Enter Saul: 1 Samuel 9: 1-10
To impact the world requires forward thinking, not reactionary responding. It is always easier to deal with life when we anticipate. Anticipation gives an opportunity to plan responses before they are needed. Forward thinking people have an opportunity to shape the world around them.
Saul, the man who becomes the first king of Israel, is a handsome young man. He is impressively tall. He cares about his father’s concerns. He is willing to go out and work and try and resolve issues concerning his father. As far as anyone could tell from the outside, he is a genuinely good guy.
The Hebrew people wanted to be like the other nations, and the nation of immediate concern is Philistia. The most popular Philistine is Goliath. Goliath was also an impressive physical specimen, noted particularly for his height and strength. If the Hebrew people wanted to be like other nations, Saul is a great choice.
There is one significant problem with Saul. Saul doesn’t seem genuinely aware. He feels mentally clueless.
Samuel was the judge over the Hebrew people. He was their leader. When a legal issue needed resolution, Samuel was the man to whom elders turned. When an enemy came against the Hebrew people, Samuel was the man in charge of mustering the fighting forces and outlying God’s plan for battle. Samuel also took an active role in leading the spirituality of the people.
It’s not like Samuel was an obscure figure. For all intents and purposes, he was king before there was a king. He lived in Ramah, but he also toured the Hebrew lands to be more generally accessible.
Saul doesn’t seem to know much about Samuel. They are practically at Samuel’s door and Saul suggests returning home so his father doesn’t worry about them. To give Saul the benefit of the doubt, let’s hope Saul considered the loss of his father’s donkey too small of a problem to bring to Samuel’s attention.
The problem with that proposition, though, is when the servant suggests going to see Samuel, Saul continues to remain clueless. Reading through the verses it reads very much like Saul is unaware of Samuel, even being content thinking of him as a seer. It is the servant who explains everything to Saul. The servant comes up with an offering to give Samuel for his time. While Saul appears to be a great physical specimen and even has a heart capable of feeling compassion for his father’s concerns, he is not clued in to the bigger picture. He’s not tied into the world around him – especially in spiritual matters.
This doesn’t make Saul a bad person, but it does point to a character flaw. Saul is reactionary. He’s willing to work, but it is in response to a stimulus. He doesn’t proactively familiarize himself with life’s bigger picture until the need presents itself, at which point it is too late. To impact the world requires forward thinking, not reactionary responding.
