In 1 Samuel 9, we have God's providence and prophetic preparation for Saul's kingship. Hear now the reading of God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word, 1 Samuel 9, starting at verse 1. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechoroth, the son of Aphia, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man and a goodly. And there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he. From his shoulders and upward, he was higher than any of the people. And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, take now of the servants with thee and arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through Mount Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not. Then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not. And he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. And when they were come to the land of Zuf, Saul said to his servant that was with him, come and let us return, lest my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for us. And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man. All that he saith cometh surely to pass. Now let us go thither. Peradventure, he can show us our way that we should go. Then said Saul to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What have we? And the servant answered Saul again and said, behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. That will I give to the man of God to tell us our way. Before time in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, come, let us go to the seer. For he that is now called a prophet was before time called a seer. Then said Saul to his servant, well said, come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was. And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water and said unto them, is the seer here? And they answered them and said, he is, behold, he is before you. Make haste now for he came today to the city for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place. As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice, and afterward they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up, for about this time ye shall find him. And they went up into the city. And when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them for to go up to the high place. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came saying, tomorrow about this time, I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin. And thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon my people because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, behold, the man whom I spake to thee of, this same shall reign over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said, tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me unto the high place, for ye shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let thee go and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them, for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee and on all thy father's house? And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Wherefore then speakest thou so to me? And Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the parlor and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about 30 persons. And Samuel said unto the cook, bring the portion which I gave thee of which I said unto thee, set it by thee. And the cook took up the shoulder and that which was upon it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, behold, that which is left, set it before thee and eat. For unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house and they arose early. And it came to pass about the spring of the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house saying, up that I may send thee away. And Saul arose and they went out both of them, he and Samuel abroad. And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us and he passed on. But stand out still a while that I may show thee the word of God. Thus far the reading of God's inspired word. First Samuel chapter nine. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of it and now in the consideration of it. Verses 1-14 we have Saul's parentage, his person, and the providence of God directing him to Samuel. Kish in verse 1 is called the son of Abiel. We are told in 1 Chronicles 8.33 that Nair begat Kish. Now, it's very interesting. There is Abner, we will find is the cousin of Saul and becomes the captain of his host. So there seems to be some relation here. Possibly his uncle Nair raised him or was his sponsor, you might say, his adoptive father. We have this description of Kish as a mighty man of power, he was valiant and rich, and his son, what sort of man was he? He was a choice young man, and goodly we are told. Elect, precious, handsome, tall, suited to rule over the people, at least in the external appearance of the man. Now, this ruler will be suited to the people. Remember, their desire for a king was vain, that they may be like the heathens, so what do they get for a king? A vain-looking young man. People with vain priorities often get mere external goods, things that are good on the outside, that look good. Vain and heathen-envying nations get tall, good-looking fools for their kings in this case. Let us have sound and godly priorities lest we have goods that evaporate like the summer dew that comes down on the grass and the sun arises. What happens to the dew? It's gone. Verse three, the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. Now this is no chance happening. This is no accidental event. God in his providence caused these asses to be lost. He caused them not to be able to find the asses. He caused the bread to be spent. He caused the servant to have a quarter shekel of silver. He caused Saul to be persuaded by the argument of his servant. Why? Because God had a purpose. In these minute details of life, in those things that in themselves are not good, God had a purpose. They go through Shalisha, they go through the land of Ziph, they go through the tribe of Benjamin, they go through Ephraim. And then Saul said in verse 5 to his servant, Come, let us return. That's his purpose, wasn't it? Is that God's purpose? No, men have their purposes, they plan their ways. We say men propose and God will dispose. God will dispose of the event even if man plans his ways. So he plans to go against what God had purposed, but God's purposes cannot be undone by the purposes of men. The slave says in verse six, in this city, there is a man of God and he is an honorable man. All that he saith cometh surely to pass. Now, remember in the ancient world, if you had a slave, you owned him. He was yours, your property, your chattel, your goods. And yet, does Saul listen? He does. Because truth is truth regardless of the source, even from a slave. If it's true, listen to it. Parents, if your children tell you something that's true, don't say, well, you're my child, I'm not listening to you. No. Is it truth? Well, then listen to it. Because ultimately we submit to God who is truth itself. Now the slave says of the man of God, let us go thither. Peradventure, he will show us our way that we should go. Again, uncertain to the slave, uncertain to Saul, fixed by God's providence. Saul objects that they have no present. We don't have anything. Now Samuel was not a prophet for hire as a belly God servant. But still they wanted to honor him, they wanted to give him something, what is proper and due to the minister who would preach the word to them, that is to Samuel, they're willing to give to him. All the servant has is a fourth part of a shekel of silver. The Dutch annotations note on this quarter part of a shekel, so that in this present more was looked on to the thankful mind than the worth or value of the gift. Remember, because Samuel's not serving a belly God, he'll take whatever people give. It doesn't really matter to him. As long as they give it cheerfully and willingly, he'll take it, just like the widow's might. She gave more than all the wealthy men. Why? Because she did so sincerely and of her poverty. So this is a sincere gift. It's all that they have. God gives us some of the backstory in verse nine, because he's going to introduce the word seer here into the narrative. God tells us that before time in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would call him a seer. And what was now, it says, called a prophet, was before time called a seer. Now the word seer means one who sees. One who has visions, and this is the ordinary way in which God revealed himself to the prophets. We find this even in the New Testament, there are occasional visions like Peter or the book of Revelation. These are visions God gives. But we see this also, there'll be the burden of so-and-so, and then what will happen? They see something, don't they? Lots of visions in the book of Ezekiel and the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Zechariah. Vision after vision after vision. They are seers. So it emphasizes what God showed them in their mental vision, not necessarily with their physical eyes, but with the eyes of their mind. A prophet is one who boils up with a message or a burden that God lays upon him, a navi they call them, that means to boil up with zeal. So they would be filled with a message, fire in their bones, they had to declare the message of God. Then said Saul to his servant, well said, come, let us go. Again, willing to submit himself to a good plan, though from his slave. And this we see in Saul. Take note of this. Saul is very humble at his beginning, isn't he? He's willing to submit to a slave. We'll find out later when people speak against him after he's elected king. He does nothing to them. And when he's to be elected king, where does he hide himself? We'll see in chapter 10. Well, he's in the household goods. He's in the stuff. He's with the utensils, isn't he? Is he vaunting himself, look at me, I'm great? No, that comes later. That comes after he becomes king and the power goes to his head. But we see a good beginning in Saul, do we not? Well said, come, let us go, he says. Let me ask you a question, are you a humble person? Do you have what appear to be graces of the Spirit of God? Well, let me encourage you, let me warn you, never grow secure in your graces or in your humility or whatever it is you think you have. Do not rest on your heels because when Saul does that, what happens? He gets pushed over and he falls flat upon his face. We must never have a carnal security in the good things of God. We must be ever vigilant, especially against our deceitful hearts. Saul was not vigilant. His virtues were evanescent. They would vanish away. His goodness was like the dew that Ephraim is charged with in the book of Hosea. Let us trust in God, let us humble ourselves, and let us always be watchful against temptation. The war is not over, the battle is not ended, the race is not yet won. Let us add diligence, Peter says, to these other virtues. So they find young maidens after Saul submits himself to this advice from his slave. They find young maidens going out to draw water. They speak of a sacrifice of the people today in the high place. Go up there to the sacrifice and you'll find Samuel, they say. Now this is extremely, perhaps you might say, abused notion here. Did Samuel have the right to worship God in the high place? did the people of his village, did they have the right to worship God in the high places? And some people say, well, where's the ark right now? Is it in the house of God? No. So you have the house of God here. You have, on the other hand, Kiriath-Jerim is where the ark is. Then you have Samuel going in circuit to judge the people, and he's here at his home place. Well, he's a prophet. He can do these extraordinary things. Do you know that's the same argument that the descendants of Israel would later say? Well, you know, Samuel used to worship in the high places. Why can't we? Jacob used to worship in the high places. Why can't we? Our father, Abraham, he built an altar everywhere he went. Don't we read that in the book of Genesis? So I can go back to the old ways. Is that how God saw it? Did he say, well, I approve of this because of your extraordinary circumstances. You don't have to keep my rules. Commentators bend over backwards to justify this man, Samuel. A godly man? Yes. A holy man? Yes. A perfect man? No, not at all. Leviticus 2630, God threatens to destroy these high places. This is what some argue. They'll say, well, see, God didn't forbid the high places till after the days of Samuel. Is that right? No, it's not. In the book of Leviticus, God threatens judgment on both their idols and their high places. Leviticus 2630, their images and their high places would be destroyed. Israel was commanded to destroy all badges of idolatries, all reminders of heathen superstition in Numbers 33, 52, including the high places. The people continued to sacrifice upon these high places into the days of Solomon, 1 Kings 3, 2. And Hezekiah would destroy these high places with other monuments to idolatry in 2 Kings 18.4. Take note then, all men are liars. That's what the Bible tells us. Let God be true and every man, well, partially true, no, a liar. If they speak not according to what God has revealed in his law, we cannot trust the words they're saying. Our faith cannot be in ourselves, our good intentions, our pastors, our magistrates, the Pope, the news media, the founding fathers, even the godly and venerable dead are not our law. God is our lawgiver. Put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend. He shall die to dust returning and his purposes shall end. Now, this is also something to note here. We have two commandments that respect the worship of God. One says, thou shalt have no other gods before me. That's the first commandment. The object of our worship is only to be God. No worship may terminate on a creature or on a manufactured thing that we make. That's the first. The second is, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor offer religious gestures to it. That's the manner of our worship. Notice here, Samuel worships the true God, first commandment, in a way that God has not commanded second commandment. He violates the second but keeps the first. This is very important. Some people, including the papacy, they meld together the first and the second commandments, and they say that there is no second commandment. Why? Well, obviously it condemns their houses of worship, as they call them. sanctuaries and temples, because what do you find on the walls when you go into an Eastern Orthodox or a Roman Catholic church? You find images, both graven, painted, all sorts of representations of God and of saints and this and that and angels and all these things. So they see that second commandment and they say, oops, let's delete that one. And then let's take the 10th commandment and let's divide it in two. And somehow coveting your neighbor's wife and his house are so different that we'll multiply that into two. And let's delete that one about grave and images making or bowing or offering any religious worship to them. But that's not what the Bible does. The Bible recognizes you can worship God in a false way and still worship the true God. That's what Samuel does. Worshiping the true God in a false way. Now to their credit in verse 13, he blesses the sacrifice and then afterward they eat. This is according to the light of nature. We are to give thanks to God. We're to request that he bless the meat that we partake of. This is what they're doing. And when he comes into the city, that is, Saul comes into the city, behold, Samuel came out against him. Exactly at the appointed time of God, here comes Samuel, here comes Saul, they meet each other. Then we have verses 15 through 24, God's revelation to Samuel regarding Saul and his kingship, and Samuel's communicating that to Saul. God whispered in the ear, as a friend whispers secrets in your ear, so God whispered in Samuel's ear. God instructed Samuel to anoint Saul, the purpose of God being declared, his compassion toward his people in verse 16. And now he says, behold the man, that's the one I told you about. Not just in theory that there's a man coming, but now here's the particular man, verse 17, additional revelation. He says to Samuel that this same shall reign over my people. The Vulgate has the word dominate over my people. The Hebrew word means to restrain, as God restrained Sarah from bearing children in Genesis 16.2. As Moses the mediator restrained the plague when Israel murmured against Aaron's rod that blossomed in Numbers 16.50. this man will restrain the people, he will hold them in check, in other words. The Westminster annotations note this, by his authority and government, he shall restrain them from loose liberty and licentious wickedness. What is the purpose of a magistrate? What is God saying here about Saul and his duty to Israel? It is to restrain and punish them that do evil. This is the chief purpose of civil government. Is it there to educate your children? No. Is it there to build roads? No. Is it there to tell you you can't drink milk? No. Is it there to ensure that you can murder your children if you're wicked and godless? No. What is the purpose of civil government but to restrain the wickedness of men? Let us pray and educate. Let us read the word of God and encourage others to do so. Let us bring others under sound and faithful teaching and trust that God in his due time will give us such magistrates who punish and restrain evil rather than encourage it. Saul then draws near to Samuel in the gate, the irony of divine providence. He asks the very man he's looking for, tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. Well, you're talking to the seer, Samuel says. Furthermore, those asses that were lost three days ago, don't worry about that, they're found, verse 20. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Who do they want for king? Well, it's you, that's what he's saying. That's the point of the question. And notice again, Saul's seeming modesty. Verse 21, he's a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel. Hold on, time out. Think about this for a second. Samuel just told you you're going to be king. And you might even have a hereditary succession in your father's house. What is Saul's response? Do you remember the Virgin Mary? Be it done unto me according to thy word was what she said. Why? Because she believed in the promise of God. Does Saul believe in the promise of God? No, he's arguing with God. God just spoke to him through a prophet and he says, no, no. You see, I'm from a small family. You remember our tribe got decimated back. You remember the Levites concubine and they divided up the body and sent it out to the 12 tribes and they destroyed the tribe of Benjamin. He's saying that we're from a small tribe. My family is the smallest from that tribe. He's arguing with the word of God. Does it seem humble to us? Sort of. But you know what it is? It's an inverted pride. It's, I will not listen to God and submit to him, but I have a humble excuse. Oh, truth is so complicated. How can we really know what the word of God says? Doesn't that sound humble? Oh, I can't know. Well, God says things you'd better listen to him and don't pretend humility. That's what he does. He pretends humility. It is a false humility. Let us repent of false modesty of arguing against scripture. Let us submit ourselves to God's word in all of its promises. And yes, in all of its precepts. Saul then is put in the chief place among the guests, verse 22. He's given the chief portion in verse 23. These are preparations for his coronation, for his anointing as king. Then we have the private conversation between Samuel and Saul in verses 25 through 27. It says that Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. Remember where Peter was when he received his vision? on the top of the house, why? Nobody else was there, he could sleep, right? He went up there to sleep. It's a private place, in other words. These private revelations are preparing for the public confirmation, which we'll look at, God willing, in verse, or excuse me, in chapter 10 this evening, if the Lord wills. And thus far, the exposition of 1 Samuel, chapter 9.