Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 156
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(דברים יז יד) כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ – עֲשֵׂה מִצְוָה הָאֲמוּרָה בָּעִנְיָן, שֶׁבִּשְׂכָרָהּ תִּכָּנֵס לָאָרֶץ.
(Devarim 17:14) "When you come to the land": Do the mitzvah prescribed herein, in reward of which you will enter the land.
אֲשֶׁר ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ – בִּזְכוּתְךָ.
"which the L-rd your G-d gives to you": in your merit.
וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּה בָּהּ – בִּשְׂכַר שֶׁתִּירַשׁ תֵּשֵׁב.
"and you inherit it and you inhabit it": As a reward for inheriting it, you will inhabit it.
וְאָמַרְתָּ אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ, רַבִּי נְהוֹרַי אוֹמֵר: הֲרֵי זֶה דְּבַר גְּנַי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ח ז): ״כִּי לֹא אוֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ כִּי אוֹתִי מָאֲסוּ מִמְּלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם״.
"and you say: I shall place over myself a king, as all the nations that are around me": R. Nehorai says: This verse speaks in denigration of Israel, as in (I Samuel 8:7) "For it is not you (Samuel) that they have rejected (in asking for a king), but it is Me whom they have rejected from reigning over them."
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה: וַהֲלֹא מִצְוָה מִן הַתּוֹרָה לִשְׁאוֹל לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יז טו): ״שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ״! לָמָּה נֶעֶנְשׁוּ בִּימֵי שְׁמוּאֵל? לְפִי שֶׁהִקְדִּימוּ עַל יָדָם.
R. Yehudah said: Is it not a mitzvah of the Torah to ask for a king? viz. (Ibid. 15) "Place shall you place over yourself a king, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose"? Why, then, was Israel punished for this in the days of Samuel? — Because they (the "ignoramuses" of that generation) preempted them (the elders) by placing "like all the nations that are around us" (before "to judge us").
כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתָי, רַבִּי נְהוֹרַי אוֹמֵר: לֹא בִקְשׁוּ לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ אֶלָּא לְהַעֲבִידָם עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ח כ): ״וְהָיִינוּ גַם אֲנַחְנוּ כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם וּשְׁפָטָנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ וְיָצָא לְפָנֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם אֶת מִלְחֲמֹתֵינוּ״.
R. Nehorai said: They sought a king only to lead them to idolatry, as it is written (I Samuel, Ibid. 20) "And we, too, will be like all the nations, and our king will judge us and go out before us, and fight our wars."