Today I want to share a word about the reluctant king as I comment on verses from 1 Samuel 9 and 10.
In our last episode, we saw God choosing the first human king of Israel, Saul. Saul had all the makings of a king: the physical makings, the attitudinal makings, the relational makings, and the spiritual makings. Saul appeared to be an exceptional choice, but in our focal passages above, we will find that Saul was a reluctant king of Israel.
Most people have pet peeves that irritate them. A common way that people express those irritations is to say, “If I were king for a day I would . . .” What follows that statement reveals what is irritating that person at that moment. For example, I might say, “If I were king for a day, I would outlaw grocery stores from installing product displays in the middle of an aisle in their shops.”
Yes, one of the most irritating things to me personally is having to dodge around a product display in the aisle of a grocery store while also avoiding a collision with another, oncoming, shopper. I can imagine someone becoming so frustrated with these impediments to shopping progress that he or she begins to charge around the store with a shopping cart, knocking down all the mid-aisle displays which seem to get in everyone’s way. While I would never do that (ahem . . .), if I were king for a day, those displays would be banned forever, like a law of the Medes and Persians.
To be more serious, with great power comes great responsibility, and not everyone is willing to take on great power and great responsibility. Infamously, King George VI of the United Kingdom was not best pleased when his brother Edward VIII abdicated and George became King. Some evidence exists that his daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II was equally nonplussed with the idea of becoming the monarch. King Saul would certainly understand their doubt, because he had his own. This is why I have called him the reluctant king. All he saw were the obstacles to his leadership.
Let’s begin by reading 1 Samuel 9:15-21,
Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel, “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel. He will save them from the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of my people, for their cry has come to me.” When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will govern my people.” Saul approached Samuel in the city gate and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?” “I am the seer,” Samuel answered. “Go up ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today. When I send you off in the morning, I’ll tell you everything that’s in your heart. As for the donkeys that wandered away from you three days ago, don’t worry about them because they’ve been found. And who does all Israel desire but you and all your father’s family?” Saul responded, “Am I not a Benjaminite from the smallest of Israel’s tribes and isn’t my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe? So why have you said something like this to me?”
Saul Faced The Obstacle Of Heritage:
Shakespeare quipped that, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Saul seemed to believe that the latter was the case for him. He had gone out to look for his father’s donkeys, and suddenly, God’s man is telling him that he was a big deal and that God had big plans for him. I am sure he asked himself the Hebrew equivalent of, “What’s up with that?”
In the human economy, who your parents are can be a very important factor in the way that society treats you. Certainly, this is true in those countries that have royal families and systems of nobility. No one runs to be elected king of Britain. That office is determined entirely by heredity.
Even in the United States, which rejected the rule of kings in 1776, and which rejected the concept of nobility in our Constitution, we still find intellectual elites and leaders of society projecting an aura of royalty and nobility. Why else would our news media care about the opinions of an actor or sports figure about politics or other cultural issues? In addition, helicopter parents are a thing.
Saul knew that he was not from a great family or a great tribe. In fact, he was from the smallest of the small. What Saul overlooked was that small things are not necessarily insignificant things. The poem “For Want of a Nail,” is a nursery rhyme that illustrates that fact.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Another way to express the same thought is the saying, “What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
Small things are not necessarily insignificant, and to God, they are not unimportant, either. Jesus told us that a sparrow will not fall in the field without God knowing and caring. Even the hairs on our head are numbered. In this case, Saul totally overlooked the fact that the donkeys had been found and that he didn’t need to continue to worry about them. In the midst of anointing the next king of Israel, God still remembered the donkeys!
In God’s economy, it is not about from where someone has come, but it is about where God is taking that person.
Saul Faced The Obstacle Of Doubt:
Let’s read 1 Samuel 9:22-27 and 1 Samuel 10:1,
Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them to the banquet hall, and gave them a place at the head of the thirty or so men who had been invited. Then Samuel said to the cook, “Get the portion of meat that I gave you and told you to set aside.” The cook picked up the thigh and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Notice that the reserved piece is set before you. Eat it because it was saved for you for this solemn event at the time I said, ‘I’ve invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. Afterward, they went down from the high place to the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. They got up early, and just before dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, and I’ll send you on your way!” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I’ll reveal the word of God to you.” So the servant went on. Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it out on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?”
Samuel had a surprise for Saul. God had chosen Saul to be king, and that’s certainly the last thing that Saul expected to hear. Not only did Samuel tell Saul that he would be the king, but Samuel also treated Saul as such.
First, Samuel promoted Saul in public. He gave him the best portion of meat, and he made Saul the featured guest at the meal. In front of all who gathered there, Samuel made much of Saul, and he did so in front of the leadership of that town. That is not all that he did, however.
Samuel also counseled with Saul privately. This is the correct and wise way to advise a leader. This is exactly what Peter did when Jesus told the disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to become a sacrifice for human sin. Peter confronted Jesus privately, insisting that Jesus should not allow such a thing to happen to Him. That also allowed Jesus to rebuke him privately as well. During my two-decades of service as a military chaplain, I often had the opportunity and need to advise my commanders about delicate situations. This always happened in private, as Samuel counseled privately with Saul in this case.
Samuel also gave Saul several proofs by which he could know Samuel was telling the truth. Let’s continue with 1 Samuel 10:2-9,
Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found, and now your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys and is worried about you, asking: What should I do about my son?’ “You will proceed from there until you come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one bringing three goats, one bringing three loaves of bread, and one bringing a clay jar of wine. They will ask how you are and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them. “After that you will come to Gibeah of God where there are Philistine garrisons. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place prophesying. They will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you, you will prophesy with them, and you will be transformed. When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances required because God is with you. Afterward, go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.” When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all the signs came about that day.
Saul had sought out Samuel so that the man of God could help him find his father’s donkeys. He trusted Samuel with that task, but did he trust him with the kingship of Israel? Let’s read 1 Samuel 10:13-16.
When Saul finished prophesying and went to the high place. Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we saw they weren’t there, we went to Samuel.” “Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?” Saul told him, “He assured us the donkeys had been found.” However, Saul did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.
The Bible does not say what was going on in Saul’s heart at this point. The Biblical test for a prophet is that what they say will happen, does happen. Everything that Samuel said would happen to Saul did happen to Saul, but that apparently was not sufficient proof for Saul. Samuel declared Saul to be king, but Saul, himself, refused to do so. Doubt is a common obstacle we all must face. When we face doubt, we are in good company, and I believe that Saul faced doubt also. The question is not, “Will we doubt?” The question is, “How do we handle our doubt?”
Just like with Saul, we have more than ample evidence of God’s love for us, and also for His call upon our lives. With His help, we can express our confidence in Him in our words, and our deeds, and our attitudes.
Saul Faced The Obstacle Of Fear:
Let’s read 1 Samuel 10:17-23,
Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.” Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him. They again inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.” They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.
When people face a threat, they respond one of three ways: they flee, they fight, or they freeze. This tendency has even been codified to some extent in the way school students and teachers are trained to respond to an active shooter. School personnel are taught to, “Run, hide, or fight.”
What did Saul do? Saul hid among the baggage and supplies. From his behavior, it is clear that he was afraid, but afraid of what?
Again, we are not told what was going through his mind, but leadership is a daunting task. The nature of the role requires that leaders be out front, and they are easily targeted. During the infamous Pickett’s Charge of the Battle of Gettysburg, all three of Pickett’s brigade commanders were casualties, as were twenty-six out of his forty majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels. Leadership is a costly role.
Another factor in Saul’s situation may have also caused him pause. Like in the television series Star Trek, Saul was about to “go where no man has gone before.” Moses was not king over Israel, and neither was Joshua or Samuel. As anyone who has chopped their way through the jungle will testify, blazing new trails is difficult and scary. Who knows what is around that next bend?
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said during his first inaugural speech, “All we have to fear is fear itself.” That was manifestly not true, because at that time the United States was suffering the ravages of the lowest point in the Great Depression. The American people had much to fear at that time as did Saul on the eve of his installation as king.
Many commentators believe that FDR knew precisely the kind of obstacles Americans faced during the Great Depression. In that speech, the President was asserting his belief that the greatest obstacle to recovery was fear, an unreasoning terror that caused people to flee, fight, or freeze. This same can be true of us when God asks us to serve in His Kingdom.
When we are afraid to do what God calls us to do, we must remember what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24,
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.
Saul Faced The Obstacle Of Reputation:
Finally, let’s read 1 Samuel 10:24-27,
Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people home. Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him. But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.
When I read that passage, I was reminded of a way that my dad would respond to a proposal or a project that he had doubts about. When asked “What do you think about . . . ?” He often would reply, laconically, “I don’t think much about it.” By this he meant that he didn’t think that whatever was on offer was worth his time. This was the attitude that some in Israel had when Saul was announced as their new king. Their attitude, while wrong, was not unique in the Biblical record. Far from it!
- When Joseph announced his call to leadership, he was sold into slavery by his own brothers.
- Moses was concerned about what the Children of Israel would say when he arrived in Egypt from the backside of the desert to rescue them from their oppression.
- David was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse, also of the Tribe of Benjamin. He was the little shepherd boy, but he also became king.
- Isaiah 53:2-3 tells us about what people thought of Jesus, “He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him."
- Jesus had both a prostitute, Rahab, and a foreigner, Ruth, in His family tree.
- Jesus came from Nazareth, a despised and rejected city, and he was known as a simple carpenter’s son. He was not considered someone to whom people should listen.
- Paul summed up all of this in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
When we are called to serve God, the only reputation we should be concerned about is His. He is more than capable of defending Himself, and He is more than capable of changing us so we can be suitable to serve Him and His Name.
Conclusion:
The old saying about fugitives from justice applies here: “You can run, but you can’t hide.” This is also the case for God’s people when He calls them to His service.
Yes, Satan, the world, and we ourselves may place obstacles to service in our path. God, however, can and will overcome them! Let us bow our knee to our Lord and let us willingly allow Him to knock down every obstacle to our service to Him.
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
