Good morning church! What do we call members of Garden City? City Gardeners? That’s what I’m going with.  My name is Michael Crane. My family has been at Garden City (formerly known as Harvest) since 2022. I teach in a local seminary called Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary. If anyone is interested in theological education please do find me. Our family, along with about 20 other City Gardeners are being sent out to plant a new church. It is my privilege to share with your from God’s Word this morning. 

Let’s pray and seek the Lord as we open the Word.

This week we are looking at 1 Samuel 9-10. This passage is an interesting and important one. But I should warn you, it could be confusing if you haven’t had your coffee yet. On the surface these two chapters are all about how Saul, a seemingly random really really ridiculously good looking guy from tribe of Benjamin was chosen to become Israel’s king. But there is something underneath this story that is important for all of us. How do we live in this world and maintain our loyalty to God and his good kingdom coming? Too often Christians run to overly simple ways to do this, but we are more a part of this world than we care to admit. We are deeply immersed in the education system, our work, and the political sphere. If we don’t give careful thought to this, we end up raising kids who are more captive to the world’s ambitions than those of the people of God. This passage speaks of a king being chosen. We are all under political leadership. We also deal with other leaders and maybe we are some of those leaders. As we think about the choosing of the king, let’s consider how we engage our world today. 

I have three points to walk through:

1. The king we should want
2. The king we want
3. The king we need

The king we should want

Last week Pastor Peter walked us through 1 Samuel 8 where the people were asking for a king. And Samuel then told them all the reasons a king was a bad idea. And the people said “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Sam 8:19b-20). When the people asked for this God told Samuel that it was Samuel they were rejecting, but it was God himself who was being rejected as king (1 Sam 8:7). 

God is the ultimate ruler. He is the king above all kings. His reign is over the whole universe. And this is a good thing. Because only a holy and good God can hold such power rightly. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God as ruler it changed everything for all humans. We struggle to recognize God as king. This is amplified in our societies. In other words, when I bring my rebellion, greed, pride, selfishness, etc. and you bring your rebellion greed, pride, etc. we create a society that does not recognize God as king. 

God recognized this problem. That people need some kind of leadership and law. In fact, he even gave instructions for having a king. God gave specific instructions for the kind of king that would be good for society. Deut. 17:14-15: 

¹⁴ “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. (ESV)

According to Deuteronomy, God allows for a ruler, but with some clear stipulations. They should not be greedy or chase after women. And, most importantly, they should follow God’s law. It says in Deut 17:19: “that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them…”

This kind of king was not to be the kind of king every other nation had. He wanted Israel to have a king that looked to God is the true king. In other words, he was a king for a time. But, as we shall see, the people were less concerned with having a king who fears God and more concerned with getting the king that they wanted. 

The king we want

The people wanted a king like the other nations. And that brings us to 1 Samual 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. (ESV)

We are introduced to a guy named Saul. What do we know about Saul? We know his family lineage and know he is tall and handsome. And then we are told of Saul and his servant searching for his father’s donkeys.^[1]Apparently these donkeys made their great escape and Saul is being the good son and going after them. They look all over the place and are about to give up and go back.^[2] Already our image of Saul is discouraging. The good leaders are shown to be good shepherds. Saul can’t manage to track these large animals.^[3] At this point the servant tells Saul about a man of God who might be able to help them find these donkeys. Saul says doesn’t have any gift for the man of God (which is Samuel) but the servant, once again comes through with a quarter of a shekel. So they went to the town where Samuel was. Just as a sidenote, the servant actually seems like the one more attentive to what God is doing in this story. 

They make their way to the town and some young women drawing water and they tell Saul and the servant that Samuel just came to town and they are having a sacrifice up on the high place (this was a place of worship because there was no temple yet). Then they saw Samuel. Let’s read verses 15-27. 

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^[g]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.”

Samuel was expecting Saul, not because of the donkeys, but because Saul was to be anointed as ruler. Things get weird. Saul is placed at the head of the banquet table and given the portion of meat set aside for the priests usually. Saul then pulls him aside for further instruction. Moving into chapter 10, verse 1, it says:

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

And then he uses oil to anoint Saul as the ruler. I think it is important to note that Samuel does not use the word “king”. The word used is less elevated and means something more like one who restrains the people.^[4]He was not supposed to be a king just like other nations. But he would govern the people and help protect them from their enemies. Samuel then told Saul of three signs that would verify this is from God. They would meet two men by Rachel’s tomb (Rachel, by the way was the mother of Benjamin, Saul was a descendent of Benjamin).^[5] The next sign was they would meet three men on they up to Bethel for worship. One of them would have 3 loaves of bread and would give Saul two loaves. And the third sign was they would run into a group of prophets. At that point the Spirit of God will come upon Saul and he will join with the prophets. It says in verse 9, “all these signs came to pass that day”. 

After all of this, Saul meets his uncle who asked what Samuel told him. And all Saul said was the donkeys have been found. He didn’t say anything about being anointed as a ruler for Israel. Which is a bit odd, but the text doesn’t explain this. But I think this next part might give us insight. 

Samuel called for snap elections. He called all the tribes together. They were to organize by tribes and by thousands within each tribe. This was no small undertaking. Here they chose by lot and narrowed the leader to the tribe of Benjamin and then clan of Matrites and then the son of Kish. But then suddenly, Saul could not be found. So they asked God. God told them that he’s hiding among the baggage. This is also odd. It seems like Saul is not too eager to be ruler. When they find him. And I guess everyone sees this really good liking young man who is a head taller than everyone else, they like what they saw. They shouted “Long live the king!” Notice, the people use the word king, not the lighter word ruler or prince that Samuel used. 

So, what do we make of this story? It is not easy to sort out. God is clearly at work here. Each step was guided by God. A servant guided Saul to Samuel. Some young women at the well did the same. A sacrifice banquet was awaiting Saul. Even after Samuel discreetly anointed Saul, the tribes of Israel came tother to choose Saul as well. Even when God said to Samuel in chapter 8 that their desire for a king was a rejection of God, he still orchestrated a leader. Moreover, a leader like they wanted. Did God set them up to fail? No. We can see further on in 1 Samuel that God wanted Saul to rule well while being faithful to God and his law. At the same time, God warned the people that there would be consequences to having a king, particularly one like the other nations have. 

The people got what they wanted. A kingly looking king. They wanted a king that looked like what the other nations have.^[6] We can see throughout these two chapters that Saul has some good qualities. He’s a dutiful son. He’s responsive to the Spirit coming upon him. The fact that he was tall was a superficial feature, but it did aid their confrontation with the Philistines. At the same time, however, Saul seems reluctant and somewhat unaware. The servant seems more attuned to what God is doing than Saul. Why does Saul not tell his uncle what Samuel had told him? What does he hide when he was being chosen as king? We get the sense already that he is not the kind of leader to draw people to God and serve God with steadiness and conviction. But the people didn’t seem to care about that, they wanted a worldly king. “Long live the king”

The king we need

What do you look for in a leader? Who will you follow? Who will you allow to influence your life. Weirdly, we find good looking people who are famous or are social media influencers to influence our lives. One study on Millennials and Gen Z showed that 80% of those surveyed reported influencers had an influence on what they purchase.^[7] Even when we think we’re just casually watching something, it can be subtly creating desire for things that are not honoring to God. 

I hope these chapters call you to look inwardly and examine how you think about leaders and who has an influence on you. At one level, we need leaders at different levels of society. We need government rulers who will govern with laws and justice. At the same time, and Saul gives us an example, earthly rulers are prone to corruption, pride, greed, nepotism, collusion, exploitation of the vulnerable, and more. We are to be good citizens wherever we live. But we must also recognize these leaders cannot live up to the standard of the truly just king. 

Sometimes we start thinking that we could do better. That we could be a better ruler. I would suggest that we all share similarities with Saul. Saul does not seem to be obviously rebellious. And he has moments where he seems like he has got it together spiritual, like when he prophesied with the prophets. In Saul, we see someone with a divided heart. He goes along with things when pushed, but then he is quick to turn back, to stay quiet, and even to hide when he is called irrefutably by God to rise to the task. His heart is not surrendered to God’s will. He tries to be half in, half out. Is this you? Is your heart pulled in other directions. Are you half in, half out? Half in, half out means you are not really in. 

Saul is not the king we need. ^[8]We are not capable of being our own king. Therefore, we need the rightful king. In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1-5, we told of a coming king. 

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

This king, who would come in the line of David, would have the Spirit of the Lord all the time, not just for the moment. This king would delight in the fear of the Lord. This king would judge with justice and rule rightly. Jesus fulfills this promise of the rightful king. Saul would go to battle against the Philistines, Jesus battled and defeated sin and death itself. When it came time for Jesus to go to the cross, he did not hide. He rose to life after being put to death. He was the ultimate king to sacrifice so that we might no longer be under the bondage of sin, but might have abundant life in Jesus.

Would you bow down before this king. He is the king worthy of our worship and worthy of following. When you bow before this king you no longer need to be divided. 

Filled with wonder
Awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your name
Jesus, Your name is power
Breath and living water
Such a marvelous mystery, (Revelation Song)

Jesus is the king we need. Is he your king?

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^[1] These animals, female donkeys, were the animals nobility rode on. Donkeys were symbols of royalty in the Levant in this era. Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 633.

^[2] It is possible this is a literary tool suggesting a second guessing of the road to kingship. There are other places where Saul says more than he intends. Keith Bodner, 1 Samuel: A Narrative Commentary (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), 81.

^[3] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (Nashville, Tenn.: Holman Reference, 1996), 121.

^[4] Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, 123.

^[5] Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, the namesake patriarch of Saul’s tribe. When Benjamin was born, Jacob was told he would be the father of kings (Gen 35). Benjamin received special favor from Joseph in Egypt (Gen 43:34). “Despite the limitations of Benjamite royalty, against the background of Genesis 35, Saul’s Benjamite genealogy is a royal genealogy.” Peter J. Leithart, A Son to Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003), 92.

^[6] Robert Alter (1999: 46) remarks: ‘Saul’s looming size, together with his good looks ( ), seems to be an outward token of his capacity for leadership, but as the story unfolds with David displacing Saul, his physical stature becomes associated with a basic human misperception of what constitutes fitness to command’. Robert Alter, The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel (Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999), 46.

^[7] Jessica Looby, “How Much Influence Do Influencers Really Have?,” KS&R, October 18, 2022, https://www.ksrinc.com/how-much-influence-influencers-have/.

^[8] Saul “embodies a type of kingship that will not be transformed by the divine will.” Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2003), 138.