I (K)New

For the past couple of weeks, I have been fixated on 1 Samuel 9 and 10. The fixation has been such that I have been meditating on it day and night. Doing laundry, doing dishes, finishing homework, band competitions, soccer games…. it just keeps turning over and over in my head. One particular quote that I will share in a minute really stands out. I have not been able to write or even study anything else because of the fascination with this passage, and the application thereof that I think we as Christians tend to either forget or don’t quite internalize to begin with.

This particular passage in 1 Samuel 9 & 10 is about the anointing of King Saul, the first king of Israel.

Before Saul, Israel was a theocracy, governed by God himself through His emissaries, the Judges. Famous judges include Samuel, Samson, Gideon, and Deborah (whaaat? A woman judge? For the patriarchy minded believers….God used women to lead, even in the OT). The job description of the judges is found in Judges 2: 16–“Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of these raiders.”

Judges 2 continues to inform that even though God sent the judges, Israel would not listen and continued to “prostitute themselves” to other gods and worshipped them. When a judge was alive, things were mostly gravy between God and the people. As soon as a judge died, the Israelites returned to idolatry, making God angry. So, instead of driving out the nations around Israel completely, He left them to test the hearts of His people.

The cycle continued for years…The people cry out to God, God answers by raising up a judge, the judge dies, the people return to idolatry, God allows the nations around Israel to oppress them, the people cry out to God, God answers by raising up a judge…etc. etc.

Interestingly, God continued to show up in this cycle of judgment and mercy for the Israelites. However, in the time of Samuel and his kids serving as judges, the Israelites decided that they wanted a different form of government.

The Israelites decided they had had enough of the judges (to be fair, Samuel’s kids were pretty dang corrupt in their rulings) and asked for a king. The reason they gave for wanting a king was not for a need for justice though; it was so that they could be like the nations around them. They wanted a king to save them and to rule over them (1 Samuel 12). They wanted to blend in. They wanted to be cool. They wanted to be like everyone else…(There is soo much spiritual gold here, but I will stay focused on why I have been fixated on 1 Samuel 9 and 10 for now.)

God gave them over to their desires, telling Samuel that the nation did not reject Samuel…they had turned their backs on God. God’s feelings were really hurt. Still, God gives them an out; even though the request was not ideal, God tells them that if they and their king would follow Him, He would still continue to show up for them (1 Samuel 12).

Now we pick up in Samuel 9 and 10.

Samuel Anoints Saul

9 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. ² Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

³ Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

⁶ But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.”

⁷ Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

⁸ The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel^[a] of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.” ⁹ (Formerly in Israel, if someone went to inquire of God, they would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)

¹⁰ “Good,” Saul said to his servant. “Come, let’s go.” So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?”

¹² “He is,” they answered. “He’s ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. ¹³ As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time.”

¹⁴ They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.”

¹⁷ When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the Lord said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹ “I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and will tell you all that is in your heart. ²⁰ As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?”

²¹ Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”

²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited—about thirty in number. ²³ Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside.”

²⁴ So the cook took up the thigh with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion from the time I said, ‘I have invited guests.’” And Saul dined with Samuel that day.

²⁵ After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. ²⁶ They rose about daybreak, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way.” When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. ²⁷ As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us”—and the servant did so—“but you stay here for a while, so that I may give you a message from God.”

10 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?^{[b] 2} 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?”’

³ “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship 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. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

⁵ “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, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. ⁷ Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

⁸ “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.”

Saul Made King

⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. ¹⁰ When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. ¹¹ 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?”

¹² A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.

¹⁴ 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.”

¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah ¹⁸ 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.’ ¹⁹ But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

²⁰ When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. ²² So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”

And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”

²³ They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. ²⁴ 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!”

²⁵ Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.

²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%209-10&version=NIV)

Saul comes on the scene as a very unassuming, very tall guy. The Bible points out more than once that Saul was handsome and stood a head taller than any of the other people. Samuel oddly points this out as “there is no one like him among all the people.”

There’s about 3 points that really stand out to me. I will list them and go into details with each thought.

1) When Saul was chosen to be king, he was just doing ordinary mundane life.

Before Saul was called into something extraordinary, he was just a good looking tall guy that was going about the most mundane tasks of life. I’ve read this passage before but reading it a couple weeks ago, I stopped and laughed for a good five minutes. The man was chasing run away donkeys half way to Timbuktu with a servant in tow…for his dad. They weren’t even his donkeys. And, poor guy, there were no modern conveniences to call and let him know when the idiot things had been found. For three days, Saul wandered the countryside until frustration and the lack of food finally made him decide to head back home.

The servant wanted to make one last ditch attempt by consulting “the seer” in the nearby town. In the mean time, God tells the seer, Samuel, to expect Saul and anoint him as the first king. When Samuel announced to Saul that he would be king, Saul’s answer was, “dude. I’m no one special. Why the heck would you say such a thing?”

Eventually, Saul becomes a prideful ass. But, here, there is something beautiful going on. A man’s life is about to change and he has no clue. There is no divine intervention until there is.

• Isn’t that how it still goes? You never know what God has up His sleeve. While you are chasing donkeys, God could be preparing to anoint you as king. You don’t have to see the special in yourself… but you can bet that God does see the special and prepares the way when you are busy living life.
• You never know what aspect God is wanting to use about you. We like to talk about David being chosen because of what was in his heart. To me, God seems to have chosen Saul because he was tall and handsome. I wonder if that was why God had to remind Samuel later concerning David’s anointing that He looks at the heart? Saul’s physical attributes are pointed out as assets in his appointment as king. Saul couldn’t even hide himself when he tried to.
  • God chooses you for the tasks He chooses using the attributes He needs. Nothing is off limits. Not even your good looks.

2. When Saul was anointed, God changed his heart to fit his calling

This is the thing that I have not been able to turn off in my mind. In 1 Samuel 10: 9 the Word says, “As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and these signs were fulfilled that day.”

I have been given prophetic words by believers who at least believed themselves to be the channels used by the Holy Spirit. Most of the words are character words and my standing before God. Some words have to do with my future, my talents, my abilities… my destiny, if you will. But, you know what my reaction to that information was? Stress.

What in the cock-a-doodle are these people seeing in me? I’m just an orphan girl from India who has been abused in one way or another for most of her life. What if I can’t meet the expectation? What if I fuck up the prophetic word… if it’s even true? How can I tap into and get to that potential… why can I not quite get there? How can I be or become what these people are saying God sees in me?

I gotta tell you: reading and meditating on verse 9 is probably one of the most freeing things I have experienced as a child of God in a while. I walk in a sense of freedom in Christ that makes most people scratch their heads in wonder and at times, envy; however, this idea that God has plans for me and those plans are so much bigger and brighter than what I feel like I am worth had me twisted into someone who was taking on the responsibility to become something I was not sure I could attain.

But then came verse 9. God changed Saul’s heart.

Up until that point, Saul was just a tall sexy glass of water that was running around the countryside, chasing donkeys for his dad. After Samuel told him what he was destined for and the signs that Saul needed to look for as confirmation, God did the heavy lifting of changing his heart. Saul did not have to worry about “preparing”. Heck, he even hid when it was time to reveal his anointing to rest of the nation. Yet, something changed in Him as he encountered God.

• I’m learning that it’s okay to feel unworthy of “the calling” on my life and even try to hide from it at times. I am learning that I don’t have to worry about making myself ready or worthy; I can let God do the heavy lifting. The change in Saul is acted upon in I Samuel 11 when he becomes FURIOUS at an Ammonite attack and does something about it: he sends a message to the rest of Israel that literally puts the fear of God in the nation…”come fight with me for the nation or suffer the consequences.”
• All God needs is my surrender. Saul could have said, “heck no. Go find someone else.” He didn’t. He felt unworthy, but He accepted what God said. The rest was up to God: God sees. God chooses. God calls. God prepares. God anoints. God changes. Internalizing this was so freeing for me. And in line with that, I am finally learning to walk in the change that I am noticing in myself without doubting myself.

The secret to freedom and fulfillment is surrender.

3) After Saul was anointed, he went back to normal life…until it was time to act in the change that God had done in Saul.

This one is interesting. There was a lot of hullabaloo over Saul being anointed and then presented. Samuel tells Saul, which Saul kinda keeps to himself until the official announcement that Samuel makes to the rest of the nation. There was even a whole tension building ceremony of tribes, clans, families, and individuals presenting themselves.

I think it’s hilarious that Saul hid himself among the supplies; God had to tell people where Saul was hiding. As funny as that is, I think it reveals exactly how vulnerable Saul felt about his calling.

At the revelation of Saul’s purpose, the people (for the most part) accepted and loved the idea of Saul being king. Some people were not happy about it. Then, after all the wonder, Samuel sends everyone home; Saul returns to the mundane every day tasks back at home.

• When you are anointed, you will also be revealed. But, it may not happen all at once. I think sometimes it’s easy to read these stories in the Bible and forget that they take time. It’s a process. There was time between Saul finding out that he was going to be king and the nation finding out that Saul would be their king. There was also time between the presentation to the nation and the first act and confirmation of the kingship. In the mean time, everyone went back to life as normal. It’s easy for me to forget that life is a process. I tend to think that I have to be what I am meant to become in a moment’s notice. Life does not work that way. A calling does not work that way. It takes as much time as it takes for God to move. Fast or slow…God is the Master of time in your anointing, calling, and fulfillment.
• Not everyone will like or accept your anointing. For a long time, I struggled with this one. I can fall into people pleasing (until I reach the end of my rope). For someone like me, people rejecting my anointing or questioning my identity first makes me turn on myself. Rather than getting angry at the people doubting me, my first reaction is to doubt myself and what God has revealed about my calling, identity, and anointing. I start hiding my talents so that I don’t upset too many people. But, an important lesson that I am learning through this passage is that even when God shows up to reveal you to the world, there are going to be people who will throw shade. In 10: 27, I Samuel says, “But some scoundrels said, ‘how can this fellow save us?’ They despised him and brought him no gifts…” But, I love Saul’s reaction: “Saul kept silent.” He didn’t try to defend himself or his calling. He didn’t try to convince the naysayers. He didn’t retaliate. Even later, after he had proven himself and the people wanted to put the scoundrels to death, Saul said no, gave God the glory for his victory, and kept chugging into the life that God called him to.

For me, the meditation and the application of these two chapters about a king that no one really likes that much (I mean, the guy turned into an absolutely terrible villain…) gave me a new level of freedom. I have a tendency to forget that it’s God who has prepared the good works for me to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10), He equips me for those works (Hebrews 13:21), and He works in me to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). It takes the pressure off me.