A response

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

A RESPONSE

1 Samuel 10:14-27

14 Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel." 15 Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you." 16 Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship. 17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans." 20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage." 23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!" 25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home. 26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

NIV

Saul has been anointed as the king of Israel with the people shouting, “Long live the king!” He was a man a head taller than all other men, but that is not why he was made king, for his kingship is from the hand of the LORD. Once again, Samuel told the people all the regulations regarding the establishment of a king, and this time he wrote them down and deposited them before the Lord. What do we learn from this narrative that we can take to heart? First, we need to understand that we have no king but the Lord. We acknowledge this, and we would never bow down to an earthly king, although we are instructed to obey the governing authorities because they are established by God. The reason is that there is no authority other than God. Still, we are to live under the authorities without fear of them, for we live by the laws of our land. However, the lesson we should pay closer attention to is when troublemakers came with slander, or doubt about the leadership qualities of Saul, as we are told they said, “ How can this fellow save us?” We know they were talking about being saved from the oppressive control of the Philistines.  Saul came from the smallest tribe of Benjamin and from the least clan in the tribe, so it would make sense that he was a nobody. Why not pick someone from the tribe of Judah, one of the largest and powerful tribes? There are times when God does not move like that, but takes a man without skill, talent, or abilities and uses him to lead his people. Although we are not told what Saul did in his family, except to obey his father, God chose him to be the ruler of all Israel. Here is where our lives could get a little confusing when we consider those who are in leadership positions within a church. We know of some leaders, maybe considered as a pastor, who have called themselves for their own purposes, lifting themselves up, and seeking personal gain from the pockets of others. We know some promote a perverted gospel, that God intends everyone to be wealthy. There is the “Name it, and claim it” teaching that some leaders proclaim as the gospel. However, we also know some men have been called by God, who may or may not have any qualifications, yet are men who have the anointing of God upon them. It does not matter whether someone has all the training, with degrees of higher learning, or a little training, and some education, or no training and no education, if God calls them into His service to lead his people, He will empower that person, whoever they are. Of course, many denominations require a certain amount of education and training before they will license or certify someone as able to lead the people of that particular faith. Still, it is all about the call of God upon someone’s life. The second lesson is about those agitators against Saul, despising him and giving him no respect, by not bringing any gifts. His response is classic and Godly; he remained silent. This was the response of Jesus when he was despised and charged with blasphemy; he went quietly to the cross, and even forgave those who did not realize what they had done. Jesus did not defend himself, and Saul did the same. This should give us the way we need to live in this world, where we might be accused, criticized, or judged by someone for doing or not doing what they think we should not do or should do, thus not meeting their expectations. It may be natural for us to put up our defenses, but that is not the Godly way to respond. Let us take our lesson from Saul and just remain silent. However, in some cases, that might even cause more conflict, yet if we look to our Lord, our response should match his.