We read that Saul was chosen by God as the first king of Israel.. Many reasons he was chosen: Israel desired to be like nations around them with a natural ruler. One thing is that God, the Creator of ALL was in The forefront of Israel! God led, provided, protected… https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-stories-2022/the-israelites-in-the-wilderness?lang=eng
Yet, in these desire to be as the surrounding nations they desired a king…
Seeing the unsuitability of Samuel’s sons, the Israelites ask him to “appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” This request displeases Samuel (1 Sam. 8:4-6). Samuel warns the people that kings lay heavy burdens on a nation.
These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. (1 Sam. 8:10-17)
In fact, the kings would be so rapacious that eventually the people would cry out to God to save them from the kings (1 Sam. 8:18).
God agrees that asking for a king is a bad idea because it amounts to a rejection of God himself, as king. Nonetheless, the Lord decides to allow the people to choose their form of government, and he tells Samuel, “Listen to 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” (1 Sam. 8:7). As biblical scholar John Goldingay notes, “God starts with his people where they are; if they cannot cope with his highest way, he carves out a lower one. When they do not respond to the spirit of Yahweh or when all sorts of spirits lead them into anarchy, he provides…the institutional safeguard of earthly rulers.” Sometimes God permits institutions that are not part of his eternal purpose, and the monarch of Israel is one of the most glaring examples.
Both God and Samuel showed great humility, resilience, and grace in allowing Israel to make choices and mistakes, learning from the consequences. There are many institutional and workplace situations where leadership must adjust to people’s poor choices, yet at the same time try to provide opportunities for growth and grace. Samuel’s warning to Israel could easily serve as a warning to nations, businesses, churches, schools, and other organizations of today’s world. In our fallen world, people abuse power, and we have to adjust while at the same time doing what we can to change things. Our aspiration is to love God and treat other people as God commands in the law given to Moses, which God’s people have had an extremely hard time doing in every age.
Right before Saul’s battle against the Philistines, Saul does not wait for Samuel as he is instructed. Instead, Saul disobeys and offers a sacrifice by himself (1 Samuel 13:9). Because Saul refuses to listen to God, Samuel says he has forfeited the hope of an eternal dynasty in Israel (1 Samuel 13:13).
For Saul, disobedience in not following God’s instructions had severe consequences. In 1 Samuel 31 many fell dead, all the Israelites were forced to flee, and Saul’s army along with his sons were killed. Because of Saul’s disobedience, he no longer had the Lord’s protection and Philistine arrows found him.
https://thebiblesays.com/commentary/1sam/1sam-16/1-samuel-166-13/
I Samuel 16:1
“Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.””