Link to the Show / Show NotesSamuel's sons did not walk in his ways or the ways of the Lord. So the people of Israel came to Samuel with their desire for a king just like all the other nations.
This request displeased the prophet, but god reminded him that Israel's request was not a rejection of the prophet, but fundamentally a rejection of God's rule over His own people.
God would give Israel a king, but that king would levy taxes against the people and conscript its citizens for labor and miltary service. Yet, Israel still wanted a king and wanted to be like the other nations.