Now, they did this because Samuel's sons were not following in the footsteps of Samuel. They did not live like him. They did not believe like him. They conducted their lives like the people of the land. They were not the kinds of leaders that these people wanted. They gave every indication that they were going to be tyrannical (despotic), and these people did not want to live under them. So the people, then, say in verse 5:
So we see that the system of judges—who were ruling Israel as God's agents, His representatives—continued until Samuel. Then the people let it be known that they wanted a king, like all the other nations. Verse 7 makes it clear that, despite having judges, God was still their Official. He was still their real Ruler, and His law was to be the law of the land.
