1 Samuel 9--Saul Chosen to Be King

1 Samuel 9
English Standard Version

Saul Chosen to Be King
9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

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.

5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” 6 But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8 The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today's “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) 10 And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

11 As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12 They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. 13 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 till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” 14 So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

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.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” 19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 As for your donkeys that 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 house?” 21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

22 Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’” 24 So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.”

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 25 And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. 26 Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.”

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We see from this passage today that the LORD orchestrates events to get Saul to come to Samuel in the right place at the right time for the ordination ceremony that Saul had no idea that he was even going to be invited to.  Saul was out looking for his father's donkeys along with a servant, but they had not found them.  Finally, the servant who was with him said that he knew that there was a seer (that is an older name for a prophet) that lived in the area, referring to Samuel, and that they should visit him to see if he could inquire of the LORD so that they could know what direction to go in to find the donkeys.  They go to find Samuel and the people of the town tell them that Samuel is on his way up to a feast that is an invitation-only event, but if they hurry, they can catch him while he is still on the road on the way up to the high place where the feast was going to be held.  The people are waiting for Samuel to come and bless the sacrifices for the feast before they may begin (little does Saul know the feast is being prepared in his honor as the LORD has told Samuel that he will meet the one he is to anoint as king while on the road and that when the LORD identifies him, Samuel is to anoint him to ordain him as king over all Israel and hold a feast in his honor).

Samuel meets Saul along the road and tells Saul that the donkeys were found and returned home three days ago.  Samuel leaves Saul with a strange message though saying, "And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?”  This greatly perplexed Saul so that he wanted to know the meaning of such a saying, but Samuel told Saul he'd have to spend the night and Samuel would explain everything to him the next day (after Samuel sent the servant on ahead so that he could talk to Saul alone).

Though Samuel didn't explain right away, Saul probably had more questions after Samuel took him to the feast he was headed to and placed Saul at the head of the table at the feast that had been prepared and he was given the best portion that had been set aside just for him.  Then after Saul and everyone else had eaten, Saul and his servant were taken to a place where they could rest for the night and a bed was prepared for Saul on the roof of the house.

At daybreak, Samuel woke Saul up so that he could send them on their way, and as Saul and Samuel walked together, Samuel told Saul to send the servant on ahead of them so that they could talk alone, and when the servant had passed on before them they stopped to talk and it is then when the LORD will reveal to Saul through Samuel that Saul had been chosen to be the king of Israel.  We'll see this ordination and inauguration in the next chapter, but God has made His selection known to Samuel (because Saul will be the one to handle the Philistines and to help keep the people in check for a time) and now the LORD has revealed his choice to Saul, and soon it will be revealed to all the people.  However, Saul will not be without flaws.  God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plans.