us to do this morning is we're
going to go through and kind of look at this story. And first,
see a picture of the providence of God, how he works all the
events of providence to save one of his elect. And then I
want us to go back and look at some lessons that we see here
from Saul, who is the people's king. He's not God's king, he's
the people's king. So that's what I kind of want
us to see this morning. Beginning in verse 1 of 1 Samuel 9, there
was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel,
the son of Zeor, the son of Dechorath, the son of Ephiah, a Benjamite,
a mighty man of power. And he had a son whose name was
Saul, a choice young man and goodly. And there was not among
the children of Israel a goodlier person than he. From his shoulders
and upward he was higher than any of the people. Now Kish,
Saul's father, was a mighty man of power. He really wasn't a
wealthy man. Saul says over in verse 21 that
his family is the least of all the families of the tribe of
Benjamin. He's not really a rich man, but
he's a physically mighty, strong man. And his son was a lot like
him. Physically, he was a mighty,
strong young man. He's described in scripture as
a choice man. young man, a goodly man. And
what that's talking about is his personality. His personality
was good and pleasant. Everybody who was around Saul
loved him. They just liked being around
him. He could talk to anyone about anything. He didn't belong
in the thrones. Where he belonged in sales is
where he belonged. Everybody liked him. He could
turn on the charm. and a smile and say just all
the right things and people would leave just with this warm feeling,
you know, from being around Saul. He'd make an awful good politician.
He had that ability with people. He was a strong, handsome young
man. They say he probably stood about
six foot ten. You know, the top of other men's
heads come to the bottom of his shoulder. He's a tall man. Stood
out in the crowd, everybody could see him. And there wasn't anyone
else like him with his personality skills in all of Israel. There wasn't anybody else like
him. He was the best that Israel had to offer. Well, look at verse
3. And the asses of Kish, Saul's
father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son,
take now one of the servants with thee and arise and go seek
the asses. And he passed through Mount Ephraim
and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them
not. Then they passed through the
land of Shalem, and they were not. And he passed through the
land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. And when they
were come to the land of Zoth, Saul said to his servant that
was with him, Come and let us return, lest my father leave
caring for the asses and take thought for us. And he said unto
him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he
is an honorable man. All that he saith cometh surely
to pass. Now let us go thither, for adventure
he could show us our way that we should go. Then said Saul
to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the
man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not
a present to bring to the man of God. What hath we? And the
servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here
at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver, that will I give to
the man of God to tell us our way. Before time in Israel, when
a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let
us go to the seer. For he that is now called a prophet
was before time called a seer. Then said Saul to his servant,
Well said, come, let us go. So they went into the city where
the man of God was." Now you have to give Saul credit. We
all know a lot of things about Saul, but you have to give him
credit. He was very diligent to do the job that his father
sent him to do. You know, he didn't just go kind
of look around a little bit. He diligently sought his father's
asses, trying to find them, but he couldn't. But now he was diligent,
even though he could not find his father's donkeys. But you
see here the hand of God at work. This is God unfolding his providence
right before our very eyes. A series of seemingly unconnected
Insignificant events are working together to bring Saul to Samuel. If those assets had not been
lost and Saul would have found them right off, he never would
have found himself coming to the town where Samuel lived.
But all those things didn't seem to be very important or connected
at all. God worked those things together
to bring Saul to Samuel. And so many events of history
are the same way. They just turn on a dime. The
smallest events that when they first happen, nobody thinks anything
about them. Those little small events cause earth-shattering
events. This is the way God has ordained
providence throughout the history of man. And here in this situation,
one day just out of the clear blue sky, it came into the mind
of a herd of donkeys to run out of their pen, run away from their
master, run away from their master's crib and go off into the wilderness.
It just came to their mind one day. And Saul and his servant
went to look for him. Now I think, at least initially,
you could follow the tracks of those donkeys. At least start
going in the right direction. You know, that's what they do
in the movies. You know, they track somebody all over the desert
and find them. But they went in completely the
wrong direction. And they wind up finding the prophet of God,
not those donkeys. Now only God can do that. Only
God would bring this country boy to the doorstep of the prophet
by causing donkeys to run off from their master. God works
all things after the counsel of his own will. This is God's
providence. God is the one doing it. And
we'll see this very clearly here in a minute. God is the one who's
doing this. But you know, you read this story
and it tells you something about Saul. He doesn't seem to know
who Samuel is. Now, has this fellow been living
under a rock or something? How can you live in Israel at
the time of one of the greatest prophets to ever live and not
know who the man is? Which seems like, you know, is
the case with Saul. And the first question that come
to my mind, was that the fella that you want to be king? Here
he's been living his whole life in Israel and he doesn't know
who Samuel is? Doesn't know who God's prophet is? Maybe you ought
not make him king, you know? Like I said, put him in the sales
department, but don't put him on the throne. And when he does
go see Samuel, He's only going to see Samuel because he thinks
Samuel can tell him where to find those donkeys. That's the
only reason he's going. And they called the prophets
in those days seers. See, Saul's interested in going
to see Samuel because he thinks Samuel can see the mystic. You
know, he can look into his crystal ball and tell him where to find
those donkeys. He's not going to Samuel to find
out some of the hidden mysteries of God. He's going just to get
his donkeys back. That's why he's going. Matthew
Henry said most people would rather be told their fortune
than be told how to be saved. And that's very true. That was
true here with Saul. And it's true in our day. What
people just in the flesh are interested in is a fortune teller. They want somebody who can prophesy,
who can go over the book of Revelations and tell them how this thing's
going to end, you know, so they can know the time and the season
and when the Lord's going to come and wrap this world up.
If somebody can get out there in the media and on the Internet
and stuff and pick a day out there that they say the world's
going to end, they got people's attention because that's what
people want. It's a fortune teller. When in reality, God's prophet
is the man that God reveals the truth of Christ to. He can see
in Scripture the Savior. See, first you have to see, have
some understanding. God's got to give it. Then you
can speak. So calling God's prophets a seer,
that's a pretty good term, because God gives him eyes to see Christ
in the scripture. Then he gives him the voice to
tell the people. But before we get too hard on
Saul, how many of us are the exact same way? Just exactly
like Saul, going about our worldly life without any interest whatsoever
in God, without any interest whatsoever in spiritual truths
and spiritual blessings at all. And a few seemingly insignificant
events happen in our lives. And we find ourselves at a place
where we can hear God's preacher preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I know at first we're not
interested or anything. We come in and we sit and we
give, you know, some attendance to sit and listen for a variety
of reasons. You know, it could be you're
coming to impress a girl or you're coming to impress your mother
or whoever, you know, whatever your reason is. And you find
yourself hearing the gospel. God reveals himself to you. None
of that happened by accident. That's God's hand. working the
events of this world to bring his sheep to the Savior. Just
like Matthew, the apostle. He was just going to his place
of business. He was doing his job, collecting
taxes just like he always did. He never thought one thing about
Jesus of Nazareth. He was just going around looking
for people to pay their taxes and who did he find? The Savior
came by and said, Matthew, follow me. And he left his books and
his money and went and followed the Lord. Peter, James, and John. They were just going fishing.
That was their livelihood. That's how they got money to
pay their bills, and they just went fishing one day. Whatever happened out there in
the ocean, whether they had a good catch or bad catch, I really
don't know, but everything happened on that day so that they'd come
back to shore, come back to dock, and be cleaning their nets at
the exact moment the master walked by and said, follow me. I'll make you fishers of men.
And they left those nets. and follow the Savior. They were
looking for him, but they ended up following him, didn't they?
And that's what's happening to Saul here. He's not looking for
the prophet, but that's who he's being brought to. Now let's read
on here in verse 11. And as they went up the hill
to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water,
and said unto them, Is the seer here? And they answered them
and said, He is. Behold, he is before you. Now
make haste now, for he came today to the city, for there is a sacrifice
of the people today in the high place. And as ye be come into
the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goes up to
the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until
he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice, and afterwards
they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up, for
about this time ye shall find him." And they went up into the
city. And when they were coming to
the city, behold, Samuel came out against them for to go up
to the high place, just like those maidens said he would.
Now, Saul thought, boy, I was pretty lucky to find these girls
that knew right where to find the seer. That's the way he thought,
wasn't it? He just happened to find these
girls that could tell him exactly where to find God's prophet.
Well, that wasn't chance. That wasn't luck. That was God's
purpose. sending those girls out to draw
water at the time he'd bring Samuel into the city so that
he could go right to the prophet. And a sinner who God intends
to save thinks it's just random coincidence that they find themselves,
maybe they're working with somebody, maybe it's their neighbor, they
meet someone who can tell them where to find God's prophet.
And that's never changed. That's always God's purpose.
It's his providence in saving his people to bring them under
the sound of the gospel. And all these seemingly random,
insignificant events have been purposed by God Almighty to bring
Saul to this city on this exact day. The day that probably a
few weeks ago came to somebody's mind, you know, let's have a
sacrifice on such and such a date and we'll get everybody together
and you know, we'll put the word out, we're having this sacrifice
and this feast and we'll just have it on this certain day.
Which just so happened to be the day, a few days after, Kish's
asses escaped and brought Saul to the city so that more people
would be there to see the man that God's going to have the
prophet anoint King. And this is God's doing that because look
at verse 15. Now the Lord had told Samuel
in his ear a day before Saul came. saying tomorrow about this
time, I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin.
Saul did not come out of the land of Benjamin on his own.
God sent him. He said, I will send thee a man
out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to
be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out
of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon my people,
because their cry is come unto me." See, all this is God's purpose. God told Samuel the day before
he's bringing Saul in. And he even tells him what time
of day he's coming. And he told Samuel, this is the man that
you're going to anoint king. Now, remember, we read this last
time in Hosea. God gave Israel a king out of
his anger. This isn't God's mercy to Israel.
God's bringing Saul here to Samuel to be anointed king. He's giving
them a king in his anger because of their rebellion against him.
But this is still his people. He calls it this rebellious,
sinful people. He calls them my people. And
he remembered covenant mercies. Now God's going to give them
a king. And he says here, I'm going to use him to save my people
out of the hand of the Philistines. Now they're rebellious, sinful
people. And not only is God their king,
not only is he working all things together after the counsel of
his own will, he's merciful. He's going to use this king,
who they're eventually going to cry out and ask God to deliver
him from him, but God's going to use him to deliver them from
the hand of the Philistines. Now they're still going to suffer
under the rule of Saul, just like God promised, but he remembered
mercy. He's going to use him to deliver
them from the hand of the Philistines and they're going to suffer for
a while. And then he's going to give them David, a man after
his own heart, because he did not forget. He never forgets
covenant mercies. So let's read on here in verse
17, And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold
the man whom I speak to thee of, this same shall reign over
my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel
in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's
house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and
said, I am the seer. Go up before me into the high
place, for ye shall eat with me today. And tomorrow I will
let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And
as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not
thy mind on them, for they are found. And on whom is all the
desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all
thy father's house?" Now here's Samuel the seer. He comes up
to Saul and he tells Saul everything that's already in his heart.
He knows. Tell Samuel about the asses being
lost. He already knew. He knew when
they were lost and three days ago. He didn't need Saul telling
him that. Then he starts telling Saul things
Saul did not know. Those asses are already found.
Everything's fine. And then he goes on telling Saul
things Saul did not know. He tells Saul, you're going to
be king. All the desire of Israel, that
Israel desires a king is on you. And that's the experience of
every one of God's children. When God's pleased to bring them
to the prophet, to the preacher, that preacher tells that sinner
a whole lot of things they did not know. A whole lot of things.
And he tells them things they did not know from God's word.
Look at the last verse here, the last line of this chapter.
Samuel says, now you stand out here still a while, that I may
show thee the word of God. That's where we find all these
truths. That's where the prophet finds his message. I'll show
you. the Word of God. And he tells us from the Word
of God a whole lot of things we did not know. Before God reveals
Himself to us, we didn't know who God is. Until God showed
Him. God's prophet told us who God
is. We had no idea who we are. How sinful and depraved and lost
we are. We thought we were pretty good
until somebody told us different from God's Word. We didn't know
who Christ was. How He's the Savior of His people.
We didn't know those things. until God used his prophet to
tell us. And if God's pleased to give
life and to give faith in Christ, our reaction to hearing that
message is the same as Saul's. Look what Saul says in verse
21. And Saul answered and said, am I not a Benjamin of the smallest
of the tribes of Israel? Benjamin was the smallest of
the tribes. They say there's only about 600 men left in the
tribe of Benjamin because a bunch of them were killed in some feud
or war or something they had. He said, I'm from the smallest
of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the least of all
the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Wherefore then speakest
thou so to me? I'm nobody. Who am I? Why me? That's what Saul says. And that's
the reaction. If a sinner ever hears the gospel,
ever sees the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll say, why
me? Well, verse 22, Samuel took Saul
and his servant, and brought them into the parlor, and made
him sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden,
which were about thirty persons. And Samuel said unto the cook,
Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee,
Set it by thee. And the cook took up the shoulder,
and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel
said, Behold, that which is left, set it before thee, and For unto
this time hath it been kept for thee, since I said I have invited
the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that
day." Now Samuel gave Saul the chief seat there in the parlor.
Wasn't that where the king ought to sit? He's the king. He ought
to sit in the chief seat. And believers in Christ are given
the best seat, aren't they? Where are we seated right now?
In Christ, in the heavenlies. The chief seat. And Samuel gave
Saul the royal portion. That portion that they had to
eat was the shoulder and that which is attached to it. It's
the shoulder and the breast. That's the royal portion. That's
the portion for the king because the king should have the shoulder.
Because he's the one who's supposed to have the strength to rule.
He's supposed to be the one who has the strength to carry the
burden of government. And attached to it is the breast.
Because attached to that power is supposed to be the heart to
rule with compassion and love and wisdom over the people. And
Samuel knew this was the man that God would have him anoint
as king. But he also remembered the kind of king God said he'd
be. And after everything that's happened, the people rebelled
against God and rebelled against Samuel. After everything that
they did, Samuel still loved them. And he's going to do everything
in his power to see that Saul is a good king. Because who knows? Maybe the Lord will be merciful.
So Samuel's going to give him some advice on how to be a good
king. Verse 25, that's what he did.
When they had come down from the high place into the city,
Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. And they
rose early, and it came to pass about the spring of the day that
Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, that I
may send thee away. And Saul rose, and they went
out both of them, he and Samuel abroad. And as they were going
down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the
servant to pass on before us. And he passed on. But stand thou
still a while, that I may show thee the word of God." The first
thing I thought when I read those verses is I would love to have
been a fly on the wall and hear those conversations, hear those
words of wisdom that Samuel is giving Saul as he gets ready
to take the throne. They were good words, wise words.
I'm confident of it. But we already know Saul didn't
heed those words. We already know that. But you
see the picture here. This is God's providence. Only
God could set this series of events in motion that began with
a bunch of donkeys escaping from their master's pen that wound
up with a country boy. being anointed king. Only God
could do that. And look at Romans chapter 10.
Aren't so many believers? Isn't that their exact story?
Isn't that been their experience? This has been God's purpose.
In Romans 10 verse 20. But Isaiah is very bold and say,
if I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me. That's the experience of so many
believers. The Samaritan Mormon. She's just
going out to the well to get water at a time when she thinks
she won't have to see anybody. And she didn't even get any water.
She left her water bucket because she found the Savior. She wasn't
looking for Him, but she found Him. A bunch of shepherds keeping
their flock at night. All they were doing was hoping
to keep those sheep safe, minding their own business, hoping for
a quiet night. I promise you, they were hoping for a quiet
night. When the whole heavenly host
appeared to them and told them where to find the King, where
to find the Savior, they went and found him. Saul of Tarsus,
he's just going down the road, hoping to kill a bunch of Christians.
And he found the Savior. The Philippian jailer, just like
those shepherds, all he was hoping for was a quiet night. He'd keep
those criminals in chains till morning when he'd go home and
get some sleep. An earthquake came and he found the Savior.
just like Saul, looking for his father's asses, and he found
the kingdom. Now Spurgeon said this, he said,
if the Lord is thus found of those who seek him not, how much
more surely will he be found of those who seek him. Now look
over in Isaiah 55, this is God's mercy that he's found of those
who seek him not. But I would counsel us Don't
get this fatalistic attitude. Well, you know, whoever will
be saved will be saved. God's going to save me and I'll just
sit here and he'll save me. I would counsel you not to do
that. Now, that's God's mercy. He does it, but I would counsel
you, seek him. Look here at Isaiah 55, verse
6. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord.
And he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Seek the Lord. Call upon him. If those who don't seek him find
him, how much more surely will those who beg him for mercy find
him? Because either way, I promise
you this, God's going to save his people. from their sin. He's
going to call every one of his elect, those that he set his
affection on in eternity past, he's going to call every one
of them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
however he chooses to do it, he's going to call out all his
sheep. He's going to gather all of his sheep to himself. I promise
you this, whether they seek him or whether he puts it in their
heart to seek him or whether they don't seek him, either way,
He's going to do it in a manner that Christ gets all the glory. That's how he's going to do it.