Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel." Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you." Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans."
When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?"
And the Lord said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."
They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
1 Samuel 10:9-27
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
A period of leadership dysfunction was about to begin in Israel. The people, unsatisfied with the leadership provided by the judges and specifically by Samuel’s two sons, demanded to have a king to rule over them like all the other nations around them. You’ll recall that they did this despite first not asking God whether it was His will for them to have a king or not and, second, refusing to heed God’s warning to them about the hardship the king would bring on them if appointed. No…the people of Israel stubbornly insisted on having a king and in doing so, rejecting God…the true King not only over Israel but all mankind.
Israel wanted a king and so God gave them their king. He told Samuel to expect a man from the tribe of Benjamin to come to him and he was to be the one to be king. As we have studied, that man ended up being Saul who encountered Samuel while looking for his father’s lost donkeys. You’ll remember that Samuel anointed Saul and gave him clear instruction saying:
“When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?" '
Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do." 1 Samuel 10:3-8
And so Saul left Samuel and the signs occurred just as Samuel had said they would. We read where “God changed Saul's heart” and as he arrived at Gibeah and met a “procession of prophets”, the “the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying”. This happened much to the surprise of those who witnessed the event as they asked, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" There had been an obvious, measurable change in Saul…all because he had the power of God inside him.
Next, Saul had an encounter with his uncle who asked where he had been. Saul told him he had been out looking for his father’s donkeys when he had met Samuel who had assured him that “the donkeys had been found”. And that’s all that Saul told his uncle, leaving out what “Samuel had said about the kingship”. No one else in Israel knew Saul was to be their king either until Samuel “summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah”.
After Samuel assembled Israel, he gives them a message from the Lord saying:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans."
Of note here is a reminder to Israel that they had rejected God by asking for a king as Samuel “brought all the tribes of Israel near” before casting lots to determine who would be king. As the lots were cast, the first determination was the tribe from which the king would come. As we read, we see where “the tribe of Benjamin was chosen”. So by process of elimination, eleven tribes were out of the running.
Next, Samuel “brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan” and lots were again cast with Matri's clan being chosen. All other clans were eliminated from consideration.
Finally, lots were cast to determine what family the king would come from and who within that family would be selected. As lots were cast, we read where “Saul son of Kish was chosen”. Israel had their king…or did they? For as the people looked for Saul, he was nowhere to be found and so “they inquired further of the Lord” about whether Saul was there. The Lord answered by telling the Israelites that Saul had “hidden himself among the baggage” and so “they ran and brought him out”. With him before Israel, standing “a head taller than any of the others”, Samuel says to the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." To which the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
Samuel finished the ceremony by explaining the “the regulations of the kingship” to the people, writing the regulations “down on a scroll” and depositing “it before the Lord”. This would leave little doubt as to the Lord’s expectations of the one He had chosen to be in charge.
Following the ceremony, “Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home” and as Saul returned to Gibeah, he was “accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched”. But not everyone was a fan. For some troublemakers wondered, "How can this fellow save us?" And scripture tells is “they despised him and brought him no gifts”. Not wanting to raise conflict with his fellow Israelites, “Saul kept silent”.
And so Israel had their king and his name was Saul. And as we studied yesterday, Israel’s king came from a place few people could have predicted, the smallest tribe (Benjamin) and the least of the clans in that tribe (Matri). Our indiscriminate Lord can certainly select and does select whoever He wants to do His purpose in life. The world’s qualifiers are not the same as the Lord’s.
In fact, we see in our passage today that it’s not so much that God is looking for a certain set of qualifiers for Him to employ someone to carry out His will. Instead, God gives the people He selects what they need to succeed, planning the gifts and talents inside them to go forth and carry out His plan.
For we didn’t read that Saul had any incredible gifts or talents with the exception of being a little taller than his peers. God chose Saul because He wanted Saul to be the king. Plain and simple. And after He chose Saul, then He gave Saul what He wanted him to have to succeed in leadership…and the good news is that the Lord will do the same for us whenever He chooses us to do something in His name.
So what did the Lord do for Saul to help him succeed and what can we expect as well?
First, the Lord changed Saul's heart. If we are going to succeed in whatever the Lord wants us to do, our hearts have to be changed and transformed so that they are fully committed to everything the Lord wants us to do. In order for this change to fully happen, we have to set aside our own desires so the desires of the Lord reign supreme within us. Saul’s kingship was only going to be truly successful if he ruled under the guidance of the True King. We’ll only succeed ourselves by doing the same.
Second, the Lord sent the Spirit of God on Saul in power and as a result, he joined in the act of prophesying with the procession of prophets. The Lord’s will was for Saul to prophesy at that particular time and so He sent His Spirit upon Saul and made it happen. And since Saul’s heart was changed, he was ready to fully receive the Spirit and be controlled by its power. The Lord yearns to do the same thing with us…to change our hearts so we are ready to commune with Him and then once that happens, to send His Spirit within us in power to do whatever He desires for us to do.
Finally, the Lord set Saul apart from his peers. Saul’s heart had been changed and he had been given the special power of the Holy Spirit to carry out the Lord’s purpose. Now He was revealed to the Israelites by Samuel as the man that the Lord had chosen to lead them. No one else had been given that distinction but Saul who was like everyone else except for the fact that He was set apart for a special purpose by God.
Question: What has God set you apart to do?
That should always be a question we should be asking Him. For He has a purpose for each and every one of us but we need to be ready to receive that purpose. That requires that we allow the Lord to change our hearts…to prepare us to receive His Spirit in power and in doing so understand His will for our lives. Then and only then, will we be fully set apart from our peers by God for the specific purpose He has for us…and begin to live a life that is like no other…a life that is predicated on service to the Lord and others.
And the good news is that the Lord will use us for as long as He blesses us with life here on earth, always giving us everything we need to succeed. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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