaining the same experience. The rebellion of the people has also proved itself in more than one occasion toward Moses and Aaron. The desire to have a king is the lowest point of centuries of dissatisfaction with the place where grace has brought them. In His grace God connects Samuel to Himself and lets him share in the reproach that the people have done to Him over and over again (cf. Mt 10:24; Jn 15:18 ; 20). Paul longed for such conformity to Christ (Phil 3:10-11).