1 Samuel 9
Bible Passage: 1 Samuel 9
“And he had a choice and handsome son …. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”
And that describes Saul, son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, and the first King of Israel!
Sounds like a pretty impressive description of a fine young man, doesn’t it? Appearance-wise that is.
How would you describe yourself in a job application form, on your personal blog site or on a social networking platform like facebook? Fun-loving, sunny disposition, efficient, confident, outgoing.
How would you describe your friends? Oh, Bob is so hilarious! Candice? She’s so sweet and caring! Don? He is the handsome brooding type!
Some of these descriptions are based on the appearance of the person, and some on the character and personality.
Now, how would we describe Jesus Christ, our Saviour? He whom we believe can save our souls, and whose name we were baptised in? (Is 53:2-3; Deut 7:21; Job 8:3; James 5:11; 1 Pet 1:16; 1 Jn 4:7) Use words which you know or have experienced God to be.
What strikes us immediately when we meet someone for the first time would be his outward appearance and the way he carries himself. The personality and character will show only after we interact with and get to know the person better.
These other thoughts ran through my mind as I read this chapter:
(1) Be careful what we desire, God may just grant it (1 Sam 8:22; 12:13). We will be unharmed if we continue to follow God’s way, but if we, as a result of what we wish for, turn away from God, we will ultimately still have to bear with the consequences of disobedience and sin (1 Sam 12:13-25). We sometimes use our human understanding to decide for ourselves what’s good for us, afterall we know ourselves best. However God may be withholding this very thing we wish for because we are not ready for it yet or it may not be helpful to us at all!
(2) God chose Saul because he fit into the Israelites’ expectations of a king. The Israelites never quite got past the physical and the exterior to look deeper and search further. Reading the book of 1 Samuel, we realise that they had rejected God as king in their hearts and master of their lives (1 Sam 8:7; 10:19), and had chosen rather to follow their neighbouring countries, demanding an earthly king to rule over them (1 Sam 8:20). When Samuel proclaimed Saul to be king later, they took one look at him and proclaimed in acceptance, “Long live the king!” (1 Sam 10:23-24)
(3) Follow the ‘norms’ in the world to our doom. More often than not, the things which our non-believing friends seek are not our prerogatives e.g. ‘follow your heart, nothing else matters’, ‘just try it as long as it can bring you happiness’, ‘be fearless’, ‘we are our own masters’. But if we are easily swayed by worldly ‘norms and standards’ (like God’s people wavering in their faith just because the neighbouring countries had physical sovereign kings to lead them), then we will be swept away by the currents without even realising it till it comes a point in time when it is too late to turn back. The Israelites forgot God was their almighty King who fought alongside them in all their previous battles.
What are your thoughts?
One Comment
PS
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim 2:13)
To what extend does God remain faithful to His people?
1 Sam 8:7 …but they rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
1 Sam 12:12 …the LORD your God was your king.
1 Sam 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people.
1 Sam 9: 16 and 17 recorded the words spoken by God to Samuel and these words reflected the unmoving faithfulness that God has for His people:
“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people because their cry has come to Me.”
“There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you, This one shall reign over My people.”
Count the number of “I”, “My” and “Me”: 3 I, 4 My and 1 Me in just 2 verses.
Saul was only a commander over the people of God.
God remains faithful bec He cannot deny Himself. God remains faithful for His name’s sake.
Titus 1:2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
who He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,
and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins,
sit down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
(Hebrews 1:1-3)
We have the hope of eternal life bec God is faithful.
Is Lord Jesus our Majesty on high and in life?
(He purged our sins bec He is holy.)