Question: Was king Saul chosen by the people, or chosen by the Lord (1 Sam. 8:18; 10:24; 12:13)? H. C. M.
Answer: The quotations of the querist afford the answer. It was Israel’s rebellious will to have, as they said, “our” king, instead of waiting for Jehovah’s purposed King (1 Sam. 2:10; Psa. 2; compare also Num. 24:7; Deut. 17:14, 15; 28:36; Psa. 45), whom He will in His time yet set on His holy hill of Zion. Remonstrance and warning being alike refused, God gave them their king in His anger, but nevertheless, one “on whom was all the desire of Israel” —the people’s choice indeed—not the one after God’s own heart. “That [is] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”