8:6
Samuel was greatly displeased about this. Why so? On the positive side it could be because he knew the people were not truly trusting God and wanted to be just like the other nations. On the negative side there could be selfish personal reasons as well. Samuel might be resentful that he was no longer as able as he once was. He could also be being defensive about his two sons. It is very difficult to accept that your own children are not following God. I suspect it was actually a mixture of the two types of reasons. We are mixed up creatures. However, Samuel did the right thing in taking the matter to God. We are mixed up people, with both good and bad within us. As we become more Christlike, the good should become increasingly dominant. However, none of us are pure. We can fool ourselves into thinking we can get everything right, or we can face up to the reality of the situation and turn to God, depending upon His grace to see us through. The latter is by far the better solution.
8:7-9
Israel having a king was actually part of God’s long term plan. They were meant to have God as their king, and ultimately this would be the case with Jesus Christ as king of kings. However, for now God knew that it was Him that they were rejecting, not Samuel. The people of Israel had no real desire to live under God’s rule and to live in fellowship with Him. God knew that Israel had repeatedly forsaken Him and sought other gods, they were now doing the same with Samuel. So God tells Samuel to give the Israelites what they wanted, but to warn them what the consequences would be.
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