God who does great things in great sin?

In the days of Samuel, all the elders of the Israel,

asked Samuel for a kings for the king to judge them like all the nations (1 Sam. 8:5).

God said this was rejecting not Samuel but God from being king over them (v. 7).

This was the Israelites’ great wickedness in the sight of the Lord (12:17).

The question is why did the Israelites asked for the king?

Of course one of the reasons was because Samuel’s two sons (Joel and Abijah) didn’t walk in their father Samuel’s ways,

but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice (8:1-3)

[even though Samuel had walked before the Israelites from his youth

even to when he was old and gray and didn’t receive any bribes (12:2-3)],

but another reason was because they wanted their king to go out before them and to fight their battles (8:20)

when they saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against them (12:12).  

 But what I don’t understand is that God raised the king they had asked for among them (8:22; 12:13)

Even though their asking of the king was great wickedness in His sight (12:17).

 Why did God listen to their great sinful prayers and did the great things to them? (v. 24)

Maybe God wanted the Israelites to learn the difference between

serving God and serving the kingdoms of the countries (2 Chron. 12:17).

Maybe God made them know the greatness of the sins

they had committed in the sight of God (1 Sam. 12:17)

So that we may know that all the kings from king Saul to all the Israel’s kings

who had committed sins against God and thus suffered by the Gentiles kings

who couldn’t save us but only the King of kings Jesus Christ who is the King of the Kingdom of God

who came to this world in order to save us, the true Israel who were chosen by God in love,

and to make us His people in order to reign over us forever.