A devotional on 1 Samuel 10
Saul may never have been more fit to be king than when he hid among the supplies. He may never have been more fit to lead than when he thought he wasn’t. But I get ahead of myself.
The story of the Israelite people in that epoch of their history was characterized by wanting to be like the nations around them. What that meant in practical terms was that they wanted a king. Up to that moment in their history, God had been their King — their nation had functioned as a theocracy.
But now, things were different. Samuel the prophet spoke of this with these words: “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 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’” (1 Samuel 10:17–29).
The people gathered together to seek the will of God in what they had demanded, and, as a result, chose Saul as king. (I think of an old saying … “When God is angry, he answers our prayers.”)
Despite the fact that he was just chosen king, Saul was nowhere to be found. Though all the people apparently attended this august occasion, they cannot find Saul. Here’s how scripture describes it:
“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 supplies’” (1 Samuel 17:21–22).
What the text does not say, and yet, what it implies, is that Saul was overtaken by a sense of unworthiness, a feeling of unfitness, an attack of humility, to such an extent that he felt unprepared for the task that faced him. And yet, here’s the irony: Saul may never have been more fit to be king than when he hid among the supplies.
Saul’s later story is one of pride and arrogance that led to a refusal to listen to God or the people God placed in his life. He began to believe his own press clippings. He reveled in the adulation given to him as king. He believed himself to be above others to the degree that he could use them to further his own aims and to preserve his own power. He became paranoid, believing David was out to get him.
But all that would come later. At this moment in time, he is hidden among the supplies — hidden from the grand task ahead, (likely) due to his fear, his feeling of inadequacy.
He would later come to believe that he was the most important person in the nation. When he believed that, he stopped listening — to God or to others. But when he had a healthy sense of his own weakness, he was open to listening to God, hearing others and walking in the ways of obedience.
John Ashcroft, one-time U.S. attorney general once said, “The most important thing my dad ever taught me is that there are more important things than me.” As long as Saul knew that, he succeeded. When he forgot that, he failed.
My question, then, is simple: Are we willing to listen to, and learn from, Saul’s story?
—Randy Roberts, DMin, is vice president for spiritual life and mission at Loma Linda University Health.
