Saul as King - Humble Beginnings: Chapters 9-11

Saul's background

Saul was "impressive." For one thing he was easy to see because he was "a head taller" than most folks. How many presidents of the U.S. have been over six feet tall? Most. Height seems to attract people to a leader.

When we first meet Saul, however, being tall isn’t the only thing about him that is impressive:

Saul was (vs. 3-5) a young man who was obedient to his father.

Saul’s father had misplaced some of his donkeys. I don’t know just how you misplace donkeys! (In fact, I do. Livestock just tends to wander off. If you have ever had any you probably know this.) Saul’s father asks Saul to "Go look for my donkeys." Think about that for a moment. It is not exactly a high-prestige assignment! And keep in mind, too, that Saul’s father is "a man of standing." So here you have a man who is a "big shot" who has asked his son to do this very menial task. It tells you something about Samuel that he doesn’t seem to mind doing this at all. In fact, he does a very through job of it. So he, quite contrary to being the spoiled son of a rich, important man (very common) is a humble, diligent son - in spite of being the son of a rich, important man.

Not only is Saul a humble, obedient son - he is a thoughtful son. When he has been gone for a long time on his donkey quest, he even remembers, "My father will be worrying about us." Now, how much should I comment to college students about this? A grudgingly obedient son might say, "Alright, the old man wanted me to hunt for his donkeys, and I did. But I’ll let him worry a while just to teach him a lesson." None of that with Saul.

Saul is respectful, not just of his father, but of other people also.

When the donkey-quest isn’t successful, Saul hears of a nearby "man of God"- in other words a prophet - (vs. 7, 8) and he goes to consult him. In other words, he is not too proud to ask for help.

And he even wants to bring a gift when he consulted the prophet.

Saul is willing to listen and learn. (vss. 21, 25-27)

The prophet Saul finally meets turns out to be none other than Samuel. God has foretold to Samuel this meeting with Saul, and that Saul is going to be the king of Israel.

As you might expect, this surprises - even shocks - Saul. In the course of dinner and an over-night stay, Samuel explains all this to Saul. Saul is willing to listen and do what Samuel tells him to do. One reaction from Saul would be to say, "If I’m supposed to be the king, who needs some old prophet like you telling me what to do!" That is not Saul approach at all.

Saul is anointed as King

Samuel anoints Saul king privately (10:1). But telling someone he is king - especially someone as unassuming as Saul is - does not always bring to that person the full realization of the situation.

So God offers to Saul - through Samuel - three signs that he really is king. (10:2-6)

These signs are very specific predictions of events that will happen to Saul - things that one couldn’t know unless God revealed them.

The culminating one of these signs was Saul "prophesying." We don’t have much detail on this, but it seems to be something more than just Saul receiving a message from God, which is the main meaning of "prophesy." Saul is going to come into the orb, you might say, of a "company of prophets" and be in some way uniquely animated by the Spirit - again, we just don’t have a lot of detail about this, but it was something extraordinary.

So Samuel tells Saul, "Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you." (10:7)

In other words, when all this happens as predicted, you will know you are God’s choice as king.

(We might pause to notice that, although God agreed that the Israelites could have their king, God picked the king, not the people. This gets used in much later European history for the "divine right of kings" doctrine. To understand the Bible properly, you have to realize that many events in it are unique, as is the nation of Israel in the O.T. God created it for a very unique purpose, God made the laws for it, and here God chooses the king for it. This doesn’t prove, however, that God will do this for other nations later in history. He didn’t even do all this for the other nations that existed at this time!)

The "signs" do come off just as predicted, and Saul now fully realizes that he is God’s choice to be king.

Although the people had (sinfully) requested a king, God choose the one who would fill the position. At the public announcement of God's choice of King (10:17-25), Saul was so modest that he hid himself and had to be brought out to be recognized!

Saul's Early Reign as King

Even though Saul now knows he is king, this knowledge does not change his basic humble character.

When his uncle asks him about the whole donkey-quest operation (10:14-16), Saul just very tactfully omits his anointing part. You have just gone from a low-level position in your father’s operation to KING. Aren’t you going to brag a bit? Don’t you want to let all your relatives know? Not Saul.

Samuel has a "public announcement of the king" party for all Israel. He reminds them that God didn’t want them to have a human king, that God agreed to their request for a human king, and then he starts this long identification process where he narrows things down by tribe, clan, family, and finally it’s time to say, "Heeeeere’s King Saul!" But Saul is hiding among the luggage of the guests. He is still a very humble man indeed.

So they bring out Saul - and they do have to almost force him to the forefront, with those now famous shouts of, "Long live the king!" Samuel reviews the "rules for having a king" and writes them down. The party is over, and Saul is king.

Saul's first act as king

Some of the Israelites don’t like Saul as king - they don’t like the very idea of it. Perhaps they thought they, or some of their tribe or kin, should be the king. They make sure Saul hears what they think of him. What does Saul do to retaliate against them? Surely he could have done something - he’s the king! Saul doesn’t even mention it. He is a very unassuming man, even as king.

Then comes the first crisis of King Saul’s administration. The city of Jabesh Gilead is besieged and about to be forced to surrender. When word comes to Saul, he takes immediate, decisive, effective action to rescue this city. He rallies the armies - which are much like what we would call militia at this time - and he uses good military tactics to win a great victory over the enemy of Israel.

Where was the king when word came to him about all this? Was he on his throne at the capital? Was he designing the first kingly palace? Was he plotting against those who had spoken against his kingship? No! He was out attending to his farming chores! Think of that for a moment!

Perhaps Saul was still modeling his kingship on the judgeship as he had seen it under Samuel - it certainly wasn’t what the kingship in Israel would come to be. But whatever the case, Saul is a hard-working, humble man, even after he is king.

Does early success change Saul? (11:12-14)

After the great victory, Saul’s poll numbers hit an all-time high. Some people want to find those who had bad-mouthed Saul earlier and have a little "string ‘em up" party to celebrate the victory and the general approval of Saul.

Surely all this positive attention would turn an ordinary man’s head. But not Saul.

He will have no part of revenge for insults - rather like the "turn the other cheek" teaching of a fellow Israelite who would live much later.

And notice what Saul says, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel." Not, "See what I have done" but rather, "the Lord has rescued Israel." What a good man is Saul. If only he would have stayed that way - if only.