As I have been continuing to look into the life of David, it has also led me to look into the life of King Saul. In my last blog I noted that God chose David because of his heart, his humility, and his servant attitude. Interestingly, as I have been reading and studying about Saul, one person brought my attention to the fact that Saul was chosen by God, and was also humble and obedient to God at the very beginning. 1 Samuel 10:1 says, “Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance?” And, in verse 6 we read that the Holy Spirit anointed him powerfully. Then we get to 1 Samuel 16:1 and it says that God had rejected Saul as king over Israel. What happened to Saul?
The story of Saul is interesting. In 1 Samuel 9 we learn that he was obedient to his father and that he had a servant’s heart. God is looking for servants that want to follow him. We see that in Saul as he was willing to listen to a man of God (which was Samuel).
When Samuel talks to Saul in 1 Samuel 10:21, Saul questions why he is being chosen. God chooses the weak, because then God gets all the credit and not man. If you don’t think that you are capable enough, wise enough, then get ready because God may be calling you. Later, in verses 22-24 Saul is revealed to the people as their king and right after that in verse 26, God sent valiant men to be with Saul. This reminded me that God will provide others to come alongside of us and that we need each other.
In 10:27, it is interesting that there were also men that doubted Saul and the fact that God had chosen him to be their leader. The amazing thing was that, even though Saul had the power to stop these men, he remained silent. It seems like whenever we choose to let God use us; we are going to have critics. But what is our response when we have people that are putting us down? Do we choose to be silent and leave it in God’s hands?
Unfortunately, as we continue in 1 Samuel 15:1-23, we find that Saul did not remain obedient to God. As God’s appointed king, Saul was promised success as long as he followed God’s commandments. But pretty quickly he started to do his own thing and he disobeyed God by failing to completely destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions as God had commanded. In verse 11, God says that he regretted that he had made Saul king, because Saul had “turned away” from him and had not carried out his instructions.
Saul did great things for God when he submitted, and when he allowed God to empower and direct him. Our heavenly Father wants to do mighty things in and through us, but he needs our willing heart.