1 Samuel 10

1 Samuel 10

As Saul continued to talk with Samuel, he found out that he would be the first king of Israel. Samuel told Saul all that God had mentioned of how Saul would be king and would save Israel from their enemies. Saul would be the one to restore the kingdom and protect Israel. In fact, Saul would become a new person, for God would change Him when the time came. As long as he remained obedient to God’s commands, God would do mighty works through Saul and for Israel. All of a sudden the trivial task of finding his father’s lost donkeys did not matter anymore. In fact, Saul’s father was not concerned about the donkeys either; instead, he could not help but wonder where Saul was.


It does not appear as if Saul questioned what Samuel had told him, but Samuel told him exactly what was about to happen. He told Saul step by step who he would run into, what they would say, and what they would give them. He told Saul exactly when God’s spirit would come upon him. So while Samuel may not have been giving Saul instructions due to the fact that Saul questioned this role God was giving him, he did want Saul to understand what was expected of him. Although this could appear to be a trivial listing of instructions for Saul, it would prove whether Saul would be obedient or not.

Everything went according to plan, and Saul found himself a new man, set apart by God, ready to serve God. Since he had not been officially announced as the king of Israel, he kept that part of his journey a secret and did not tell anyone what Samuel had shared with him. Saul’s father was just relieved that Saul had made it home safely. Soon after his return, Samuel once again gathered all of Israel together at Mizpah to announce Saul as their first king. Their prayers had been answered, and God had provided them with a king, even though they had all been warned about what would one day happen. For the time being, however, the people rejoiced because they had a king and Saul along with all his servants did as God would have them to do, according to the book that Samuel gave him about the “rights and duties of the kingship.”

There was so much potential and hope at the end of 1 Samuel 10. If I did not know what was to come in the upcoming chapters, it would be hard to imagine that Saul would turn out to be a disappointing king. At this point in the story, he was obedient. He did as God had instructed, and it did not appear as if he was even considering turning from God. Although God had warned Israel about what their king would do to them, God’s predictions did not even seem possible at this point. But we know that God does not lie. What He says is truth, and unfortunately things would one day turn for the worse in Israel. Again we must be careful that we do not start off strong, whether it is at the beginning of our Christian life or after a mountain top experience, only to end up defeated. God can do mighty things through His children when they remain obedient to His commands, when they remain willing to allow God to use them. It is when we decide to do things under our strength or decide that we do not need God that we end up falling. We must continuously check ourselves and make sure that we are following God’s plan for our lives and not our own.

Matt