We Want a King Like the Nations

Fr. Scott Haynes

A Meditation on 1 Samuel 8:4–7, 10–22

The elders of Israel come to Samuel with a request that seems reasonable on the surface: “Give us a king to govern us, like all the nations.” Samuel is troubled, and the Lord reveals why. “They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”

Here is the heart of the passage. Israel does not merely ask for a new political structure. They ask for a replacement of trust. God had been their King, their protector, their lawgiver. He raised up judges when they cried out. He delivered them when they repented. Yet now they look around, compare themselves to other nations, and conclude that God’s way is not enough.

Samuel faithfully warns them. A human king will take their sons and daughters, their fields and flocks, their freedom and strength. He will promise security but demand servitude. This is not God being vindictive. It is God being honest. When we place our ultimate trust in human power, we always pay a price.

Still, the people insist. “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations.” The desire to be “like everyone else” outweighs the privilege of being God’s own.

This passage speaks directly to us. We may not ask for a king, but we often ask for substitutes. We want control, predictability, and visible power. We want solutions that look impressive and immediate. Like Israel, we sometimes prefer something we can see and manage over trusting the invisible reign of God.

The tragedy is not that Israel gets a king. The tragedy is why they want one. God later works through kings, even good and holy ones. But here, the request is born from fear and comparison, not faith.

The lesson is searching and personal. Where do we say, perhaps quietly, “God is not enough”? Where do we trade obedience for security, prayer for strategy, surrender for control?

Yet even in this, God does not abandon His people. He allows their choice and continues to work within it. This is both a warning and a mercy. God respects our freedom, even when it leads us into hardship, and He never stops calling us back.

The passage leaves us with a choice. Will we be content to let the Lord reign over our hearts, or will we demand a king who looks like the world’s idea of strength? True freedom is not found in being like the nations. It is found in belonging wholly to God.