The Rise of Saul

And so it was.

Saul turned from Samuel to go home, to be with his father, and… everything fell into place in his heart. Everything Samuel had said about God’s faithfulness. Everything Samuel had said about God sending a deliverer even for nothings like Saul.

And it’s like something slid into place, and… he was different. Changed. Like he had been a lump of clay, and a master craftsman was beginning to shape him.

Saul chewed on his new thoughts as he and the servant headed back home. First, they found some men who said that the donkeys had been found and returned home.

The servant shrugged. “Well, the seer was right, wasn’t he? Glad I paid him.”

Saul merely thought.

And then they met some people with food, and the people handed over two loaves of bread… just like Samuel had predicted. And Saul kept it to himself, but something was bubbling inside him. What kind of God would tell a nothing like him the future? What kind of God would take time for a nothing like him?

And then they met the prophets. The prophets sang praises to the LORD, the God of Samuel.

And Saul couldn’t keep it in. Who wouldn’t praise a God like that? He joined in the singing.

The servant stared at him. “Um, Saul? Saul? You’re, um, you’re different. Something’s changed!” And he just shook his head. “Is Saul among the prophets, too? This guy? This tall nothing?”

And Saul? He felt awkward, sure. He hated being the center of attention. But… but it was right to praise this God.

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Eventually, he and the servant got home, and Saul’s uncle asked, “Where have you been?”

Saul shrugged. “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to the seer.”

“Oh? Really? What did he say?”

Saul felt his shoulders tense. “Not much. Just that the donkeys were home again.”

Saul didn’t share the prophecy. He didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel had said about becoming king. He didn’t say anything about the anointing or the praising. Saul was just a nothing, after all.

For a few days, everything was normal. Saul was his nothing-self. He worked the family’s land like always.

And then the summons came. Samuel, the seer, called all of Israel to gather at Mizpah.

He was going to name the king.

“I think I’ll stay behind,” Saul said. “Someone’s gotta take care of the land.”

His father raised an eyebrow. “Saul. All Israel’s been summoned. Besides, don’t you want to know who the new king’ll be? Who you’re going to serve?”

Saul shook his head. “Not really.”

His father frowned.

Saul came with.

---

And Samuel gathered all the people to him and called out, “This what the LORD, your God, says! Remember? I brought you up out of Egypt. Slaves no more; now you were my people! I delivered you from enemy after enemy.” Samuel shook his head. “And now? Now you’re rejecting him, aren’t you? The God who saves you out of calamities and distresses. You want a king? Well, present yourselves! We’ll see what kind of king you get!”

We’ll see what kind of king.

And Saul understood why he was chosen. Because he was Israel’s punishment.

Look at how good God had been to them, and they rejected him? Saul was going to be their punishment! And they’d all know it. They’d see him for the nothing he was. They’d see he wasn’t worth anything.

Better to hide.

So Saul backed away from the crowd as Samuel began the selection process. He went back to the donkeys that had carried the tents and the food. He made himself busy there.

And then the crowd surged – and people came running back toward the donkeys.

“There he is!”

“That’s gotta be him – look how tall he is!”

“Come on, man! It’s you!”

And they mobbed Saul, and they grabbed him, and they pulled him, and soon he stood before the vast crowd. Samuel, who stood a foot shorter than Saul, seemed to tower over him.

And Samuel proclaimed, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There’s no one else like him!”

And the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

And Saul shook. They wanted him to be king? How? Why?

It was because they didn’t know who he really was.

They must never, ever know. Hide it.

Saul would have to prove he was good enough. He wouldn’t be the failure. Not anymore. He wouldn’t be nothing.

He would make himself enough.

Some of the people seemed to see, though. They shook their heads. “How can this fellow save us?”

But Saul did nothing against them. How could he fight against someone who was right?

Instead, Saul went home. With followers. With people that the LORD himself had touched to follow Saul, the first king of Israel.

The first broken king.

This story is based on I Samuel 10:9-27.