1 Samuel 11:15 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

There they made Saul king Owned and accepted him for their king. Saul had been anointed in Ramah, and chosen by lot in Mizpeh; but still some disdained to acknowledge him for their king, which made him content himself for a time with a private life. But now, after this signal token of God's presence with him, in the late victory, he was, by common consent, received by all the people for their king. Before the Lord Not before the ark, the symbol of God's presence, as the expression sometimes means; for the ark was now at Kirjath-jearim, and not at Gilgal; but in a solemn manner, as in God's presence, appealing to him as a witness of their sincerity in this transaction, and with solemn sacrifices and prayers for his blessing upon it.