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"How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over
Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I
have provided Me a king among his sons" (16: 1).
But the broader background goes back to the choice of Saul as king. Samuel was an
old man, and had appointed his sons as judges in Israel:
"And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes,
and perverted judgment" (I Sam. 8: 3).
As a result the elders of Israel came to Samuel and demanded a king:
"And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (8: 5).
Verse 6 tells us `the thing displeased Samuel'. The Companion Bible note at this point
is:
"Displeased = was evil in the eyes of: i.e., in not waiting for God's time and for
God's king, as promised (Gen. 17: 6, 16; 35: 11; 49: 10; Numb. 24: 17;
Deuteronomy 17: 14-20)."
Moreover the people of Israel wanted a king `like all the nations'. They wanted to be
like the rest of the world, they were not concerned with their position as a people
separated to God. The seriousness of the situation was not that they merely wanted to
replace an earthly judge for an earthly king:
"And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they
say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should
not reign over them" (I Sam. 8: 7).
Nevertheless, although their desire for a king was an act of rebellion against their God,
He chose the man for them:
"Now the Lord had told Samuel . . . . . Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a
man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over My people
Israel . . . . ." (9: 15, 16).
Although their desire was for a king, the king's appointment was to be controlled by
God, for `the powers that be are ordained of God' (Rom. 13: 1). Man may seem to be
having his own way, but God's controlling hand is over all: and a nation so gets the
leadership it deserves. The kind of king Saul would prove to be is described in
I.Sam.viii.10-18. He would be a despot, and though the nation would cry to Jehovah, He
would not hear them.
There is a threefold aspect to the appointment of Saul, as there is a threefold anointing
of David. The people chose a king regardless of the purpose of God for them, then came
the incident of the lost asses, and the event recorded in I Sam. 9: 22 - 10: 1. The fact that
rulers such as Saul, and the Lawless One when he comes to power, are permitted and
overruled by God should be a matter of reassurance for the believer; for God is always