Samuel

Was it good for the Israelites to ask for a king? God already knew they would ask, and that God would appoint a king for them, so God gave the people rules for how to govern themselves. In this set of rules, God gave instructions for a king (Deut. 17). In 1 Samuel 8, the people ask for a king, and God gives them a warning of what a king will do, but they still demand one.

So is it wrong for them to ask? I can understand reasons why they would want a king. All the nations around them had kings, and they could probably see the positive side of having a king. They did not have many judges that followed God, which meant at times they had a fairly perverse nation. Yet, God chose the Israelites to be a set apart people. They were not supposed to be like the surrounding nations. Knowing all God did for them, by saving them from the Egyptians and helping them conquer their enemies, I would tend to think that they were wrong, and rude, to demand a king when they should have been pleased to have God as their king.

Yet, if the Israelites had not asked for a king, then David may have never become anything more than a shepherd boy. Jesus would not have descended from the royal line of David, because David would not have been royal. Our canon would be missing a lot of what it has today because David’s stories and writings would not be known. Judas was wrong to betray Jesus, but if he would not have done that, then Jesus would not have died on the cross, and we would not be saved. It had to happen. These things are part of God’s plan. The Israelites may have been acting ungratefully toward God, but they were fulfilling God’s plan and purpose.