1 Samuel 8:19-22--The LORD Grants Israel's Request

1 Samuel 8:19-22
English Standard Version
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The LORD Grants Israel's Request
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

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The people refused to hear the LORD's warning the Samuel spoke to them.  They demanded that they be the ones in charge and that they would not listen to the LORD or His prophet, Samuel, for they had made up their minds what they wanted to do--they wanted a king so that they could be just like all the other nations around them.  They wanted a king that could judge them and go out to battle before them and fight their battles for them (these were all things the LORD Himself had promised to do for His people, but the Israelites now wanted a man like themselves to follow because it was hard to follow the LORD and to obey His covenant and walk according to His precepts).

When Samuel told all these words that the people had said to the LORD to hear how the LORD wanted Samuel to reply to the people, the LORD told Samuel once again to obey the voice of the people and to make a king for them (anoint the person they chose as king over them).  So Samuel told everyone to go home.  Next time we'll see Samuel anoint Saul from the tribe of Benjamin (not of the tribe of Judah which was the tribe that was to rule over all of Israel) as their king, but the LORD will reveal to Samuel that Saul is the one that He has chosen to keep the people under control for a while and the one the LORD will use to help Israel defeat the Philistines who had been oppressing the people of Israel.  Even so, the LORD had a better king for Israel in mind that we will learn about in a few chapters, but most of his story is contained in the second book of Samuel (2 Samuel).