1 Samuel 12:12

Here the Spirit uncovers their hidden motives for asking for a king. Deep down, this was not the reason they had given Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:5: "Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways." People often dress up their motives like this in front of others. But no one can hide them from God or from His prophet. Fear of Nahash, and nothing more, ruled deep in Israel's heart, together with a total lack of faith and trust in God.

What then was their original state at that time? It was that God Himself was their king, just as God Himself points it out to Samuel in 1 Sam. 8:7-8 and chapter 12:12. The priest was the point of contact, the bond between the people and God, and God raised up judges whenever the people needed them.

However, he tells them that when they feared an attack by Nahash the Ammonite, they demanded a king! They should have realised that only their own sin would leave them open to attack. They should have turned to their faithful Creator in confession and faith. In effect, this told God that He was no longer to be trusted as their king!

Here Samuel reminds the people of past mercies. When their fathers sinned, their enemies gained power over them. They cried to God. They did not ask for a king, and God sent deliverers. Now, says Samuel, when you saw Nahash the king of the Ammonites come against you, you did not cry to God. You said to me, "No, but a king shall reign over us," when the LORD your God was your king. They were worse than their fathers.

Yes, the Ammonites had a king. In their unbelief the people saw the Ammonite king lay siege to Jabesh-gilead, and they wanted a king too — one they could see, and who would lead their army. God was their king, true, but He was out of sight, and He made their conduct the condition of His rescuing them. This was not at all to their liking. They wanted a protector their eyes could see. They had no faith, so they could only look at "the things that are seen," and in Saul they had it.

God defends His own title to be King, yet He lets their choice stand — to carry out His own purpose. At the same time He speaks through the prophet to declare their responsibility and the danger of this new position… The people have chosen kingship not as a new link between God and Israel, but to be like the nations. That choice was their sin. It really meant rejecting God. Still, kingship was God's purpose, and from now on it is to be the connecting link between God and His people.

So the LORD shows that the demand for a king was only the peak of centuries of discontent with the place His grace had given them… They forgot the lesson of Ebenezer (1 Sam. 7:12) completely, and turned not to God but to human strength. We see the same thing in Judges 11. There too the Ammonites were attacking them, and in their distress they turned to Jephthah for help. When will men — when will we — learn to turn to God alone in the difficulties and perils of life?