Samuel, Saul and David

       After Samuel anointed Saul as King over God’s people, he summoned all of God’s people to Mizpah and reminded them of all that God has done for them and their ingratitude to the Lord. In their desire for the king of their choice, they had forgotten the Lord. Samuel tells the Israelites that they have rejected the Lord who got them out of all their calamities and distresses. “And you have said, “No, set a king over us.” 1 Samuel 10:19 God had always been their King! God’s chosen king was to come from the tribe of Judah and given through God’s love. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and given through God’s anger.

God Sovereign Will and Permissive Will

God has a permissive will and a sovereign will. God’s sovereign will won't change and cannot be thwarted. David was God’s sovereign will because Jesus would descend in the flesh from the seed of David. God’s permissive will means that He will permit something to take place even though it is not His sovereign will or what is best for us. Saul becoming king was God’s permissive will because His people insisted that Saul be their king. If we insist in having our way, God will sometimes let us have it to teach us something. He doesn’t abandon us but will walk with us through the consequences of our choice. There no doubt will be some suffering involved.

God must have told Moses that when His people entered His land of promise, they would insist upon having a king like the other nations around them. Moses said in Deuteronomy 17:14-15: When you enter the Land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us, be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.” Moses warned God's people to be sure to choose God's choice of king.

Even though God’s people chose Saul, in God’s grace and mercy for His people, He anointed Saul with the power of the Holy Spirit and changed his heart in the beginning of his reign, so he would be equipped to rule and reign over God’s beloved people. Unfortunately, God who is all-knowing new that Saul would fail because God knew Saul’s heart and character.

God’s will is what He wants for those who love and believe in Him, but He does not force it upon us. We are to do it freely by choice because we love Him. It is God’s will that is best for us!

Saul is to rule God’s people not according to his own will but according to the will of God. Saul began with the power of God’s Holy Spirit but ended in suicide. Saul’s decline was slow and steady.

The Rights and Privileges of Kingship

          Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. 1 Samuel 10:25

·        They must appoint the King God chooses. V15

·        He must come from among their own brothers. V15

·   They are not to place a foreigner over them – one who is not an Israelite. V115

·   The king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them. “You are not to go back that way again.” V16 God had taken them out of bondage in Egypt. They are not to go back to the land of bondage again. Horses were used in warfare. God wanted His people to live in the Land in peace.

·        The king must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.

·        He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

·   The king is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of the Law and read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees. V 18-19

·        He (the king) must not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. V20

The result of doing the above-mentioned is “he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.” Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of God's Eternal King descended through the line of David in His flesh. Jesus indeed came from the line of His own brethren. Jesus had no horses as He walked the earth because He came as the King of salvation and peace. He didn’t collect silver and gold. Instead He brought treasures from heaven. Jesus did not turn from the Law to the right or to the left. He obeyed it perfectly for all and fulfilled it. He will rule and reign over His people forever.

Saul reigned over Israel for 40 years. Unfortunately, God rejected Saul’s kingdom because of His disobedience to God. David, however, was promised an eternal kingdom not because David was perfect but that he loved God and when he sinned so egregiously, he humbled himself and fell upon his face before God asking Him to forgive him and create a clean heart within him. David had a deep love for God and a close, personal relationship with Him. He understood God’s mercy, grace and love and pleaded to it. He also had a deep love for God’s Word. He wrote the longest Psalm about the Word of God. (Psalm 119) He had a passion and hunger for God and His Word which contrasted with Saul and his desire to look good to the people. David’s desire to please God was greater than his desire to attain greatness in the eyes of people. David endured tribulation and suffering through Saul for years. David would not touch God's anointed one. He did not sit on the throne until after Saul’s death. David’s faith and commitment to God gave him great courage and he had many victories for God and His people. 

Oh, that we would all be like David in His commitment and passion for God and His Word.