The King is Chosen

Amen. If you've got your Bible, turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9 and 1 Samuel chapter 10. We have two chapters we're going to cover this evening. 54 verses, and we're going to read every single one of them. That's because Paul told Timothy: you need to give yourself to the reading, the teaching, and the exhortation of Scripture. And so we read the scripture because we want you to know what God has to say. What I have to say really doesn't matter. What God says matters.

And so we read. his word. Tonight, the king is chosen. The transition is going to be made from the period of the judges to the period of the kings. And Samuel is that great transition individual who transitions the nation. And Saul will be that first king of Israel.

His name means asked of God. The Hebrew root, that's what it means. And Israel would ask, and God would give a king. Now remember last time we studied, we talked about 1 Samuel chapter 8 and how the people went to Samuel and said, you're too old. Your boys are corrupt. We want a king like all the other nations. We want to be like everybody else. And so we want you to give us a king. We need someone to fight our battles for us. Evidently, God fighting their battles for them wasn't good enough. They wanted a king.

Flesh and blood before them. And so they demanded a king, and Samuel went to the Lord. He prayed. And the Lord said, Listen to the people. Give them a k. And so God told Samuel what to tell them: If you have a king, he will take your sons, and your daughters, and your slaves, and your property, he'll tax you. And you'll be sorrowful, and you'll cry, and you'll cry out to me, but I will not answer. And they said, so what? Give us a king anyway. We demand a king. We want a king. And so God gave them the desire of their heart and sent a wasteland, a barrenness to their souls.

Psalm 106, verse number 15. That's what God does. God grants us the desire of our hearts on many occasions, and all of a sudden our hearts are barren. The unfortunate thing about that is that we get what we think we want, only to realize when it's too late that's affected the inner man in such a way. I'm dry, thirsty, lean, barren. I'm empty. And yet, I got what I thought I needed and wanted. But it's not what God wanted for me. God had a king. That king will be chosen by Samuel as well. That king will be King David.

But it wasn't that time yet. So God gave them a king from the tribe of Of Benjamin. And so First Samuel 9 and 1 Samuel 10 give us the story, the narrative, on how the king was chosen providentially.

Privately and publicly. So those three words you can hang chapter 9 and chapter 10 on to Kind of walk you through it. So I'm going to read it for you and then we're going to make some comments about it to let you know the providential working of God behind the choosing of Saul because it was ultimately God who chose the king, right? Daniel chapter 2, verse number 21. God causes kings to rise, and God causes kings to fall. God's in charge. God never loses control, by the way. Even though the people were out of control, God was still in control of the situation.

God never loses control of any situation. I know that some of you think that maybe God has stepped off the throne for a minute because things are in shambles in your home. God has never stepped off the throne. He's always been on the throne. He's always ruled. He's always reigned. Nothing changes. But you will see tonight how God providentially works in choosing the king. And then how privately he is anointed as king before he is publicly presented. As king to the nation. Okay? Got your Bible, First Samuel chapter nine.

We'll begin with verse number one. Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zaror, the son of Bech, the son of Aph. the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man. And there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel. From his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, Take now with you one of the servants and arise and go search for the donkeys.

He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalish, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. When they came to the land of Z, Saul said to his servant, Who was with him? Come and let us return, or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us. He said to him, Behold, now there is a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor.

All that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out. Then Saul said to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have? The servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way. Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, Come and let us go to the seer.

For he who is called a prophet now is formerly called a seer. Then Saul said to his servant, Well said come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the slope in the city they found young women going out to draw water, and said to them, Is the se here? They answered them and said, He is. See, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city to day, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place to day. As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat.

For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Afterward, those who are invited will eat. Now, therefore, go up, for you will find him at once. So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place. Now a day before Saul's coming, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel, saying, About this time tomorrow, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. And you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.

He will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have regarded my people, because their cry has come to me. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you, this one shall rule over my people. Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, Please tell me where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is on your mind.

As for your donkeys, which were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you? And for all your father's household? Saul replied, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, in my family, the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way? Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited.

who were about thirty men. Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, set it aside. Then the cook took up the leg with what was on it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Here is what has been reserved set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time. Since I said I have invited the people, so Saul ate with Samuel that day. When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.

And they arose early, and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, Get up, that I may send you away. So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on. But you remain standing now.

That I may proclaim the word of God to you. Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him, and said, Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance? When you go from meet today, then you will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zel. And they will say to you, The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do about my son?

Then he will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor. And there are three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you. One carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. Afterward you will come to the hill of God, where the Philist garrison is. It shall be as soon as you have come there to the city that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, with harp, tambourine, flute, and leyre Before them, and they will be prophesying.

Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them, and be changed into another man. It shall be when these signs come to you. Do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. And you shall go down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings. and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do. Then it happened when he turned his back to leave, Samuel, God changed his heart.

And all those signs came about on that day. When they came to the hill, there, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily. So that he prophesied among them. It came about when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, What has happened to this son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? A man there said, Now, who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb. Is Saul also among the prophets?

When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. Now Saul's uncle said to him, And his servant, Where did you go? He said, To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel. Saul's uncle said, Please tell me what Samuel said to you. So Saul said to the uncle, Excuse me, he told us plainly that the donkeys have been found, but he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned. Therefore, Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mitzpah.

He said to the sons of Israel, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I brought Israel up from Egypt. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But you have today rejected your God. who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses. Yet you have said, No, but set a king over us. Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans. Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot.

Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families. And the Metr family was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he cannot be found. Therefore they inquired further of the LORD, Has the man come here yet? So the LORD said, Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage. So they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, He was taller than any of the people from the shoulders upward. Samuel said to all the people, Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen?

Surely there was no one like him among all the people. So all the people shouted and said, Long live the king! Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. Saul also went to the house of Gab, and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. But certain worthless men said, How can this one deliver us? And they despised him, and did not bring him any present, but he kept.

Silent. There you go. Now you know the whole story about how the king was chosen, right? He was chosen, number one, providentially.

Kish, father Saul, sends his son to look for lost donkeys. Little did Samuel know that on his journey to look for donkeys, his entire life would be turned upside down. He had no idea what was going to happen that day. God did. Samuel did because God told him. Saul had no idea. Saul was just going to do what his father told him to do. So he was obedient to his father. He learned to subject himself to his father because that's the arena by which children learn to respect authority, right? They learn to respect authority at home.

Because that's where God has designed children to learn the authority structure. Unfortunately for Saul, as he would Begin to feel his oats as king, he would no longer submit to God's authority. But on this day, he was following the direction of his father. And so he went to look for donkeys. And as he went to look for donkeys, going from one place to another, from one place to another, they could not be found. Why? Simply because God had another plan. God was in charge of the donkeys. God was in charge of Saul's life.

And little do we know, and little do we remember, that everything that happens in our lives comes through the providence of Almighty God. We talked about it on Sunday, Romans 11, verse 36, Hebrews 2, verse number 10. God is the cause and channel for everything. Saul didn't understand that. Because a servant told Saul, there is a man of God in this place. They went from place to place to place until they came to the location where Samuel was. And the servant knew a man of God lived there. But note that Saul did not know that.

Saul lived 20 miles from Ramah, where Samuel was located. And yet, for all these years of Samuel's leading, Saul had no idea who Samuel was. Even when he went to find the seer and asked Samuel, We're looking for the seer. Can you tell me where he is? Samuel says, I'm the guy. He had no idea, didn't know his name, didn't know what he looked like, had no idea. Why? Because Saul was not very interested in spiritual things. He was very interested in material things. And so, because of that, he truly wasn't interested in who Samuel was.

And that's unfortunate. Because Saul is like a lot of people who go to church today. They go to get their material needs met, their physical needs met, but not their spiritual needs met. And when they go look for Samuel, they're not interested in learning what God has to say. They just want to know where the donkeys are. That was a priority for the servant as well as for Saul. Because Saul truly was ignorant of spiritual things. That wasn't really on his mind. And yet, that's the man that God would choose.

God would place this man who was taller than everybody else, more handsome than any man in all of Israel. In front of the people, know that when the people saw him, that's exactly what they would want. And yet, yet Saul, unlike the New Testament Saul, both from the tribe of Benjamin, right? Paul sa Paul in the New Testament for the tribe of Benjamin, Saul in the Old Testament for the tribe of Benjamin. That 's the only thing they had in common. Because Saul in the Old Testament was tall and handsome, and Saul in the New Testament was sm, not tall, not much to look at, right?

But Saul in the New Testament, who became Paul, was the one that God would use in a mighty way. And Saul, in the Old Testament, is the king that God would end up reject. But he chose this one, knowing the people would love this man. He would represent them well. And so, what you see in the first series of verses is the providence of God working.

In Saul's life, and he has no idea. None. A lot like you and me today. We'll go through life, we'll lose our keys, right? We have no idea of how God's going to use that. But as they went from place to place, from place to place, there was disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. But disappointment, if you just change the first letter from D to H, it goes from disappointment.

To His appointment. Because all disappointments in life are His appointment for your life. Did you remember that? Because interest, that most of us have more disappointments in life than we'd ever want to really Grab a hold of. But life is filled with disappointments, right? But if you know that God is sovereignly operating in your life, that He's in complete control of everything. That those disappointments truly are his appointments for you. When you lose something, when you get lost. when things don't go your way, when you get bad reports from the doctor, when you don't have the opportunity to get the promotion, when the job you wanted was given to somebody else, all those disappointments.

Are truly the appointments of the living God moving you through life to demonstrate to you that He's in complete control of everything because everything is from Him, through Him, and back to Him again. We need to grasp that. Now, Saul did not know that. But what Samuel is going to do is instruct Saul on how God's going to do that. Which is very important to the entire story centered around Saul's appointment as king. So, when they dec that the man of God lives there, they go to the city, and behold, there are some young women.

And they run to the young women, again by divine appointment, right? Can you tell us, does the seer live here? Where is a seer? Oh, well, there he is, right there. God was orchestrating all the events. Of what was going to take place in Saul's life. And again, Saul had no idea what was going to happen to him that day. He was looking for donkeys. And yet he'd find a destiny. Everything would change for him. He had no idea when his dad sent him out. He had no idea when he got up that morning that everything in his life would be turned upside down.

But it would be. And all he had to do was follow the Lord in obedience. That's it. Nothing bigger than that. Just serve and honor the Lord in ob. And so you move from the king's being chosen providentially to him being chosen privately. This is important because Saul was going to anoint him privately first, so Saul would know that he would be the king of Israel.

He runs into Samuel. He doesn't know who Samuel is. Samuel has to introduce himself to Saul. Because Saul did not care about prophecy. He did not care about what God had to say about the nation of Israel. And so Samuel introduces himself to Saul. And he says, as Saul approached him, Please tell me where this seer's house is. And Samuel ent him and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is on your m.

And then he says this, as for your donkeys, which were lost three days ago, how did Samuel know that? God told him. As for your donkeys, by the way, that were lost three days ago that you've been looking for and haven't been able to find yet. Oh, by the way, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. Relax. It's all right. You know, so important that when we have a disappointment, it begins to control us, doesn't it? It begins to consume our think. And everything negative about what took place kind of overrides everything else.

But Samuel's counsel. To Saul was simply this: don't get distracted by that which is minimal. Because what I'm about to tell you far surpasses your disappointment. So many times, if we just understand that God's in charge. That God's in control, that the things that seem so big in the moment really just aren't that big. Oh, they seem to be huge, they loom large in our lives, but in all reality, When it comes to the sovereign control of God in our lives, they don't really matter that much. We just think they do.

We tend to blow things out of proportion. And yet, Samuel wants Saul to keep perspective. And then Samuel drops a bombshell. He says in verse 20, And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's household? He tells Saul, You are the ruler, the king. Of Israel. And that's why he responds: Am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? In my family, the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?

And Samuel took Saul, his servant, and brought them to the hall, and puts him in the choice seat, and gives him the choice meat. To show him respect. And for the 30 people in there eating that meal together with them, they would begin to realize there's something special about this man. Saul, even though they don't know who he is. But Samuel knows because God told him. God told him, on the next day, you're going to meet this guy. This is, he's from the tribe of Benjamin. This is the choice. Who's going to rule over Is?

So Samuel knew. And so he gives them the choice seat. He gives them the choice piece of meat. And when they came down from the high place, verse 25, into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. Would you love to be a part of that conversation? And they arose early, and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, Get up, that I may send you away. So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now that I may proclaim the word of God to you.

Why? Because what is going to make Saul effective is what he knows about the wor of God. That's why. Just like you and me. What makes us effective as fathers, mothers, parents, coaches, teachers, workers? How much we know and what we know about what God's Word says. Now, what did He tell Him? Well, maybe he told them what Deuteronomy 17 says, when the Lord said these words. About the king, the future king of Israel. Verse 16: He shall not multiply horses for himself. Nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to him, You shall never again return that way.

He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will be turned away. nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence Of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing. all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen.

And that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. Now, I wasn't there. But I bet you that's what Samuel said to Saul. You got to write the law. You got to write it meticulously. You've got to read the law. You've got to apply the law. You can't turn to the right or the left, for everything you do must be in conjunction with what God has already said. Because if you mess this up, your whole kingship's going to go to pot.

So make sure you don't mess this up. And don't you think that every one of us, when we read this, should apply that to our lives? I'm not saying you've got to go home and write the word of the Lord out. But you should at least read the word of the Lord, should at least apply the word of the Lord to your life. You shouldn't turn to the left or to the right, you should keep the word of the Lord, right? You must seek to do all that's written in it. Because that's what makes and separates us from the unbeliever.

We love the Lord. We love His Word. We want to obey His Word. And if the king doesn't do it, why would the people do it? If the father doesn't do it, why would the sons do it? If the parents don't do it, why would the children do it? Right? So, if the king who leads the way doesn't do it, neither will the people. He's got to set the tone, right? He sets the spiritual tone in the h. In the nation, among the people. We have to ask ourselves what kind of tone do we set as parents? For our children, are we excited about the word of the Lord?

Are we excited about the church of God? Are we excited about learning more and more about God? So, our children will get a hold of that and say, Well, if they're that passionate about it, if they're that excited about it, then there must be something about it that should excite me. What is it? Because we love the wor of God. So Samuel would take Saul, he would commune with him that day, he would tell the servant to go on ahead on the next day and say, Listen, I'm going to proclaim to you the word.

Of God. You need to know this, Saul. If you mess this up, you can know everything else. But if you don't know this, you fail. Did you get that, parents? You can know everything else if you miss this, you failed in your parenting. Now, you might not like to hear that, but you know what? That's just the way it is. You can be a major, major player when it comes to making money. Who cares? What should a profit of a man if he gains the whole world loses his own soul? Right? You can be a major player in education.

Who cares? Who cares? Do you know the word of the Lord? Do you proclaim the word of the Lord? Do you live the word of the L Because that's what's going to take precedence. Over everything else. And Samuel, who's a judge, Samuel, who knows that this is the transition. Wants him to know this is valuable. You got to know this, Saul. You're the first king in Israel.

You're the guy. And the people cried for a king. You better show them the way. You better demonstrate to them what it means to live for the Lord. Because if you don't, boy, you are going to lead them the wrong way. And then it says this, chapter 10, verse number 1. Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him, and said, Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance? Wow. Now, think about Samuel for a second.

S doesn't want to do this. He's not excited about this, but he's obedient to the Lord. This is not what he wants. He's heard the people's cry. He's told the people: look, if this is the direction you want to go, this is what's going to happen to you. They said, We don't care. We want a king anyway. And Samuel is the spiritual leader of the nation. He is the judge. He knows that it's only going to be bad for them as a nation. And so he anoints this one as king, even though he knows that God has chosen him, even though he's not.

From the tribe of Judah, which is the kingly tribe. He's a stopgap measure to the real king who's going to come from Judah. And he kisses him, pays homage to him. Pours oil on his head and tells him that you are the ruler over God's inheritance. What humility on the part of Samuel. Because down deep he's thinking, dude, you're not going make it. I'm telling you what to do, but you're not going to make it. He knows that. And yet he's obedient to the Lord because following what God says is more important than what he feels.

Following what God says is more important than anything else in Samuel's life. So he knows this. So he anoints him privately as king over Israel. Now, he's going to go to three locations: Rachel's tomb, the Oak of Tabor, and the Hill of God. Okay? And each location is going to tell Saul something he needs to know about his kingship. Okay? One deals with pers. That is Rachel's grave, Rachel's tomb. The second is God's provision.

And the third is God's power. As king, you need to have perspect. If you don't have perspective, you can't govern the people. On top of that, you need to know that God provides. So, I'm going to show you how God's going to provide for you because you've got to be able to demonstrate to the people that God's going to provide for them. And then you've got to understand the power of God because you have to operate under the power of Almighty God. So that people themselves will operate under the power of God.

Each location is a teaching lesson. For Saul. So he tells him: when you go from me today, you will find two men close at Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelz. And they will say to you, The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now, behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys. And is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do about my s? This is all about perspective. Listen carefully. It's all about perspective. Number one, on the brevity of life.

Number two, on his responsibility in life. Number three, on God's sovereignty in life. And number four, on God's priority in life. Do you get that? Well, I'll review it for you. Hang on. Okay? This is a perspective it needs to have. If you're a leader, if you're a parent, if you're a grandparent, if you are a man, if you are a woman, you've got to have perspective, right? Got a perspective. And the very first arena you must have perspective in is the brevity of life.

You're going to Rachel's tomb. Rachel's tomb. Right there, right outside Bethlehem. Why? Because you need to know, Saul, you ain't going to live forever. Not going to live forever. So take each moment, value it. Each relationship, value it. Because at Rachel's tomb, you come face to face with the greatest reality in life. You're going to die. Life is brief. So, have a perspective. Your time is king, not long. Not long. You might think you're going to be king forever. You might think you're going to live forever.

It's not going to happen. So when you pass Rachel's tomb, just remember, just remember, the brevity of life. Number two.

Your responsibility in life. Way back in Genesis chapter 35, when Rachel was giving birth to a son that she'd asked God for, she won the name Ben, son of my sorrow. Her husband said, No, no. Ben-Ham, or Benjamin, son of my right hand, son of my strength. Because Benjamin became a type of Christ at that time. Because the Son of God's strength would be born where? Bethlehem. Where did Rachel die? In Bethlehem Ephratha. See that? And so now he has the responsibility in life to live, to live. The life that is completely responsible to the true and living God of the universe.

Your responsibility is to live for God. Your responsibility is to honor God. You are from the tribe of Benjamin, right? And Benjamin was the son. Of his father's right hand, the son of his strength. You need to be the man of strength. This is your responsibility to lead the people. Number three, God's stopping your life.

How is that? Because when you get there, there's going to be two guys there, and they're going to tell you what happened with your donkeys to let you know that God's in charge. Saul, you got know God's in charge. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, no matter how long you king, how short you king, you got know one thing: God's in charge. He is sovereign, he rules over all. The donkeys are taken care of. God always had them under control. Because God is always in control. He's never out of control.

So you must remember God's sovereignty in life, your responsibility in life, the brevity of life. And the priority in life, which is people over possessions. Because your father is more concerned about you, his son. That is property, the donkeys. Saul, you can't lose that perspective. If you as king value your property and your possessions more than the people of God, you will fail as king of Israel. So, Rachel's tomb, pers. And then he's to go to the Oak of Tabor. This is all about provision. Then you will go further on from there and you will come as far as the yoke of Tabor.

And there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. Which you will accept from their hand. Why? Because God is going to provide for you, Saul, in the most unexpected kinds of ways. All you have to do is trust him. Trust his provision. As k, you must have perspective. As king, you must know that God provides All things. And not only is that provision unexpected, it will always be sufficient at the time you re it.

And then afterward, you will go come to the hill of God, where the Philistine garrison is, and it shall be as still as you have come. There to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, tambourine, flute, lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. It's all about power. Power. As king, you need to have power. But the power didn't come because you're handsome.

Power doesn't come because you're taller than every other man. Power doesn't come because they want you to be their king and they're going to shout, Long live the king! Power is going to come because God changes you. God does it in you. And the Spirit of God is going to come upon you. And that's what happened in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God would come upon certain men at certain times to accomplish great things. Today, we have the Spirit of God in us, right? And the Spirit of God indwells us and empowers us to live for the glory of his kingdom.

But in those days, as the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, so the Spirit of the Lord would. Leave Saul and come upon David. That's why David would say, Lord, take not your Holy Spirit from me, right? Restore to me the joy of your salvation when he sinned with Bathsheba. Because he didn't want to lose the power, didn't want to lose the communion, didn't want to lose the opportunity he had to live for his God. So Samuel tells Saul this was going to happen at the h of God. And he says, It shall be these signs that come to you that you will do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you.

Wow, God's with you, Saul. And that just had to be perplexing to Samuel. God's with you. I don't understand why he is, but he is. I don't want to be with you, but God's going to be with you because He wants to rule through you. He says something very important, which we'll come back to in the next couple of weeks. You shall go down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down to you. To offer burnt offerings, a sacrifice, peace offerings, and you shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.

Very important. Because, as king, you must wait for direction from God. I'm going to give you that direction. You must wait for me. And we'll soon find out. Saul does away, and it costs him his kingship. But the anointing privately is very, very power. So The king is chosen providentially by God. The out of every detail privately, as Samuel will anoint him, kiss him. Pay homage to him in a very humble, gentle way. Instruct him in the way that he should go and give him three Three journeys that will give him the perspective he needs to have as king, the provision he needs to have as king, and the power he needs to have as king.

And then comes the public announcement. It gathers everybody together and it begins with a sermon. He gathers everybody in Mitzpah. He said to the sons of Israel, Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses. Yet you have said, No. But set a king over us. Wow.

He begins with the condemnation. Here is the God who's brought you out of Egyptian bondage, who delivered you from all your calamities and all your distresses. And how do you repay him? We don't care what you did. We don't care how you have behaved or how you have shown your power. We reject you. We want an earthly king. Samuel reminds them, be careful what you ask for. You ask for a king? Going to be a king named Saul, which means asked of God. You ask, you shall receive. And they go through all the whole lot thing and distributing lots.

They get down to the tribe of Benjamin. Saul's there and he hid behind the baggage. It's a false humility because he's really not a humble guy. He's just maybe overwhelmed by the responsibility. They find him, they bring him out, he stands up, he's bigger than everybody else. It's huge. You're like, wow, man. God did a good job. Samuel, good job. That's the guy. Long live the king. This guy's great, man. I just can't open. Start ruling now.

The guy's amazing. They want him to be the king. Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom and wrote them in the book and placed them before the Lord. Why did he do that? Because it's changed. The way it was with the judges is different than the way it's going to be with the kings. And the Bible doesn't tell us all the things that he said to them, but he wrote them all down. He placed it before the Lord, the Ark of the Covenant. And that would be how they would live from that day forward.

Saul also went to his house in Gab, and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. Wow, God is so good. God would surround him with men whose hearts God had touched. For supp, encouragement, accountability, love, strength. God has given Saul everything he needs. Everything he needs. He's given him perspective. He's given him provisions. He's given him power. God is with him. He's given him a group of valiant men whom God has touched. And now all he has to do Is follow the wor of the Lord.

That 's it. Oh, by the way, that's all you have to do. Just follow the word of the Lord. It's not rocket science, right? Christianity is just one subject and one word, just obedience to the word of God. That's it. If you love me, what Christ say? Keep my commandments. That's it. Not a big deal. Just do that. That's all Saul has to do is follow what God has said. That's it. The Bible tells us, But certain worthless men, sons of Belial, said, How can this one deliver us? And they despised him and did not bring him any present.

But he kept silent. He kept silent. Isn't it interesting that when God appoints you and directs you, there's always going to be opposition from the outside. But that's not your problem. And it wasn't Saul's problem. Men on the outside is never the problem. It's always the man on the inside that's the problem. It's the inner man, the character of a man. And that was Saul's problem. It was never those around him, it was what's on the inside, right? Because what's on the inside is what governs and rules the individual, which causes them to either follow someone else or not follow someone else.

Stand strong or not stand strong. And so at this point, he keeps silent. Nothing to say. So, in conclusion, I ask you: do you understand?

That no matter what the disappointment that comes your way, it's always directed by his appointment. A great illustration of that, and I'll close with this, is the book of Acts. Book of Acts, when the apostles were threatened and they weren't allowed to speak anymore about this one Jesus. And Peter and John said, we must do that. And they came back to the prayer meeting to the other believers. After they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, Acts:.

When they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, O Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. Who, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our Father David, your servant, said, Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against this Christ. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur.

And now, Lord, take note of the threats. And grant that your bonds may speak your word with all conf. They were told: you cannot speak, you will not speak, it will cost you if you do. And that disappointment, they saw as God's appointment because they knew. That what took place with Jesus the Christ was done under the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. They had great perspective on the providence of God. So when they prayed, they could pray rejoicing, believing that God was at work. And that's the way we need to be, right?

Amidst all those disappointments to come, here was Saul. He had no idea what the disappointment would bring him when he couldn find the donkeys, except for the fact that next thing he knew, the next day. He was king of Israel. King of Israel. Because God had appointed him to be that first king over Israel.

You see, God's always at work. God's always in charge. He's never out of control. So when God chose the king, He was going to demonstrate to the people of God: you ask, you receive. But know this: all of this is under my divine providence. We pray with you. Father, we thank you, Lord, for our time together this evening. So much more we could say and cover in these two chapters, and yet, Lord, we trust that the things that we talked about this evening would encourage every one of us. Lord, you are great.

You're in charge. You have every one of us in the palm of your hand. Nothing happens in our marriages. Nothing happens at work, at school, at play, on the road that you are not sovereignly orchestrating. To bring about your great gl. May, through this story, we see that and see. What you require of us is just to follow what you say. Just to follow Jesus Christ our Lord. Obey your word, and the blessings will fl. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.