ומלוך עלינו אתה ה’ לבדך

ומלוך עלינו אתה ה’ לבדך
AND REIGN OVER US YOU HASHEM ALONE

So it was in the days of the Shoftim of old, all the way from Moshe down to the times of Shmuel Hanavi (Tehillim 99:6), when the people demanded from him a king (Shmuel 8:5). And Hashem said at that time, “They have rejected me from ruling over them”. The rule of the Shoftim of that era was truly the rule of Hashem alone, for all the deeds of the Shoftim were done solely as agents of Hashem; with their own personalities invisible, there was nothing separating the people from Hashem. “Hashem, reign over us alone, as You did then in the days of the Shoftim of old.”