Samuel and Saul: God is Sovereign Over Big and Small

Samuel and Saul: God is Sovereign Over Big and Small - 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16

PRAY: Heavenly Father, according to your abundant grace to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, grant us wisdom today to hear with understanding and to obey your revealed truth in your word. Amen.

INTRO: In our passage for study today, in the episode in the lives of Samuel and Saul in which God reveals his choice for Israel's first king, pay close attention that the Bible portrays again the faithful care of a Sovereign God over both the major and minor details of our lives.

Don’t tell me you haven’t wondered if the seemingly mundane details of your daily life are truly important to God. - In my life, do I approach the way I use my free time with the overarching reality that God cares about my heart and my time? In your life, does God care about whether or not you have an epidural in the delivery of your child? (I don’t propose an answer, but I love it that I heard one of us praying about that decision. That means she cares deeply about her heart being submissive to God’s leading in a practical decision.) In our lives as a church family, does God care about something so seemingly insignificant as our parking lot? Well sure he cares. He cares because he cares about us as his children and about our hearts for him.

In these few chapters God will confirm his choice (of a human king) to Samuel, to Saul himself, and to the people. (Our text today is about) The ultimately sovereign God choosing who will be the next sovereign man over Israel. - God selects Saul & anoints Saul…

But first, nobody even knows who Saul is… (besides God)

God orchestrates a meeting. (9:1-14)

1 Samuel 9:1–14 ESV

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

Take Note that Saul is Handsome and Tall

While this is often a primary emphasis for man, it is most certainly not foremost to God:

1 Samuel 16:7b ESV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

And speaking of outward appearances, what was specifically foretold that would take place regarding the true Messiah to come?

Isaiah 53:1–3 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Although a head above most in stature and and bearing the face of a model, Saul, soon to be Israel’s first king, didn’t come from a family or tribe of particular influence. So the text intentionally notes that he at least physically looked the part of someone the people might be able to “look up to.” (pun intended)

And now see too what magnificent manner God used to orchestrate a meeting between this nobody and the man of God, Samuel, who would be doing God’s bidding to select the next king the people were demanding.

The Donkey Search Is Afoot

Now missing donkeys matters because such possessions are probably of no small value. [In the grand scheme missing donkeys seems minor, but the Bible never suggests that such earthly concerns are automatically minor to us! We care if our livelihood or our health is at stake. But as God’s people we aim to keep it in perspective.]

So Kish puts his son in charge of overseeing the task. (This whole donkey thing isn’t that minor to Saul’s family, but it quickly becomes rather minor by comparison.)

And Saul searches diligently across kingdom come. (another intended pun) - I honestly don’t know what to make of the fact that Saul searches so far away for the lost donkeys. Perhaps they considered that someone had found them and taken them. I don’t know… the fact that he goes to such great lengths is both commendable and a little funny. But of course as readers we are deliberately meant to see the bigger picture. Saul thought he was just diligently looking for his father’s donkeys; God was using this simple task to bring him face to face with Samuel.

Saul was in fact ready to give up (before his dad became more concerned for them than the donkeys…), and the servant says, wait, before we give up…

Let’s Ask the Seer

Our text explains that Seer was the term commonly used before “Prophet” became the prominent designation for the “man of God.” (the three are the same)

(Saul isn’t opposed to the idea, but doesn’t want to go to him empty-handed) - It was customary during this time to bring a gift when seeking help from the seer (and in many social interactions in their culture at the time).

The irony here is palpable: Saul is gonna ask the Seer to help him find his lost donkeys; instead, he’ll be given sovereign rule over all of Israel.

Now They Search for Samuel

It seems likely from the textual cues that they must now be somewhere in the vicinity of Ramah. Perhaps Samuel is returning from one of his circuits of judging.

So now we come to the next section where…

God reveals his choice. (9:15-25)

1 Samuel 9:15–25 ESV

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’ ” So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep.

(Meanwhile, Samuel acts in humble service to God.)

Flashback to Yesterday

Notice two things: Samuel is continuing to go about his responsibilities while he waits on God to tell him what’s next. Secondly, when God gives instruction, Samuel humbly obeys without any complaints or concerns for himself and his authority. - Therefore, according to our Savior’s instruction about what makes a leader, who’s the real leader here? It’s still Samuel, honestly. The guy who listens to and serves God. Who does what God gives him to do and sees his leadership as service to others for God’s glory? That guy is a true leader among God’s people.

Isn’t it also amazing that with the close relationship and prophetic gifting that God has given to Samuel, it doesn’t even feel surprising to us at all that God just directly points out the guy he’s choosing:

God to Samuel: “Here is the man”

For those of us who know the ultimate outcome in the life of Saul, it’s too easy to simply write off Saul at this point, knowing that David will be a better king. But God had legitimately chosen this man to deliver Israel from the surrounding enemies and to do the work of “restraining” his people—to act as the authority and judge over them.

This should make us pause and think: God didn’t choose Saul simply to fail. God chooses Saul and gives him every opportunity to be the man God desires to be king over his people. Saul has every chance to be the human sovereign who leads the people by bowing his own heart to the true Sovereign. - And we’ll see that Saul actually begins this way. (more on that later in our study)

Even in his initial interaction with Samuel here we have high hopes for Saul based on the way he responds to being honored.

Humbled by Honor

Samuel tell Saul: Rest your mind about your donkeys. They’re found. Ps. God has great things in store for you.

Saul’s humble reply can be distilled to this essence: Why do you honor me thus? (I’m not anybody. I come from nobody and haven’t done anything deserving of such honor.)

By the way, notice that in response to God’s preparing Samuel that he would meet God’s choice for king, Samuel had gone to great lengths to prepare a portion and seat of honor for this one. Humble humble humble… and obedient obedient obedient… I love Samuel!

But what a day for Saul—from donkey searching to being the guest of honor at the head of the feast.

Now the next thing will be for God to confirm his choice, which he will do in two ways:

God confirms his choice in private anointing. (9:26-10:1)

1 Samuel 9:26–10:1 ESV

Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

Set Apart for God’s Purpose

The purpose of anointing was the symbolism of things that were set apart to God’s use. - When David later refuses to harm Saul, who is seeking his life, he states that it’s because Saul is “the Lord’s anointed.” (see it in 1 Sam 24&26)

I can just picture Saul at this point, when Saul anoints him, going, “Say What?”… but Samuel doesn’t even give Saul time to react, he just keeps on with his explanation of how God will confirm the truth of this purpose.

What else would be a sign to verify for Saul the truth that God had chosen him? ...

God confirms his choice in power. (10:2-16)

1 Samuel 10:2–16 ESV

When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Detailed Fulfillment

First: Specific location, two women, even what they will say. Next: Location, three men, what they will have in their possession, and what they will do. (Also what you should do in response.) Finally: You’ll meet prophets and prophesy. (Saul surely must be thinking… ok now this is getting weird. I’ve never prophesied before. Never seen any sign of such gifting, and certainly have had no training about how to behave appropriately when doing so, and so on.)

“Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.” (10:7) This should be clear confirmation to you that God has chosen you and is with you.

Here’s the point I really want to emphasize to you in this section:

The Spirit’s Power Confirming God’s Presence

When Saul actually does prophesy, those who know him react with: Where did this come from? - It makes perfect sense. This is clear indication of the Spirit of the Lord coming upon Saul to empower him for God’s purpose.

Even so, when Saul later fails to continue down the path of doing things God’s way, in humble and trusting submission, the Spirit of the Lord “departed from Saul” (1 Sam. 16:14; 18:12).

Two things here for New Testament believers:

When we trust Christ, God gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit as the seal of our identity in Christ:

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

It is the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit’s work within us that gives us continued confirmation and security in God’s presence with us, of our standing in Christ. - If you want to be confident of God’s grip on you, then you need to stay humbly submissive and yielding to God the Holy Spirit.

[as Conclusion and for further Application] Step Back And Consider the Big Picture

Who Reigns Over Your Life?

In order for God to be sovereign of the big, he must necessarily be sovereign over the small.

Think of it this way, in order for God to be sovereign over the major things, he has to be sovereign over every minute detail. It’s the details compiled together that make up the large. - This is important not only for our general understanding, but it must also be true in the way that our hearts trust in our God.

So when you’re facing another day again where the laundry and runny noses don’t stop, or heading back to work where your boss isn’t always a great guy and certainly not a good leader, or… you fill in the blank. — Remember that God is in fact sovereign over those details and he wants to be supreme in your heart through every detail. Know that God works in you through your heart for him in those mundane details of daily living.

We rightly trust God, knowing that he is working in ways we don’t readily see.

What God is doing behind the scenes is bigger than what we can perceive. Knowing what kind of a God he is, we trust him.

In our study today, we mentioned that God gives Saul every opportunity to be his man:

God gives you every opportunity to respond to him and belong to him... every day of your earthly existence and for all eternity.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

In spite of the opportunity, not everyone responds rightly. But you have the opportunity to do so, even today. And here’s the result:

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.