Chapter 10:17-27
1 Samuel 10:17–27 (ESV)
17 Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
1. God is in Relentless Pursuit of Our Hearts (10:17-19)
17 Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”
I want to speak to you a bit today on the tone of God’s Word. Sometimes it is very happy and joyful.
Here’s two passages with joyful and happy tones.
Isaiah 12:2 (ESV)
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
Philippians 4:4 (ESV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Here, however, in our current text, the people have rejected God from being their King and have cried out for a king like the nations around them.
This is a different tone, isn’t it? God has saved them from slavery in Egypt and led them to a fruitful place and promised to care for them and they want another king.
18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’
This is a tone of frustration and anger as God reminds the people all He had done for them. I’m sure God felt betrayed and forsaken as those He had done so much for had left Him.
I’m so thankful today that our God is a merciful and gracious Father who pursues His own children. I’m so thankful that He pursues you and I’m thankful He pursues me.
Even in His justice and justified anger He pursues us with His longsuffering love. Here in these words of anger are also found words that seek the repentance of His children. The reason God reminds Israel of all He had done for them is to cause His people to see the error and sin or their ways and repent.
For us, the cry of God is I Am your Savior, repent! I pray we never seek another to follow or to save us. Israel’s king will not save them. Whatever it is we are tempted to trust in will not save us…only Jesus Christ can save us…trust Him as your King.
So, if Israel has really rejected God as their King who saves them and refuses to repent, we cannot expect a true prophet of God, like Samuel, to smile as he delivers this message to the people.
Samuel cannot say, So good to see all of you here today for this happy occasion that brings us all together.
God loves us too much to always be nice.
2. God’s Choice of Saul (10:20-21a)
20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot.
These two verses are very important and very simple. God had already chosen Saul to be king and now He is going to reveal His choice to the people in a public way so they all know that Saul is their king.
1 Samuel 9:15–17 (ESV)
15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “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.” 17 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.”
Saul was shown to be king as they cast lots.
Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)
33 The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.
Saul is chosen by lot to be king. God had determined every throw of the dice to pick Saul.
So, God gave them what they wanted. Even so, Saul would start out well and defend Israel from her enemies.
3. Israel is Dependent on God Whether They Realize it or Not (10:21b-24)
But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
I want us to look for a few minutes at the end of verse 21 where it tells us… But when they sought him, he could not be found.
This is a significant portion of Scripture. What is God telling us here? This Hebrew word for lost is found many times in these verses. Most significant is its use when speaking about the lost donkeys.
1 Samuel 9:3–4 (ESV)
3 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.” 4 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.
It took God to find the donkeys for Saul. He was unable to find them on his own.
1 Samuel 10:2 (ESV)
2 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?” ’
What this section is all about is to show Israel that even though Saul was head and shoulders taller than everyone else, they could not even find their anointed king without God’s help. He is lost just like the donkeys. Even though God has been rejected and is giving them what they want, He must lead them to their king.
4). The King Must Rule as God’s Representative (10:25-27)
25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
Here we see that the human king rules as God’s representative. He remains still under God. So, God sets forth the commandments dealing with the human king and the kingdom.
There were Saul’s supporting staff who were able to give him backing as he ruled Israel.
Then there were those who categorized as worthless fellows.
27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
This farmer from Benjamin cannot be God’s king. He from the outskirts of the kingdom he cannot be king. Yet, God had chosen Saul to be king and to save Israel from her enemies.
Here we see a very brief allusion to our King, King Jesus. He too was rejected by His own people.
Luke 12:51 (ESV)
51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
John 6:42 (ESV)
42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
How can this man save us?
How can this carpenter’s son save us?
Men and women still to this day despise Jesus and refuse to believe that He is God’s chosen King to come to earth and take on flesh to save us. He saves us not from our enemies but from our sin. Will you trust Christ and be saved?
Jesus is the rightful King
In the Old Testament the king has authority to rule over the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus was born to be King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2), but he refused any attempt by people to try to make him an earthly king with earthly military and political power
John 6:15 (ESV)
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
He told Pilate, “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world” (John 18:36). Nonetheless, Jesus did have a kingdom whose arrival he announced in his preaching (Matt. 4:17, 23; 12:28, et al.). He is in fact the true king of the new people of God. Thus, Jesus refused to rebuke his disciples who cried out at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38; cf. vv. 39–40; also Matt. 21:5; John 1:49; Acts 17:7).
After his resurrection, Jesus was given by God the Father far greater authority over the church and over the universe. God raised him up and “made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church” (Eph. 1:20–22; Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:25). That authority over the church and over the universe will be more fully recognized by people when Jesus returns to earth in power and great glory to reign (Matt. 26:64; 2 Thess. 1:7–10; Rev. 19:11–16). On that day he will be acknowledged as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16) and every knee shall bow to him (Phil. 2:10).
Resources Used:
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (pp. 628–629). Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
1 Samuel by Dale Ralph Davis
1 Samuel by Tsumura
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