When Israel desired a king, Scripture makes it clear that it was not of God, for God Himself reminded Samuel, concerning Israel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:77And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7)). However, God was gracious, and He was pleased to give tokens for the purpose of helping Saul, although he was not a man of faith. If there had been an ear to hear, if there had been any measure of spiritual perception, there were special signs put in his way. First of all, two men announce the recovery of the asses Saul and his servant were seeking, and this by Rachel’s sepulchre (1 Sam. 10:22When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? (1 Samuel 10:2)). This ought to have been a spot of singular interest to Saul, for it was the place where the foundation of his family had been laid. But Saul had no eyes to see, nor had he ears to hear, according to God.
The Testimony of God
Again three men (1 Sam. 10:3-43Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: 4And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. (1 Samuel 10:3‑4)) were to meet him in the plain of Tabor—men who were on their way up to God at Bethel. They were going to the place, not merely of Rachel’s sepulchre, but of God at Bethel. One man was carrying three kids, and so on; these saluted him and gave him loaves of bread. Should Saul not have gathered a proof that God was at work in Israel and that God had not forgotten the famous scene where He had pledged the accomplishment of His purpose to their father Jacob? A remnant was there, an ample testimony, not merely of two but of three men. There was a more than adequate testimony to the reality of faith in Israel still.
Along with this, no doubt the state of Israel, terrified by Philistine masters, was truly deplorable, but what was that if faith was there? Circumstances should never frighten the believer. The question then was whether God was the God of Israel and whether His people had faith in Him. Yet here we find three men going up to God to Bethel, well aware of the sad condition—the practical condition — of Israel at this time. But there is more: “After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy” (1 Sam. 10:55After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: (1 Samuel 10:5)). What an encouragement to one who could hear according to God! The worst of times to faith only calls us the more to make melody to Him. There was no lack of the testimony of joy and praise in these prophets, although God would yet have His people fairly to confess the circumstances. There is no good to be had by blinding ourselves to our actual condition, whether it be of the church now or of Israel then. It is always right, wise and lowly to admit the truth.
Christian Experience
So it is with our souls and in all our Christian experiences. There is many a believer that does not want to think of all that he has been before he was saved. Many a person when first converted to God tries to look only at what is bright, joyous and encouraging. His eye quickly finds out all the comforting passages of the Word of God. He slips over what tries and searches the heart. It is all quite intelligible, but is it really wise? It is not the mode in which the Spirit of God works to form the saint. Not that there is not abundant comfort in all the Word of God from first to last, but be assured, my brethren, that the best wisdom is when grace strengthens us to look at the truth and the whole truth, whether about God or man, at the church or our own souls. Hence it is that many a person puts off the full view of what he himself is when brought to God, but then has to repeat the lesson another day under more painful circumstances. Far better to face at the very starting-point what we are, as well as what God is in His nature and counsels. Otherwise, when we have been following the Lord for some years, we may need to be broken down for some grievous unfaithfulness, and this mainly owing to the folly of refusing to look at the full reality of what we were from the very beginning.
God’s Character
It is evident that God’s character, as represented by us, is far more affected by our having to go through a perhaps painful and humiliating process some years after starting on our course, than by our learning what we are when the full flow of divine grace confirms our souls as we learn of the Lord Jesus. Thus only can we well afford to judge all that we are naturally.
This too was expressly a sign to Saul. The first sign was personal, connected as it was with Rachel’s sepulchre—a place of death to the mother, but where Benjamin was born, the head of Saul’s own tribe, and the type of Messiah in His mighty victories for His people on the earth. Benjamin was not Joseph, that son of Jacob who was separate from his brethren and exalted in another sphere; rather, he was the son of his father’s right hand, who represents the Lord Jesus when He rises up to put down all adversaries in His kingdom by and by. This was the particular blessing that was given when the Spirit of God by Jacob pronounced the blessing of Benjamin. The second sign should have intimated the reality to faith of a more than sufficient witness that as surely as three men were going up to Bethel, God could not fail, whatever the state of Israel might be.
The Spirit of God
But then followed the sign of that present state of Israel. The promises attached to Bethel were far from being as yet fulfilled. If Saul hears of “the hill of God,” he also hears that there “is the garrison of the Philistines.” Surely then, when Israel desired a king, the actual condition of Israel was as low as it could be. Had there only been faith to enter into these signs, taking them from God, there would surely have been a blessed opportunity for the working and triumph of God, who never fails to answer to living faith, but this was exactly what Saul did not have. There was no lack of a fair show in the flesh. Saul appeared at first to be most amiable to everybody. In all this there was the brightest natural promise for man’s king, but there was more than this. There was another and higher privilege too, one may notice in passing: God was even pleased to invest him with the power of the Spirit of God, although only externally. “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man” (1 Sam. 10:66And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. (1 Samuel 10:6)). Does not all this show us that God was giving every possible help and every conceivable advantage to man’s king entering on this new phase in the history of His people? This is the unquestionable lesson of these two chapters, yet we find in the end that Saul was a dismal failure. Despite every possible advantage, the natural man cannot walk by faith. The throne must wait for David, the man after God’s own heart, and a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all God’s promises will be fulfilled.
W. Kelly (adapted)