"Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, 'This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.'" (1 Samuel 8:10-12) Every able-bodied and able-minded male of Israel aged twenty to sixty was considered eligible for the army but here we find the king conscripting young men into his service and it is not clear what age these young men will be. Since Samuel refers to this as "taking" their sons, I'm speculating that youths under the age of majority will likely be called into the king's service and that neither they nor their parents will have any choice in the matter.
Some of these men will be appointed to prominent positions, becoming "commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties", but others will be assigned menial labor in the king's fields or will be put to the factory work of making weapons and making metal fittings for the king's chariots. It appears these positions will be assigned at the king's discretion and not necessarily because these are positions to which a young man might aspire. A physically fit youth with a courageous personality who would love to be a soldier might be given a job plowing fields instead of leading a troop. In other words, the futures of the sons of the Israelites will no longer be theirs to decide; the king will decide their occupations in life.
The king will have control over what their daughters do too. "He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers." (1 Samuel 8:13) Suppose a young lady wants to be a weaver and make beautiful rugs and fabrics? What if that is what her family's business is about? It won't matter to the king. If he wants to force her into his employ she will have no choice but to go to his palace and knead dough for his bread every day of her life.
The king will levy heavy taxes on the people and will seize portions of their land with which to reward his closest aides and advisors. "He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants." (1 Samuel 8:14-15)
The king won't stop there. He will seize as his due some of the people's servants (probably slaves, in this context, not hired hands) and some of their livestock for his own. "Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day." (1 Samuel 8:16-18)
The type of oppression Samuel describes is similar to, but even worse than, the oppression the Israelites have already experienced from time to time when their enemies managed to gain enough dominance over them to force them to pay tribute to heathen governments. The citizens of Israel will not literally become slaves under an oppressive king but, for all intents and purposes, they might as well be. They will lose many of the freedoms they enjoyed during the era of the judges. Their lives, their children, their property, and their livestock will no longer be fully their own. Many of their choices will be taken away from them. The burden the king will place on everyone's shoulders will be so heavy that in time they will cry out to the Lord for relief from a king "such as all the other nations have" but the Lord will leave them in these circumstances for a while to impress upon them the importance of doing things His way and in His timing. Here in 1 Samuel 8 it is not the right time yet for a king, yet the people will insist that Samuel appoint one. In 1 Samuel 9 they will select a man who is not right for the job, yet they will insist that he be anointed as their leader.
The Lord, like many parents, believes in using consequences as a teaching tool. He doesn't always have to apply direct discipline when we disobey Him; He often allows the consequences of our actions to teach us the lesson we need to learn. If we are wise, we'll be persuaded by those unpleasant consequences to never commit that particular act of disobedience again. If we do not respond appropriately to these consequences, the Lord will have to take further corrective action to get us back on the right track because that is what a responsible father does. He is concerned about every aspect of our wellbeing and His love for us compels Him to correct us when He sees us heading for disaster. The people of Samuel's time are going to regret choosing a king for themselves and the Lord is going to allow the consequences of their unwise choice to be a teaching tool. When the Lord's perfectly chosen time for a king arrives, and when the right man for the job has gained the maturity and experience to fulfill the role, He will place that man on the throne of Israel and that king will be a stark contrast to the man the people chose for themselves.
Samuel has obediently relayed the words of the Lord to the people but they still insist they want a king. The Lord tells him to give them what they want. "But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.'" (1 Samuel 8:19-20) The Lord---the King of kings---has been leading them and going before them to fight their battles! But they want a mere human being riding in front of their army. Lest we think we can point our finger and shake our heads at their obstinacy, let's stop a moment and think about times when we have rejected the Lord's best plan in favor of plans of our own making. How many times have we gotten ahead of the Lord or gotten completely out of His will altogether? Any time we sin against the Lord we are essentially saying, "Not Thy will, but mine, be done." We are saying, "We will not have Him as king over us."
Samuel has heard the decision of the people and he gets alone with the Lord to talk with Him about it. "When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.' Then Samuel said to the Israelites, 'Everyone go back to your own town.'" (1 Samuel 8:21-22) Samuel dismisses the assembly because their request has been heard and granted. I don't know whether those who had been assembled rejoice when they hear that they're getting what they want. But there's really nothing to rejoice about. It's a sad day. Samuel is feeling down because he's been rejected as judge over Israel. The people no longer want a judge. The Lord is being rejected as the king of the nation and as supreme general over its army. The people want a mortal human being, with all the limitations that humanity entails, to lead them. It should actually be a day of great mourning, not a day of celebration.
Whenever we reject the Lord's plans or get ahead of His plans, it should be a day of mourning because there are always consequences to getting out of the will of God. We are setting ourselves up for some tough times and regrets. I've ended up regretting it every time I've gotten ahead of the Lord and taken steps to get for myself something now that He intended to bless me with later. I've always brought hardship on myself whenever I've decided to do something that I know is wrong. Living in this fallen world is hard enough as it is, for trouble sometimes finds us even when we're living within the Lord's will, but we bring a lot of extra trouble on ourselves by getting out of His will. When that happens we have no one to blame but ourselves, which is what the Lord and Samuel were trying to warn the people about in today's text. When the king they choose brings upon them all the oppression they were warned about, they can't claim nobody told them what would happen. In this same way, when you and I choose to do something the Lord warned us not to do, we can't claim ignorance. We'll have to accept that we have no one to blame but ourselves and that can be a very bitter pill to swallow. Believe me, I've had to swallow that bitter pill a number of times! But the Lord can use a feeling of regret to lead a person to repentance and restoration. It's when a person feels no regret or shame at all over their sins that their soul is in extreme danger. Regret is an unpleasant and uncomfortable emotion but when we respond to it in the right way it will help us live closer to the Lord than ever before.
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