1. 1 Samuel 8:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the request for a king displease Samuel?

1 Samuel 8:6 (ESV)

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.

Samuel must have known about the Lord’s provision for a king made in Deuteronomy 17:1–20.1 It may be that Samuel understood the request to be a personal rejection of his leadership as well as the God-given institution of judges.2