1 Samuel 7:15–8:5

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

All is well with Samuel and with Israel under his leadership. He acts much like a modern circuit court judge, traveling from town to town. The Philistines are kept out of the picture the whole time. Things are good.

Then it all comes crashing down. Sixty to zero in one generation. His sons are as corrupt as Eli’s sons were. Samuel must remember how God responded to that case; He used Samuel to deliver the verdict.

So, Samuel is under a lot of stress. He knows something needs to change.

But then disaster strikes. The elders of Israel say, make us a king. And the reason they give is even worse. They want a king to judge us like all the nations. Ouch.

The phrase all the nations refers to other nations. Why would the elders of Israel want Israel to be more like the other nations?

That’s nuts.

Many of the great tragedies of life involve people not appreciating what they have. The result is they either trade something precious for something less or even just throw it away. Here we see Israel not appreciating their special status; so they want to throw it away and be like other nations.

They forget that the other nations are their enemies. They are enemies because they’re evil. They worship gods that are not gods. They practice hideous sacrifices. How could the elders of Israel want to have anything to do with that?

There isn’t a simple answer. Some kind of strange psychological effect causes people to want change when they’re dissatisfied. They often don’t weigh their options rationally.

This is especially true of divorce. It’s oversold. People are often shocked by the costs—when it’s too late.

Divorce isn’t the only example. A rule of life worth memorizing is, “Don’t throw it all away.”

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.