1 Samuel 9

Saul, the first king of Israel, was tall, handsome, and the son of a wealthy man of Benjamin named Kish. He was not asking or expecting to be a king. God picked him.

The Lord revealed His choice first to Samuel, the man of God. When Saul went to Samuel, he was only looking for advice on which way to go home that might lead him to some lost donkeys. But God had prepared Samuel for this encounter the day before. He then identified Saul to Samuel at just the right moment when Saul was looking for direction about what seems like a very mundane matter.

God revealed something more than just the identity of the man who would be king. He said that this man would be the one who would save Israel from the Philistines and would also restrain the people of Israel from themselves.

Israel needed to be saved and restrained. They had formidable enemies who stood against them, but they were their own worst enemies since they did not trust the Lord. Their demand for a king was a rejection of the Lord as King over His people.

But now God would provide a man to reign, and that man would first be Saul, someone who looked the part. Yet in the heart of Saul, where no man could see, this handsome young fellow was churning about lost donkeys. God had something more planned for him as Samuel revealed: “For whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?”

All that is desirable in Israel is for God. Any man who would serve as the Lord's anointed would have to know that God was the King of kings in order to serve Him well. Would Saul have that truth living in his heart where no man could see? Would he bring forth the obedience of life that would reveal a heart that loved God above all else?

Saul himself was not sure that he was worthy of the words that Samuel spoke because of the relative lowliness of his clan and tribe when compared to others in Israel. Yet Saul's problem was much more than the fact that he came from the wrong tribe. He did not have within him what God would ultimately require of an acceptable king.

More on that story later. For now, the son of Kish would eat the choice portion of the sacrifice that had been set aside for him. Samuel would soon have more to reveal to Saul, and God would eventually have more to reveal to Samuel.

Saul would be king. He would win great victories over the Philistines. But there would be another king far greater than Saul.

We have heard the voice of the great Messiah, King Jesus. He came from heaven to serve mankind with all humility and holiness. In His human nature He grew in wisdom and stature. In His divine nature, even before the creation of the world, He knew who He was and what He was to accomplish.

Yet His outward appearance was not particularly impressive. As Isaiah would say, He had “no beauty that we should desire Him.” But what He did have would eventually become clear to the people of God. He had perfect righteousness before the judgment seat of God, and He had the power of an indestructible life. He is the eternal King of heaven and earth.