1 Samuel 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us.
When Israel asked Samuel to give them a king, Samuel proceeded to list all the negative consequences that will come from such a decision. It will be a bad choice and bad things will happen to you. In spite of his warning, the people refused to obey, listen, to Samuel. Their mind was made up, and no amount of reasoning would change their minds. The facts don’t matter; only what I want matters.
It is like when a person sits down to write up all the pros and cons concerning a given decision, and then he throws the paper away and does what he wants anyway. The rebellious sinner will not listen to reason nor even to morality nor to God. His mind is already made up. It’s a classic case of following our own subjective feelings in place of the objective Law of God.
We need the convincing of the Word and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to change our minds. Objective Reasoning alone will not overcome the Subjective Emotions of the human heart. We would find life going better when we listen to God’s will in place of our own will. Therefore, we need to pray, “Thy will be done” in my life as opposed to my own selfish will and the devil’s evil will. Much human struggle would be avoided if we could pray and believe this petition. But, alas, we think we know best what’s good for us.