No Confidence in the Flesh

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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“When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over My people” (1 Sam. 9: 17). Had Samuel remembered these words when he went to the house of Jesse at a later date, he would not have said so hastily when he saw Eliab's fine physique, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him” (1 Sam. 16:1616Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. (1 Samuel 16:16)). He blundered. Eliab was not the Lord's anointed. One commanding personality was already in failure; the Lord was not in search of another; the ruddy shepherd lad was more to His taste. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth.”
Samuel at once told Saul two things: (1) that the asses were found, and (2) that he was the destined King over Israel. Such words from a perfect stranger, to whom he had as yet addressed no inquiry, were a testimony to Saul that he had to do with God from whom nothing could be hid. Asses and kingdom were both of interest to Him. What a help it would have been to him in after years, had he remembered this! Do we remember it? At the feast that followed, Samuel bade the cook set the shoulder of the sacrifice (the peace offering) before Saul. What a lesson for his soul, could he have read it as a type! A shoulder speaks of the strength of Christ, upon which faith counts and feeds. Paul was in the reality of it when he said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:1313I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)). Saul was about to have tremendous responsibilities placed upon him. He would need more than creature strength to carry them aright for the glory of God, and for the blessing of His people. But no man seeks the support of divine grace until he has learned his own nothingness and insufficiency. Poor Saul never at any moment got down to this.