The request for a king from the people of Israel was a rejection of the Lord as their King (1 Samuel 8:1–22). They wanted to see a king with a standing army (walk by sight) rather than trusting God to care for them (walk by faith). As such, the kingship of Saul was mostly negative. Saul himself did not submit to God’s commandments and lead the people in obedience as he was meant to do (see Deuteronomy 17:14–20).
21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.