1 Samuel 9 (Saul Chosen To Be King)

Saul’s Search for Donkeys and God’s Hidden Providence

Once again, let's open to the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. This week we are in chapter 9. So this is where Saul is chosen to be Israel's first king. If you recall from last time, Samuel is old, his sons were corrupt.

So because of that, along with their desire to be like all the other nations, the children of Israel demanded a king. And in doing this, God tells Samuel, Samuel, they have not rejected you, rather they have rejected me that I should not reign over them.

So in that statement, we learn that under the governmental system of the judges, God was Israel's king. That's the way it was always supposed to be. God was their king. The judge was really just the man tasked to carry out the Lord's orders.

Sort of like in a local church, right? Christ is the head of the church. Jesus is the good shepherd. The pastor is an under shepherd. So the pastor doesn't get to make up his own rules. He goes by what the Lord says, right?

The pastor is to carry out Christ's commands. So that's the way it was supposed to be in Israel. God was the king. The judge was supposed to carry out the Lord's orders. So in Israel at this time, Samuel is the judge and he does whatever God tells him to do.

So when the people demand a king, the Lord tells Samuel, this was back in chapter eight, they've not rejected you, they've rejected me, but Samuel do what they say. Just make sure you warn them that they know what they're getting into.

So Samuel does that. The people persist in desiring a king. And now God is going to choose that king. And as many of you already know, the man who would become Israel's first king is a man named Saul, Saul, the son of Kish.

So let's begin reading first Samuel chapter nine, starting in verse one.

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zerah, the son of Bekorah, the son of a fire, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul.

There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost.

And Kish said to his son Saul, please take one of the servants with you and arise. Go and look for the donkeys.

So he passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Sheolim and they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

When they had come to the land of Zath, Saul said to his servant who was with him,.

Come, let us return. Lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.

Look now, there is in this city a man of God and he is an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there. Perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.

But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?

Look, I have here at hand one fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God to tell us our way.

Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus, Come, let us go to the seer. For he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer. Then Saul said to his servant,.

Well said. Come, let us go.

So they went to the city where the man of God was.

The Meaning of “Seer” and the Significance of Small Details

Okay, so we will stop here. And if you haven't guessed by now, the man of God that they are seeking out is Samuel. In the Old Testament, we read that the prophets, right? In the Old Testament, prophets, number one, were called the man of God.

Just like in the New Testament, pastors are called the man of God. But originally, number two, in Israel, prophets were originally called seers. S-E-E-R-S. This referred not only to their ability to see the future, they could also see or discern things that other people couldn't.

God would give the prophet or the seer visions, along with special knowledge and insight. And at times, direct revelation from God. As we have seen before, that God speaks to Samuel directly. So since Saul is trying to find his father's lost donkeys, they figure if anyone knows where they were, it would be the seer.

A few other things we see in this section, verses one through ten, we learn that Saul's father, Kish, this is going to be important later on. You know, there's no detail in the Bible that's just kind of a throwaway statement.

Everything in the Bible is there for a reason. So we see that Saul's father, Kish, it says he was a mighty man. And what that means is he had great wealth and resources. So when he loses his donkeys, you know, back then, lost livestock is lost dollars.

I guess that's still true today. But it's important, obviously, if you have a bunch of lost donkeys, you need to go out and get them. So Kish puts his son, Saul, in charge of this important mission. Now, I don't think it probably seemed all that important to Saul, right?

Hey, let's go out and find this, what is it? A herd of donkeys? I don't know. I can imagine, though, that Saul really wasn't all that excited about this mission. But that's what happens. And Saul takes a servant along with him, per his father's request.

But little did they know that in the providence of God, this occasion of the lost donkeys would be used to elevate Saul to the position of king. You know, God can take some of the most surprising things and use those things to bring about his will.

All things work together for good, the scripture says, to those who love God. And, you know, I do realize there's some dispute about whether or not Saul, is Saul saved? Does he really love God? At times, it seems he does.

And then at times, it seems he doesn't. And there's that whole debate, which we're not getting into, at least not right now. But God is definitely going to use this event. A few other things. Saul looks like a king, right?

He's taller than anyone else, head and shoulders above anyone else around, which means he's probably stronger than anyone else around. So Saul, and back then a king was someone who went out to battle, a king was supposed to be a warrior.

So Saul is like the ideal picture of a warrior. He's from an important family and he is exactly what the children of Israel would have in mind. When they think of a king, they would think of a guy like Saul.

Decades later, when a new king is chosen, the Lord will say, remember this statement, how man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. Of course, that's a verse that's often taken out of context today.

It doesn't matter what you're doing on the outside. All that matters is your heart. Well, of course, what's in your heart comes out what's on the outside. It's reflected in that, but that's another sermon for another day.

But obviously, Saul is the guy. If you looked at him, yeah, he would be the man. So they come to this city where Samuel is, verse 11, and it says, then they went up the hill to the city and they met some young women going out to draw water and said to them, is the seer here or is the prophet here, is what we would say.

And they said to him, yes, there he is just ahead of you. Hurry now for today. He came to this city because there is a sacrifice of the people today on the high place. Now, is it just a coincidence that Saul and Samuel came to the city just so happens on the same day?

No, it's, this is, we'll see this later. It's clearly for ordained of God. One commentator makes this statement about the high place, because if you read through the old Testament, you've noticed this statement about the high places.

So some people have questioned, well, wait a minute, Samuel is going to offer a sacrifice on the high places. One commentator says this, the high place, this is essentially Canaanite in background. Before the temple was built, the high place was used for worship and sacrifice because it provided the best vantage point for the participation of the people in worship and allowed them to visually see the sacrifice being made for them.

Of course, worshiping other deities, we can say this for certain, worshiping other deities at the high places was strictly forbidden. And if you read commentators, some commentators find this questionable, like Samuel shouldn't have been sacrificing here.

He shouldn't have done it on a place. And others will say, well, there's a one time, you know, divine, divine dispensation was permitted for Samuel to do that, do it this one time. There's going to be some disagreement about that, but look at verse 14.

God’s Appointment of Saul and the Danger of Outward Appearance

So they went up to the city and they were coming as they were coming into the city. There was Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place. Now, the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came saying tomorrow at this time, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin and you shall anoint him commander over my people, Israel, that he may save my people from the hand of the Philistines.

For I have looked upon my people because their cry has come to me. So we see that Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin. And of course there would be another Saul in the new Testament from the tribe of Benjamin, the man we call the apostle Paul.

And if you do a study like the men were complete opposites, right? Saul is tall and good looking. Paul is probably short and not all that attractive. And if you, if you look there, there's a whole study out there where it's like they're the complete opposite of one another.

So that's something you can look into on your own. Now, I just want to spend a moment on this, this statement in verse 15, it says, now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear that Saul or a man from the land of Benjamin, uh, would come.

So what does that mean that God told him in his ear? This means that Samuel literally heard the voice of God. Remember back in chapter three, when Samuel was a boy and he heard the Lord speaking to him, he thought it was Eli calling to him from the next room.

Why is that important? Because we have a generation of Christians today. I think probably due to the influence of the charismatic movement, but we have a generation of Christian and you know, and I, I don't want to be too hard on people because you hear other Christians saying it.

So you repeat what you hear from other Christians. I get that. But we have a generation of Christians today who go around saying things like, God spoke to me, God told me this, God spoke to me. And he told me that, or you need to listen to that still small voice.

And most of the time, what they mean is that God is speaking to them through some inner impressions, some thought popped into their mind, some feeling that they have. I think God is speaking to me, or I have this strong sense of this feeling and God told me this.

And they say, that's the voice of God. Well, again, I think it's largely due to the influence of the Pentecostal charismatic movement, which believes that God is still giving direct revelation today through prophets and apostles, which I do not hold to that view.

And I know that some people who say that God told me this, God told me that I know that they mean well, and some many, maybe even most don't actually mean that God is literally speaking to them. But all of that to say this, Samuel actually heard the voice of God.

Samuel heard the, the audible voice of the Lord. That's what makes Samuel a prophet that he actually got direct revelation from God. So that's what it means when it says that Samuel heard the Lord speak to him in his ear.

This isn't some inner impression thought or feeling in verse 17, when Samuel sees Saul, God specifically says to him, there he is. That's the man. Cause I said a moment ago, if you looked at Saul, he would, he would appear to be like the ideal picture of a King, but that's not what's happening here.

It's not like Samuel saw him and he's like, this must be the guy that happened later with David and his brother. Samuel looked at David's brothers. Oh, this must be the guy. Oh, that must be the guy, but that's not what's happening here.

God told him in his ear, there he is. So let's read that verse 17. So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, there, he is the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over my people. Then Samuel drew near or excuse me.

Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said, please tell me where is the Sears house. So Saul is completely oblivious to everything that's going on. Remember he's, he's still looking for donkeys here.

God, God, and Samuel are talking about making him King. He has, he has no clue. Verse 19, Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer go up before me to the high place where you shall eat with me today and tomorrow I will let you go and we'll tell you all that is in your heart.

But as for your donkeys, okay, let's, let's get this out of the way. This really isn't all that important, but as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them for they have been found.

So Samuel tells Saul, Hey, don't worry about that. We have more, uh, more important things to get to. And then notice what Samuel says to Saul and on whom is all the desire of Israel. Is it not on you and all your father's house?

So as soon as Saul realizes what is being said, that God's prophet has just told him that he has been chosen by God to rule over the house of Israel. Saul, like others before him, he's reluctant. So we, we actually see humility from Saul.

He's totally remember Moses was reluctant. God told him I'm going to use you, send you to Pharaoh. And Moses is like, nope, find someone else. A lot of the prophets when they were called, this was their reaction.

No, Lord, I can't do it. Find someone else. And we see that from Saul here, verse 21. And Saul answered and said, am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family is the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin.

Remember how I said, no verses there, you know, does the throwaway that it's not important. No, that verse we read at the beginning about how Saul's father was a very powerful man. Compare that to what Saul is saying that he is from the least.

My family is least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. That's not really accurate, is it? That's not accurate. What's Saul doing? I think he's showing humility. I think he is so surprised. He doesn't know what to say.

He's humbled and he's reluctant. And then Saul says to Samuel, why, why are you saying this to me? It's like, you must have the wrong guy. So this humility, at least at first, is what made Saul a good ruler.

Now, in the end, we, I think most of us know the story, but at the beginning, this humility at first is what made him a good ruler. What does the scripture say? God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

You know, there's been many preachers who go up into the pulpit confident and they're just, they're just, I got my notes together. I've been studying, they're confident. I'm going to preach one of my best sermons and man, it's a total dud.

And then there's been other preachers who have gotten up behind the pulpit with shaky knees and they've preached a powerful message from the word of God. And this is true. It doesn't matter if you're a king, a preacher, or this applies to anyone, we need to be humble.

Again, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And that's what Saul is going to receive grace. Another word, how you can translate grace is a gift. And Saul is going to receive the gifting of the Holy ghost who is going to come upon him and give him the power and the wisdom to lead the flock of Israel.

Faithfulness in Little Things and the Kingdom of God

So in the remaining verses, Samuel reveals that the feast and the sacrifice that, that was all planned. And it was for Saul, even before he had come to town, it was all in preparation for this momentous occasion.

Saul being chosen as Israel's king. Samuel, if you keep reading, Samuel gives Saul the select meat from the sacrifice. Normally that would be for the priest or for Samuel, but Samuel gives it to Saul in front of everyone, indicating his new status as the commander of God's people.

So in conclusion, what's the takeaway? What have we learned? Well, number one, be humble. Number two, the Lord can take and use the small things to bring about the big and weightier things. Remember all of this started when Saul's father lost his donkeys and he sent Saul out on this mission.

I could imagine Saul thinking to himself, you know, why not have one of the servants do this? This is a waste of my time going out and searching for these animals. This isn't that important, right? That's probably what Saul would have thought.

And yet this one task, as small as it may have seemed, it would chart the course for the rest of Saul's life. The point being is that if we are faithful in the little things, God will see that and he then may bless us with the bigger things.

Saul in part became king because he obeyed this simple command from his father. So we should ask ourselves, are we obedient in the little things that our heavenly father has set before us? Saul is probably the only man in history who has ever gone out looking for donkeys and instead found a kingdom.

And the kingdom he found was the earthly foreshadow used to picture the new Testament kingdom of God. And I just think how many other people have gone out into this world searching for one thing only to be led by God into something greater.

And there's a lot of people in this world searching for this searching for worldly things and by God's providence, they are led into the kingdom of heaven. So in conclusion, do not despise the little things.

You never know how God is going to use that for his glory and for our good. And the chapter closes with these words, verse 27, as they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, tell the servant to go on ahead of us.

And he went on, but you stand here a while that I may announce to you the word of God.