8:5-9 Acknowledging God as King When the people of Israel saw that they would not receive justice from the hands of Samuel’s sons, who “accepted bribes and perverted justice” (8:3), they decided that having a “king to judge [them] like all the other nations have” (8:5) was the way to go. Unfortunately, as Samuel so clearly warned (8:10-18), a human king would inflict the same injustices—and worse—upon them. Sometimes we bring suffering upon ourselves through our failure to acknowledge God as Lord and King over us. But even in our refusal to heed the warnings, he graciously provides.