Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 8:7

"And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them." — 1 Samuel 8:7 (ASV)

Hearken unto the voice of the people. —The words spoken to Samuel, probably in a vision, by the Most High are very touching and very sad.

Very touching, in their extreme tenderness to the noble old man. Take courage, they seem to say, “my old true servant, and do not be dismayed at this apparently bitter proof of the ingratitude of the people you loved so well. This deliberate complaint on the part of Israel is directed not against you, the judge, but against Me, the invisible King.

“They have ever been the same—incapable of becoming my true subjects and of winning on earth the lofty position I would have given them; you must give them now their hearts’ desire. It has all been foreseen and provided for; only make them understand what they are asking.

“Then give them their earthly king.” Very sad, for it was the deliberate abandonment by the Eternal God of His first intention regarding Israel—the deliberate lowering of the grand ideal once formed for His chosen people.

Here, as is not infrequent in the Divine records, we have a corner of the veil which hangs between the creature and the Creator lifted for a moment.

We see how sadly possible it is for man, in the exercise of his perfect freewill, to mar the glorious work arranged for him by his God. We see too, in the records of such a transaction as this , how all was foreseen by the King of heaven, and we catch sight of the sorrowful regret—if we may use the term—of the Creator for the perverse folly of His creatures.