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1 Samuel 8 · Grade 5

The Ways of the King

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Read and Think

Israel's request for a king grew from a real failure. Samuel's sons, Joel and Abijah, turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. The elders were right to see a crisis. Yet their solution, a king to judge us like all the nations, revealed a deeper desire: to trade God's unique rule for a visible human ruler like everyone else.

Samuel took it personally, but he prayed. The Lord's answer shifted the focus from Samuel to God: the people had rejected God Himself as king over them. Their request fit a long pattern stretching back to the exodus. Even so, God told Samuel to listen to them, while solemnly warning them.

Samuel's speech describes the ways of the king through the repeated verb take: sons for chariots, daughters as cooks, the best fields, a tenth of grain and flocks, and finally the people themselves as servants. In that day they would cry out, and the Lord would not answer. The people refused, insisting a king would judge them and go out before them to fight their battles. They wanted security they could see, even at a cost to their freedom.

Show What You Know

  1. What deeper desire did Israel's request reveal?

  2. Where did God's answer shift the focus?

  3. What verb is repeated in the description of a king?

  4. What did the people want that they could see?

Crossword

53214

Across

  1. The elders said, Now make us a ____ (8:5).
  2. The people ____ to listen to Samuel (8:19).

Down

  1. The people wanted to be like all the ____ (8:20).
  2. Samuel ____ to Yahweh (8:6).
  3. They gathered and came to Samuel at Ramah (8:4)

Think About It

  1. God allowed Israel's request but warned them of its cost. What does this teach about getting what we ask for?

  2. In what ways do people today look to leaders or powers to do what only God can do?

Memory Verse

Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.

1 Samuel 8:7 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for being my King. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

  • Why did God give the people what they asked for?
  • How do we sometimes trust leaders more than God?
  • What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.