The story of Samuel is a great one. Samuel grows up serving the Lord, and he is a strong figure in Scripture. In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel came to him, asking him for a king. They wanted someone to rule over them, someone to have the power to make things happen. What they didn't realize is that a king might not be on their side. A king might put his own interests first, and while he could lead an army, he could also take all of their rights away.
Samuel warned the people, "Here's what the king who rules over you will expect to be done for him. He will take your sons. He'll make them serve with his chariots and horses...others will have to plow his fields...He will take away your best fields and vineyards and olive groves...He'll take your best cattle and donkeys." Samuel tells them, "You yourselves will become his slaves (1 Samuel 8:10-17)."
The people insisted, "No! We want a king to rule over us. Then, we'll be like all the other nations..He'll go out at the head of our armies and fight our battles (1 Samuel 8:19-20)."
What is interesting is that God had already established the 10 Commandments, which would allow the people to honor God and live in a civilized society. God told them, through Moses to have no other gods, to not commit adultery, to not bear false witness, to not murder, to honor their father and mother, to not steal. In doing so, they could certainly have a civilized society without a king.
You might ask, who then would be in charge of protecting the country? God had already led the people out of slavery, protected them in the desert, defeated powerful armies. And, he did all of that without a king. He chose people, who honored Him, including Moses, Joshua, and Gideon to do what seemed impossible. But, still the people wanted a king.
Saul was a tall, handsome man. He was a leader who, the people thought, could propagate sin. They wanted to worship false gods; they wanted to disobey God. At least a king could be on their side.
People do the same in our day. They elect leaders to propagate sin and promote acts that are directly contrary to Scripture, including murder and homosexuality. They celebrate taking God's Word out of businesses and institutions. The people in 1 Samuel were all about propagating sin through a strong leader.
Fortunately, we can see a country succeed when the leadership recognizes God as the King. Moses and Joshua were imperfect people, but their strength and goodness came from trusting in God. They defeated powerful armies and led the people towards the Promised Land because of their faithfulness.
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