1 Samuel 8:18

18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, ADONAI will not answer you!"

1 Samuel 8:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:18

And ye shall cry out in that day, because of your king
His power and pride, his oppression and tyranny, his heavy exactions, and intolerable yoke, and yet not be able to free themselves from them; all that they could do would be only to cry out under them as grievously distressed, and not knowing how to help themselves; and which would be the more aggravated, because they brought all this upon themselves, as it follows:

which ye shall have chosen you;
for though the choice of a king for them, at a proper time, God had reserved to himself, yet in later times, as is here suggested, they would choose for themselves, and did, see ( Hosea 8:4 ) besides, to have a king in general was at first their own choice, though the particular person was by the designation of the Lord:

and the Lord will not hear you in that day;
will not regard them, have no compassion on them, suffer them to remain under their oppressions, and not deliver them out of them; because they rejected him from being their King, and put themselves out of his protection, into the hands of another, and therefore it was just to leave them to their own choice.

1 Samuel 8:18 In-Context

16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him.

17 He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants.

18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, ADONAI will not answer you!"

19 However, the people refused to listen to what Sh'mu'el told them, and they said, "No! We want a king over us,

20 so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles."