Emotional Highs and Lows: 1 Samuel 11:1-8
When our actions are guided by emotion without the balance of reason, we run the risk of living in extremes. Emotions take us from valleys to mountaintops and back to valleys. They are exceptionally useful; emotions help us determine what is worth a response. The problem, however, is when emotions are thoughtlessly applied. Emotions need to be tempered with rational thought to bring a well-rounded character.
The Hebrew people wanted a king for organized defense. The people already demonstrated approval of Saul because he was an imposing figure. It is fitting – and telling – we have a battle story as Saul’s first memoir.
Ammonites surround Jabesh-gilead. The ancient style of warfare and negotiation feels odd to the modern idea of war. In ancient times, the soldiers mustered to battle were the same people who farmed the land and managed the herds. War was not just costly with respect to human lives, but costly with respect to communal existence. When battle is joined, the fields and herds of those who die lose the hands responsible for caring for them. Others in the community must take up the slack or portions of the harvest would be lost. If enough men died, it could cost the entire community their ability to survive. Fighting the wrong battle could end in starvation for the community.
Thus, the Ammonite leader offers terms. It is better to sue for peace, earning a bounty and not risking the lives of his soldiers. It feels very much like robbing your neighbor.
Wisely, the elders of Jabesh-gilead receive the terms and ask for time. Had the Ammonites not threatened to remove the right eyes of the men, Jabesh-gilead may have capitulated on the spot. Since the terms were brutal, it gave the elders a reasonable excuse to request time to consider.
In the meantime, messengers go for help. They eventually come to Saul’s town while Saul is tending the fields. The king doesn’t know what else to do. He hasn’t set up a capital and raised an army. He is the first Hebrew king! When he came in from the field and heard about Jabesh-gilead, the Spirit of the Lord descended upon him and he responded. He mustered the troops of Israel.
Saul responds with incredible emotion. The first time he sets out to muster the Hebrew people, he does so by carving up oxen and sending the pieces out as a warning to anyone who doesn’t respond to the call. This isn’t a sacrifice to God; this is a threat to the people to take his ability to raise an army seriously.
This is leadership under Saul, a man ruled by his emotions. Saul gets results; the nation musters an army of 330,000 fighting men. Still, Saul’s response to the Spirit of the Lord is in making threats and demands. Saul leads in the extremes of emotion. When our actions are guided by emotion without the balance of reason, we run the risk of living in extremes.
