Let's pray for God's blessing on our time in his word now, please. Heavenly Father, it's such a wonderful joy and a privilege to have the whole Bible in our own language in front of us here. So help us be attentive to what it says. May we treasure his truths in our hearts, lay them up there, and practice them in our lives, we ask in Jesus's name. Amen. Please take your Bibles and turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9. 1 Samuel chapter 9. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, chapter nine. And I'm gonna read the whole chapter, and that'll be our scripture reading and our sermon text for this morning. 1 Samuel, chapter nine, verse one. Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekoroth, the son of Aphia, the son of Abedjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man. And there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel. From his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, take now with you one of the servants and arise, go search for the donkeys. He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. When they came to the land of Ziph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, come and let us return, or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us. He said to him, behold, now there is a man of God in the city, and the man is held in honor. All that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out. And Saul said to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is no present to bring the man of God. What do we have? The servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way. Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, Come and let us go to the seer. For he who is called a prophet now was formerly called a seer. And Saul said to his servant, Well said, come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the slope to the city, they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, is the seer here? They answered and said to them, he is, and see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today. 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 until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Afterward, those who are invited will eat. Now, therefore, go up, for you will find him at once. So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place. Now a day before Saul's coming, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel, saying, About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel, and he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded my people, because their cry has come to me. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you, this one shall rule over my people. And Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, Please tell me where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. "'Go up before me to the high place, "'for you shall eat with me today. "'And in the morning I will let you go, "'and will tell you all that is in your mind. "'As for your donkeys, which 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 your father's household?' "'Saul replied, "'Am I not a Benjamite of the smallest "'of the tribes of Israel? "'Am I family the least of all the families "'of the tribe of Benjamin? "'Why then do you speak to me in this way?' And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men. And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said to you, set it aside. Then the cook took up the leg with what was on it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, here is what has been reserved. Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, since I said I have invited the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day. When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. And they arose early, and at daybreak, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, get up, that I may send you away. So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now that I may proclaim the word of God to you. May God bless the reading of his holy word. Before we walk through chapter nine, let us take a moment to see where we have been. Notice in verse one of chapter nine there, that it marks the beginning of a new section of 1 Samuel. You see the opening words of verse one? Now there was a certain man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish. And of course, Kish is King Saul's father. Now I want you to go back in your Bible to chapter one. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter one. I just want to kind of give you some context. So we don't miss the forest, the larger forest of 1 Samuel for the trees of chapter 9. Go back to chapter 1. Look at the opening verses of the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 1, verse 1. Now there was a certain man from Ramatham, Zophim, and it goes on to say, and his name was Elkanah. And of course, who was Elkanah? The father of Samuel. So 1 Samuel 1-8 is really a unit about where Samuel comes from. And then chapters 9-30 of 1 Samuel is really about the reign of King Saul. And both sections start with those men's fathers. So Elkanah in chapter 1 and then Kish in chapter 9. In chapter two, as you may recall, look at chapter two, your Bible probably has little headings in it that are very helpful. Chapter two is the narrative about Hannah's, excuse me. Chapter one is about Hannah's anguished prayer because of her barrenness and her plea to God. And she finally has a son, has Samuel, and then dedicates him to God and drops him off at the temple. Now, chapter two, as you see there in your Bible, chapter two is Hannah's song of thanksgiving for her son. And then a description of Eli's corrupt house and his two evil sons, Hophni and Phinehas. A man of God tells Eli that terrible judgment is coming upon him and his house for all their wickedness. And then look at chapter 3, see chapter 3, is the call of Samuel to be a prophet. Samuel's first prophetic word from God was a very hard one. God basically tells Samuel, you need to tell your mentor, your father in the faith, Eli, that I'm going to kill him and his whole family for everything that he's done. And the first time Samuel gets this word from God, Eli can tell, well, this doesn't look good for me. What did he tell you? And you better tell me everything. And Samuel tells him everything that's going to happen. Chapter 4. Turn to chapter 4. It's about the judgment against Eli's house, the Philistines' two huge military victories over Israel, the death of Eli, the death of Eli's two sons, and then the taking of the Ark of the Covenant into Philistia. Now move on to chapter 5. See chapter 5? is how the Ark's presence in Philistia devastated the country with the tumors and the rats and the whole nation's getting sick. And so they send it back to Israel. And then remember chapter six, unfortunately, where it ends up in Israel, they don't know what to do with the Ark either. And it ends up killing a whole bunch of them too. And then move on to chapter seven. Chapter 7 records how the Ark ends up in a Gibeonite town. It really isn't even Israelite people that know what to do with the Ark, but Kiriath-Jerim is where the Gibeonites lived, and they take the Ark and they hide it in a house out of view for 20 years. But chapter 7 is pivotal. for the moment that Israel finally comes to the conclusion that they need to abandon Baal worship and the worship of the Ashtoreth, the gods they have been worshipping for generations during the period of Judges. Now they finally, finally are going to repent of this. And it says that they put away the bales and they put away the ashtoreth and they decided we're going to serve Yahweh alone. And then God gives them for the first time a great military victory without even a battle. In verse 10 of chapter 7, you see it? The last sentence of verse 10, but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them so that they were routed before Israel. So there you have this great change of heart, finally, after all of their hardship and all of God's judgments against them, they finally say, we're gonna serve God alone. And then chapter eight, Israel decides what? We want a king. We want a king to oversee us. We want a king to fight all of our battles for us, just like the nations around us. Isn't that amazing? The first time they won a battle, they didn't have a king and they didn't even have an army. God fought the battle for them, but they decide, man, it just looks so cool to have a king. So we want to have a king just like all the nations around us. God tells Samuel, eh, give them what they want. And Samuel explains to them the behavior of the king. You see verse 11 there of chapter eight, actually verse 11, verse 12, verse 13, verse 14, verse 15, verse 16, verse 17. The king will take a point, take, take, take, take and take, and then you, verse 18, will cry. And the people are moved by none of this. They say, sounds great, let's do it. So let's have a king. And that brings us to chapter nine. Here's the king you guys wanted. Here he is. You guys want a king, just like the world. Here's your man, the son of Kish, a king to judge us like all the other nations. So let's walk through the passage. Got a lot of texts to get through here. And there's a lot of interesting clues about the kind of man that Saul is gonna turn out to be here. So look at verses one and two. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekaroth, the son of Aphia, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man. And there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel. From his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people. Okay, stop there. So just like 1 Samuel is about Samuel, and therefore starts with Samuel's father, Elkanah, this section, which is about Saul, begins with a record of Saul's father, Kish. The thing to note about his genealogical line here is that there is not a single distinguished person of note in that list. and the tribe of Benjamin was the smallest tribe in the whole country. As far as the sorts of qualities that the people of Israel longed for, Saul had them in spades. He was physically and visually very impressive. When foolish people want rulers, this is typically what they desire, choice and handsome along with incompetence. Saul was an imposing figure. He was the son of a mighty man of valor. And we know that he was a man of valor himself. Handsome, he was a lot taller than everybody around him. If you had met a large group of young Israelite men along with Saul, he would have been the one that you remembered. He was memorable. Ralph Davis, the commentator said, people would have voted him Mr. Israel, had there been such a contest. The Holy Spirit says there in verse two, Saul was a choice and handsome man. Okay, it's pretty rare in Scripture that the Holy Spirit takes the time to say someone was really good looking. So if he actually says this, I mean, Saul must have really been an impressive looking man. He was more handsome than any person among the sons of Israel. Saul looks the part. He's a big, healthy, strong, choice, handsome, imposing guy. Now look at how this starts here. Let me just prepare you for it here. The way that Samuel meets Saul is fairly mundane. It just comes with the normal day in and day out headaches of farm life. Those donkeys wandered off again. And so that's where we start the story. Look at verse three through five. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, take now with you one of the servants, arise and go search for the donkeys. He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. When they came to the land of Ziph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, come and let us return or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us. Now, obviously, in God's providence, Zeph is where Samuel lived. Samuel lived in the land of Zeph. And in their quest for the donkeys, God brought them exactly to where Saul needed to be. Isn't that encouraging for you to know? in the laundry, the dish washing, the diaper changing. There's a lot of that going on lately, right? Emergency trips to the Dollar General store to get band-aids, to get cough drops and household chores. The hand of God is guiding your steps. I know it may not seem like he's doing that, but he really is. He's executing his glorious plan in the laundry, in the dishes. Certainly Saul had no idea where this quest for lost donkeys was going to lead him. As you glorify God and doing the seemingly mundane tasks that he has called you to do, I want to encourage you, don't believe for a second that you're living a second-class Christian life. God is in the ordinary, cooking a really good meal for your family. God is glorified by that. Changing a diaper so the child doesn't get diaper rash. That is loving your neighbor. God smiles upon that. Paying your bills on time. Folding the laundry. Reading your Bible. Praying. Talking to people about the truth of God and the glorious gospel. doing family worship in your home consistently, looking for ways to encourage and show love and kindness to your spouse, to your church family, to your neighbors that you live near. These are all things that glorify God and you are in the center of God's will when you do them. For Saul, obeying his father and giving himself wholeheartedly to finding the family donkeys, that was his mission at the time. Kids, when your parents tell you to go do something, go do it. That's not an invitation to a debate. Go do it. Brush your teeth and go to bed. You obey right away, all the way with a happy heart. Saul doesn't say, dad, have someone else go get the donkeys. He doesn't fuss and argue with them. He was actually a dutiful son. When you're told to do your chores by your parents, obey right away, all the way with a happy, cheerful heart. God is glorified and pleased when we obey the authorities in our life. If your father tells you to find the missing donkeys, you need to know that you are doing God's will and trying to find them. And Saul realizes, hey, Man, we've traveled to this place and then we're in this place and this place. We're getting pretty far away and we don't see any sign of the donkeys and now he's worried that dad's gonna send people looking for us and so we should probably go home. And that speaks well of his character, doesn't it? It speaks well of Saul's character. He doesn't want his father to be worried about him, and that's a good thing. And then the servant, who really kind of seems to be the leader of this expedition, the servant, verses 6 and 7, look at what happens next here. He said to him, the servant says to Saul, behold, now there's a man of God in this city. And the man is held in honor. All that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out. Verse seven, and Saul said to his servant, but behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is no present to bring the man of God. What do we have? Now it's significant to note here that the servant, the servant knows who Samuel is. The servant knows who Samuel is, but Saul apparently doesn't. It was also not Saul's idea, but the servant's idea to seek out the man of God, Samuel. He knows, hey, we're in Zuth. That's where the greatest prophet in our whole country lives. Let's go find him. And he can help us find the donkeys that we've lost. Now folks, Saul's indifference to spiritual matters, his indifference to who the greatest prophet is at the time, the greatest teacher of God's word is at the time, that's going to turn out to be significant. Spiritual things seem to hold very little interest to this man, Saul, the son of Kish. And this is going to turn out to be fatal to him. Why doesn't the future first king of Israel, why doesn't he know where they are in Zeph, where Samuel lives? Why doesn't Saul suggest this? This man held in honor, this great prophet of God, this person whose every word comes true. Did you notice? The servant knows all about Samuel. There's a man of God here. Everything the guy says comes true. Let's go ask him. Maybe Saul had been too focused on becoming humanly impressive and had neglected his soul's concerns. As some commentators think, this is a clue to this. Remember what God looks at? What does God care about? The heart. What impresses us very often does not impress God in the least. What we commend in people, what we find great about them, often means nothing to God. And His opinion and commendation are all that matter. That should be all that matters to us. We should not care about being impressive to other people. Look at my credentials. Look at my accomplishments. Look at my wealth. Look at what I have done. What God looks at is godliness, integrity, faithfulness to Him. 1 Samuel 3.20, remember this? It says that way back then when Samuel first is established as a prophet, all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. From Dan to Beersheba, from top to bottom, everybody in Israel knew who Samuel was. But Saul doesn't. Saul doesn't know. 1 Samuel 4.1, the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Why doesn't Saul know who this is? Saul's ignorance is seen later in verse 18. It's almost comical. He ends up bumping right into Samuel. Hey, can you tell me where to find the seer? Is Samuel standing right in front of him? Saul's spiritual weakness is also gonna be seen clearly in his misjudging the godly motives of his own son, Jonathan, and in his seeing David's faithfulness to the Lord as a great threat to him, as a threat to his kingdom and his glory. But it does speak well of Saul's character that he did feel obligated to bring the man of God a gift of some kind or money of some kind if they're gonna seek his services. At this time, if a traveler appeared unannounced before an important person, they would always bring them a gift of some kind. And Saul is saying, we gotta have something to give him. Look at verses eight through 10. The servant answered Saul again and said, behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us our way. Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, come and let us go to the seer. For he who was called a prophet now was formerly called a seer. Then Saul said to his servant, well said, come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. Okay, stop there. While Saul was imposing and impressive to the eye, the choicest, most handsome man in Israel, a head taller than everybody in the whole area, he was no spiritual leader. Throughout chapter nine and then chapter 10, as we're going to see, this point is made very clear. So many of the great leaders of the past, a lot of commentators point this out, had been shepherds. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses. They were no doubt constantly tracking down and finding farm animals, lost farm animals like donkeys. Saul's inability to do this does not bode well for his future role as the king. He's not a very good shepherd. And the king is gonna be the primary shepherd of the whole country. Some have pointed out that Saul's compulsion to bring money to the man of God may speak to an underlying idea in Saul's mind that religious people were to be hired with money. That religion is just another way of doing business, another way of making money. Remember Simon Magus in the book of Acts. Let me, can I buy this ability to give people the Holy Spirit? And Peter says to him, all full of iniquity and wickedness, your money perish with you. Remember also Saul's in charge of this expedition to find the donkeys, but it's clear that his nameless servant here, we don't even know who this is. He's the one doing the leading. The servant, not Saul. He wants to inquire of Samuel, the great prophet of Israel. And Saul just seems to be along for the ride. Look, you see verse nine there again. The servant says, come, let us go to the seer. In verse 10, Saul says, well said, come, let us go. Who's leading this expedition? The son of Kish or his servant? The servant seems to be the one that has his mind in the right place. Saul's just kind of flowing along there. Saul was about ready to call it quits and go home. So his dad would not be worried about him. But then the servant produces a coin. So they head to the seer, Samuel, to pay him, to tell them where the donkeys have gone. Now look at verses 11 through 14. As they went up the slope to the city, they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, is the seer here? They answered them and said, He is, see, He is ahead of you. Hurry now, for He is coming to the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today. 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 until He comes, because He must bless the sacrifice. Afterward, those who are invited will eat. Now, therefore, go up, for you will find Him at once. So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place. So this is good news for Saul and the servant. As they go up, they're sure to run into Samuel, which they do. And God had prepared Samuel for this meeting. God told him all about it. I'm gonna bring a man to you. This is the guy that you're gonna anoint. He's gonna be the prince and commander of Israel to deliver them from the Philistines. So Samuel knows exactly what's going on, but Saul does not when they first bump into each other here. Look at verse 15 and 16. Now a day before Saul's coming, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel, saying, About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel, and he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have regarded my people, because their cry has come to me. More on that here in just a little bit. Samuel knows this choice, handsome, very tall man is gonna be the first king of Israel and that he will deliver. He will deliver Israel from the growing oppression of the Philistines upon them. Now look at verses 17 and 18. Here it is. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, behold, the man of whom I spoke to you, this one shall rule over my people. Now we're going to talk about the Hebrew verb there that's translated rule is not the normal word that's translated rule. And we're going to talk about what it means here in just a little bit. Verse 18, then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, please tell me where the seer's house is. Now, every step here, every step all the parties took, Saul, his servant, the young women, Samuel himself, and even the steps of the donkeys was ordained and planned meticulously by God to bring about this meeting at this precise moment. And it's, as I said, rather comical. Saul asks Samuel where Samuel lives. because he wants to meet him. Those young women just told Saul, you're about to run into him on the way up to high place. I'm not sure why this was such a surprise to Saul. Look at verse 19 to 21. Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place for you shall eat with me today. And in the morning, I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys, which 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 household? And Saul replied, am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family, the least of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way? Okay, several things I wanna point out about what's going on here. Indeed, this was the man Samuel was to anoint as prince or commander over Israel to rule them and save them from the hand of the Philistines. There is no such thing as chance or coincidence. You see God in control of all the meticulous little details that lead up to this meeting. And we need to see that same meticulous control in our own lives. There's no such thing as chance. There's only divine providence. That's why we don't do pot Lux, we do pot Providence, right? Because God has determined what you're eating that day. The seafaring enemies of God, the Philistines, although they've been badly defeated earlier in Samuel's judgeship, they had clearly started to regain their military ascendancy and they're starting to torment Israel again. And so the people are doing what? They're crying out again. They're crying out to God. And Saul was to begin his reign as king as a commander and a deliverer from Philistine oppression. And as we're gonna see in Saul's early reign, he was very successful at that. Saul has great early success in his reign in beating back the Philistine oppressors. And it's wonderful to notice that no matter how many times Israel angered God and came under his disciplinary hand, God still heard their cries and their pain. Even in the midst of God punishing Israel in the book of Judges, at one point, God raises up oppressors and they are punishing and oppressing Israel for all of their idolatry. And the people are crying out for deliverance. And it says in Judges 10, 16, so they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord and his soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. God gets to where he can endure to see us suffer any longer. What a God we serve and are redeemed by. Even when he's disciplining us and taking away our assurance and he's bringing the whip down on us because we're rebelling against him and being sinful, even then it grieves his heart to see us suffer. even when we're taking that fatherly discipline. When God wipes away the tears on the faces of his people, when he brings them into heaven, that will be the most tender and gentle, kind-hearted, loving gesture imaginable. It'll be a permanent wiping away of tears, a permanent wiping away of the bags of sleeplessness from under our eyes, and we'll never suffer and never experience pain or sorrow again. God longs for that day the same way we do. He longs to bring us into that kingdom and to remove sadness and sorrow from us forever. And I'll tell you, nothing is harder than seeing your own children suffer. God grieves and his word tells us that he even gets to where he can't endure it any longer. God takes no pleasure in the pain of his children, but he disciplines them and he does so mercifully because he loves us so much. Look back real quick at the last sentence of verse 16. You see verse 16 there in your Bible? First Samuel 9, 16. There again, listen to what God told Samuel, what God told Samuel in the midst of Israel rejecting God as their king. For I have regarded my people because their cry has come to me. And think about that. Even though they're rejecting him as being their king. We want a human king. We want a choice. We want Mr. Israel to be our king. Even though he's totally incompetent, we want someone that looks better. We want someone that looks good. We want to be like the nations. We want to fit in with the crowd. And God still hears their cries. God still loves them. Here they're asking for a king and God still has regard for their pain. Here they're desiring to be worldly, and God still has compassion, mercy, kindness toward them. And so I wanna ask myself, ask all of you, who has a God like us? Even among the false deities of man's religions, is there any God like our God? His love and His mercy, they're not merely spoken. His love and His kindness, they're not just theological concepts. They were demonstrated in real history in that God-man, Jesus Christ, who left footprints in the sand on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, who touched lepers and healed them completely and instantly. who gave sight to the blind, who raised up paralytics so they could walk and leap and jump and praise God, who held children in his arms and blessed them, who restored Peter after he three times denied he even knew his name, doing it with divine oaths and curses flowing out of his filthy mouth. Jesus who carried a cross which should have been ours while our mocking voices called out among the scoffers who shed his blood and died in our stead and in our place to redeem us from the very lawless deeds sins and iniquities and transgressions which held him on the cross. The love of God is a demonstrated glorious fact. It's demonstrated in that while we were still sinners, still in rebellion, still asking for a human king, still wanting to be worldly, He died for us. He loved us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. Israel doesn't want God to rule over them. We want an incompetent, unspiritual, handsome choice, worldly man with very little interest in godliness, if any at all, instead of you. And God still hears their cries and has compassion on them. Man can't even make up a God like this. Israel's old enemies, the Philistines, they're gaining control over them. They're oppressing them. Again, God hears their cries. He regards their cries again. God's faithfulness to his covenant of grace, to his people, it is utterly relentless. God's love is the most unstoppable force in the universe. How many times did Israel reject God and sin against them? How many times do true believers sometimes do the same, but God will not relent with them. He will not cast away his people. He saves his own from their sins because he loves them with an everlasting love. Commentator Ralph Davis said this, these foolish stubborn people do not cease to be the objects of Yahweh's compassions. If you are a child of God, you rejoice to see that your sin does not dry up the fountains of God's compassions, that his pity refuses to let go of his people." End quote. Isn't that encouraging? Now Saul would be a means in the end of disciplining Israel. Saul's reign as king for 40 years would be God disciplining them for their sins. In verse 17 there, it translates that Hebrew verb with rule. Saul will rule over my people in verse 17. You see it? But the verb there, as I said, it's not melech. It's not the normal word for king and the verb to rule over. It's the verb ya'azar in Hebrew, which literally means restrain, close up, retain, shut, withhold, or detain. It's almost like he's saying he will be the one not to rule over my people. He's going to be the one to imprison my people. He's going to be a hindrance to them. He is going to retain them, to restrain, to shut them up, to withhold them. Robert Bergen and other commentators said this about that verb. The Lord had determined to use Saul's career as a means of punishing the nation. As he governed Israel, his policies and behavior would hinder the welfare of the nation and act as a sort of barrier separating Israel from God's best for them. I think about how much money, how much of the nation's money Saul ends up spending trying to kill David. The priests, dozens of priests murdered by agents of King Saul because they helped David. Saul was going to be a menace to this country. He's gonna start out strong. He's gonna start out great. He's gonna give them military victories. But as his jealousy begins to grow, as he disobeys the direct commandments of God, as he disobeys the Old Testament law, as he discards what Samuel tells him in the name of the Lord to do, his reign is gonna become a prison for Israel. And by the time he's done, I mean, it's a terrible way. We all know the end of the story, right? King Saul gets badly injured in battle, and what does he end up doing? He commits suicide. And Israel, no better off because of him. Think about your life. I don't care what's going on in your life, where you've been, what you're up to lately. You're going to leave a legacy behind. one way or the other. Your life has a discipling impact on the people that know you, the people around you. What's your legacy gonna be? Saul's legacy is that his name has rotten. His name has rot over time. All right, look at the last block of text there in the passage, verse 22 to 27. And Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about 30 men. Samuel said to the cook, bring the portion that I gave you concerning which I said to you, set it aside. And the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, here is what has been reserved, set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, since I said I have invited my people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day, verse 25. When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof, and they arose early. And at daybreak, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, get up that I may send you away. So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went into the street. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, say to the servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on, but you remain standing now that I may proclaim the word of God to you. Okay, stop there, obviously. Saul was given tremendous honor by Samuel. In the next chapter, Samuel is going to privately anoint Saul as king. And the thing about being anointed in this way, God is going to show Saul, you are under God's authority. You are God's anointed. You need to obey him and you need to listen to me. That's what he's telling him. And God did the choosing of this king and the king has got to be loyal to God. The king has got to love God's law, always follow the word of God to the prophet Samuel without question, without hesitation, without qualification. Remember Deuteronomy 17, what were all the Israelite kings supposed to do? Make a handwritten copy of the law and keep it with you and read it every single day. So the kings of Israel had to do their devotions every day from a handwritten copy of God's law. Now, just some concluding thoughts about this chapter. Israel demanded a king. Remember that? They did not request a king. They did not ask for a king. They dictated their plan to Samuel. Appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations. Remember that rather frightening response that God gives to Samuel when Samuel was very displeased by this. Samuel was very upset that they suddenly decided they wanted a king. In 1 Samuel 8, 7, God says to him, listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you. This is what they wanted. God gives them their request. And sometimes God gives people what they desire in an effort to show them that what they desired was wrong. Instead of being teachable and listening to good instruction, some people in this world, I know there's none here, but some people in this world have to learn everything the hard way. Some can only learn that touching fire will burn you by touching it. A good child will simply listen to their loving parents when they tell Johnny or Susie or whoever, don't reach out and touch the fire, it will burn you. But if a child's determined enough, they will touch the fire and they will get burned. But aren't things better if you're just teachable? Aren't things better if you just listen? If you're just submissive to God, submissive to your parents, submissive to the authorities in your life? For Israel at this time, God basically tells them, behold your king, here he is. He's about to be presented to the people of Israel. He's a big, handsome, burly looking, worldly guy, Mr. Israel, the most handsome guy in the land. Not a more handsome man in the whole land of Israel. He's not overly spiritual. He's not much of a leader. He's not a great shepherd. He can't find lost donkeys. But he's pleasant to look at and he's physically impressive, isn't he? What a contrast Saul is as king to Jesus, our king. Saul and Jesus both come to the primary place of worship in the world. They come to the primary place of worship in the world in their days. Jesus comes riding on a donkey and Saul can't even find his. A donkey was a royal symbol of one who brings peace. Outwardly, Saul was great, but fleshly, impressiveness, good looks, a choice man, a head taller than everybody. Jesus looks just the opposite. He comes in humility and poverty, no physical attractiveness at all. but with a heart of sinless perfection and devotion to God, so different from King Saul. And Saul's going to show that he doesn't care very much at all about righteousness or about obeying God or His laws. To Jesus, righteousness was everything. He came to fulfill all righteousness. He was born under the law to redeem those under the law. He resists temptation to achieve righteousness. His very food, he said, was to do the will of Him who sent me. And throughout his reign, King Saul is gonna stumble and he's gonna fall over and over again over God's commandments, over direct orders from God through Samuel. He's gonna keep getting it wrong and keep modifying the commandments and keep saying, well, I sorta did the will of God here. I sorta did what I was told to do. But obedience to God is not very high on Saul's list of priorities. The man just doesn't care. Jesus, by contrast, would always obey. Indeed, Jesus never did or said anything but what his father sent him to do. Jesus said that unless it is something he sees the father doing, I do. For whatever the father does, these things the son does in like manner. Saul came to Israel to be king with great uncertainty about himself, with a lot of sin in his heart and on his back. The prophecy about Jesus coming as king, Zechariah 9, 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you righteous and having salvation. And that's really the opposite of Saul. He's not righteous and he does not have salvation. Gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus is the true King who brings and establishes righteousness on the earth and grants eternal life to all who embrace Him as their Savior. That glorious offer of eternal life, it goes out from Jesus to the whole world. Anyone who lays hold of Jesus and comes to Jesus will be saved. That's God's promise. Saul and so many other Israelite Kings, they would take, take, appoint, take, take, take, and take from the people. They would oppress and hurt many. Even David, who's seen as one of the greatest of Israelite Kings, even he would take another man's wife, another man's life, and destroy many people in his own sinful lusts. But the true King, the King of Kings, Jesus would give his life. or ransom for many. Jesus would lay down his life, give his life and give eternal riches, forgiveness, salvation to everyone who comes to him to be saved from their sins. Jesus is the ultimate giver, not a taker. In fact, he would describe it to Nicodemus this way, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For in this way, God loved the world. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The apostle Peter, after he was restored by Jesus, after his triple denial, he went on to become a mighty and a bold preacher of the gospel of his savior. And when he was brought before the council and answered the high priest question, did we not strictly command you to teach him this name? Peter said, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus who you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior. to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Saul would only be a picture, just like all the other Israelite kings were pictures of the true king, who would be a giver, not a taker, a liberator, not an oppressor. Service to Jesus is never a burden. He is not a burdensome ruler to us. It's always a joy to serve him. And I'm going to close with Jesus's unqualified offer to the whole world. Matthew 11, 28, come to me, he says, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I don't hinder, enslave, oppress anyone. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. No matter who is ruling the nations of this world, this is the king that the children of God love to serve and love to believe as their own. This is the king who joyfully and freely gives forgiveness, justification, adoption, and eternal life to all who embrace him as their king and their savior. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the true king. King Saul would have a tumultuous reign, would start out strong and end so badly. as did the majority of Israelite kings, did not reign well and were wicked. We thank you for the high watermarks among them. We do thank you for David and for Hezekiah, Josiah, for others that were godly. But Lord, help us to learn from these narratives what we need to learn about people's character, to be admonished by them, to imitate what they got right, and to put aside what they did wrong, that we would live godly lives and that our lives would glorify you in the way we live them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.