December 3rd

Day 3
1 Samuel 10:17-24

Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them, 'Thus says the Lord, the
God of Israel, "I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians
and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you." But today you have rejected
your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said, "No! but
set a king over us." Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your
clans.'

Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. He
brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot.
Finally he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken
by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. So they inquired again of the Lord, 'Did
the man come here?' and the Lord said, 'See, he has hidden himself among the baggage.' Then
they ran and brought him from there. When he took his stand among the people, he was head and
shoulders taller than any of them. Samuel said to all the people, 'Do you see the one whom the
Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.' And all the people shouted,
'Long live the king!'

Saul hid. Perhaps if he kept out of sight he would be forgotten and his name would be overlooked
in the leadership lottery. Yet if the stories in 1 Samuel 10 are recorded in chronological order, he
already knew what the result would be. Samuel had anointed him as leader over his people and
the prophecies which had been made in that moment to demonstrate Samuel's authority had all
been fulfilled.

Every other man from the various tribes and families would have been uncertain when his name
was considered. Whether they sighed with relief or disappointment when the "no" was revealed,
we'll never know. But hiding didn't work. Saul, son of Kish was identified as God's choice to lead
his people and Saul was brought from his hiding place to stand tall before them.

I wonder; was there a shift of attitude from Saul at that point. Did the cowering "Not me, I can't do
this" change to the proud "I am God's chosen; I can do this!"? Would things have worked out
better if Saul had felt a little less confident; and acknowledged that he would need God's
continued help and guidance if he was to try and lead God's people through the problems ahead?

Prayer
Loving God, we admit that there are situations when it's easier to pretend that we haven't heard
your voice than it is to act or speak, just as there are times when we know what we want to
happen and demand your help. Forgive us for the times when we find it difficult to walk humbly
with you.