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I SAMUEL
No.12.
8: 19 - 9: 20.
pp. 18 - 20
The words of warning, alas, fell on deaf ears:
"Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay;
but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our
king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the
words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to
Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men
of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city" (I Sam. 8: 19-22).
This is a significant reminder of the words of the Psalmist who sums up the reason for
the failure of Israel after the Lord had led them out of Egypt and miraculously provided
for them as they journeyed towards their promised land: "They soon forgot His works;
they waited not for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted
God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul"
(Psa. 106: 13-15).
When we feel sometimes that the Lord has turned a dear ear to our prayers, it will be
of considerable help to remember this in case we are praying for that which is not right.
Also we should remember the words of the Saviour Himself, Who, when praying to the
Father said, "nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done".
The history of Saul.
The history of Saul occupies I Sam. 8: 4 - II Sam. 1: 27, and can be divided into
three sections, namely:
(1)
I Sam. 8: 4 - 15: 35. The demand for a king. His testing and rejection.
(2)
I Sam. 16: 1 - 26: 25. The anointing of David and his persecution by Saul.
(3)
I Sam. 27: 1 - II Sam. 1: 27. Saul's sin and death.
I Samuel 9: opens with details of the family of the man chosen to be the first of the
earthly kings of Israel, and then goes on to relate the circumstances under which he met
Samuel:
"Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish ... a mighty man of
power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and
there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders
and upward he was higher than any of the people" (I Sam. 9: 1, 2).
Saul, a man in the prime of life, was distinguished among his fellow by his great
stature and physical appearance. He was the son of a noble and prosperous farmer, living
in a small town in the tribe of Benjamin. His father Kish had sent him, together with a
household servant, to find some asses that had strayed away from the farm.