Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:4-9 ESV)
Samuel had served God well. Not perfectly, but well. He was then told: "get out of the way!" Having broken the downward cycle of sin that had taken Israel further down, and establishing peace in the land, it was not enough. God told him to not take it personally. It was not so much that they wanted a king, as it was that they did not want God to choose their leader. They wanted Samuel to choose who they wanted - not who he wanted or who God wanted. The hardest thing for Samuel was to keep on doing his job - being a prophet, priest and judge, while the transition took place. But he was willing to listen to God, and learn to not take it personally.
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