The man of the people's choice—the man who was the result of their carnal tastes—now appears. Remarkably, he first comes before us in connection with asses, in striking contrast with the man of the Lord's choice, who had the care of sheep and lambs (Psalm 78:70-72). Saul even lost the asses, and although they were ultimately recovered, it was not he who found them (1 Sam. 9:20). David, on the other hand, at serious risk to himself, recovered a lamb from two ferocious enemies, a lion and a bear (1 Sam. 17:37). How suggestive are the lessons here! The ass is the symbol of poor, turbulent flesh, “For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt” (Job 11:12); and the offspring of man in Israel had to be redeemed with a lamb just as did the offspring of the ass (Ex. 13:13). Sheep and lambs, on the contrary, are the symbols throughout the Word of God of God's own true people. For these, Saul had neither the heart nor the fitness to care. A captain he might be; a shepherd he was not.