We're in 1 Samuel, chapter nine,
and I'm going to read a number of verses today, but I'm going
to kind of dot here and there throughout the chapter because
it's a fairly big chapter, and we're just going to get, as it
were, the bare bones of the story about this man called Saul and
his meeting with Samuel. So we're going to read from verse
one. Now there was a man of Benjamin
whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the
son of Bechkorath, the son of Aphia, a Benjamite, a mighty
man of power. And he had a son whose name was
Saul, a choice young man, and a 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. 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, 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 there 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 Zuth, 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, that is the servant,
said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God,
and he is an honourable man. All that he saith cometh surely
to pass. Now let us go thither, peradventure
he can show us our way that we should go. And then down to verse
10. Then said Saul to his servant,
Well said, come, let us go. So they went unto the city where
the man of God was. And then down to verse 14, and
that says, And they went up into the city, and when they were
come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them for to
go up to the high place. 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,
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. 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, or the prophet's house. And Samuel answered Saul
and said, I am the seer. Go up before me unto 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 thy
father's house? And Saul answered and said, Am
not I a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and
my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?
Wherefore then speakest thou so to me? And Samuel took Saul
and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made
them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden,
which were about thirty persons. Amen. That will suffice for our
reading today. May the Lord bless these words
to us. Quick hello to Kathleen, good
to see you, and here's what we have for the young people today.
I thought, as I was preparing my thoughts today, that this
is a study which could quite properly be called, A Man Looks
for a Donkey and Finds a Crown. except it was an ass that Saul
was looking for, and indeed it was several of them that had
gone missing. And he didn't actually find a
crown, but he did learn from Samuel, the man of God, that
he was to be crowned king of Israel. And as we begin this
chapter, we at once learn a little of Saul's family background and
the tribe of which he was a part. And we also learn that Saul was
a strong man, he was a handsome man, and he was very tall, so
we get some information about the physique of this man Saul. He was an impressive man to look
at, with lots of attractive features. Just the kind of man that the
children of Israel would want to be their king. However, did you notice that
nothing is said about Saul's heart, about Saul's wisdom, or
about Saul's spiritual condition? And we are all prone to judge
a person by their looks, to judge a person by their outward appearances. I wonder if you realise that
when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, it was said of him,
he hath no form nor comeliness. That word means he had nothing
outwardly attractive about him. It was Isaiah that wrote that,
and he went on to say, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. There's an old saying, it
goes something like this, you can't judge a book by its covers. And that means that you shouldn't
judge someone, or indeed something, based only on what you see on
the outside only, or what you perceive without knowing the
full story, the full situation. Saul looked good, but appearances
can be deceiving. And lots of people get all excited
and taken up by superficial, shallow and artificial things
in life. And they never take time to think
about the true and the deeper and the more important things
of life such as heaven and hell and life and death and sin and
its consequences and the words and the works of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let us not be a superficial people
who think only about shallow things and silly things. Let us be a people who think
about the serious things of God. May the Lord give us wisdom to
see beyond the glitter and the dazzling lights. and to learn
about things that are really meaningful and really true. Saul's story as it is given to
us in the scriptures begins with an everyday event on the farm. Somebody had left a gate open
or a piece of fence had broken down and the asses that belonged
to Saul's father had gotten loose and they had escaped. And Kish,
Saul's father, tells his son to take a servant and to go and
find them. It seemed a pretty simple job.
but those asses had travelled far and they had travelled fast. After three days of searching,
Saul couldn't find them and he was about to turn back for home,
realising that his father would be more concerned about Saul
and the servant, more concerned about their well-being because
they had been gone so long than he was about the lost animals.
So Saul was getting ready to turn for home but his servant
had an idea. We don't know this man's name
but he had a suggestion. They were near to the town or
the city of Ramah where Samuel lived. And this servant thought
that it might be a good idea to go and inquire of Samuel or
to inquire of God through Samuel as to what they should do and
perhaps even where those asses were. And this is what they did. So I wonder if you can see here
what has happened. The Lord brought Saul and Samuel
together using a few asses that had wandered away. Saul had no
desire to go and see Samuel. Saul would never have gone to
see Samuel had it not been that these asses had wandered off
and he was looking for his livestock. nor had the servant any other
agenda than he thought it was a good idea to go and see if
someone could give them some advice. And yet Saul's whole
life was about to change and all the great events which were
to follow in Saul's life and indeed in the history of Israel
were wrapped up in this encounter that he had with Samuel. The Lord had spoken to Samuel
and told Samuel to expect this encounter with Saul. And when
Saul and his servant went into the city, Samuel was just coming
out of his house. And the seer, because that's
what they used to be called in Israel, it just means that they
could see things that other people couldn't see, and that was speaking
about the visions and the revelations that God gave to these true prophets. not the people who made things
up or imagined things, but these were true prophets of God and
they were called seers for the things that they could see from
the Lord. But Samuel invited Saul to attend
a sacrifice that was taking place and to eat with him at the festival
that was going on, to remain with him overnight And the next
day, Samuel would explain everything. Nor was Saul to worry about his
asses, because they had been found. Furthermore, Samuel says,
Israel's desire to have a king has been answered. And Saul,
the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, was the man. That day Saul and his servant
sat down to feast at a banquet in the seats of honour, surrounded
by 30 invited guests. What a change in expectations. Yesterday he was out in the wilderness
looking for lost asses, lost donkeys. and today he's dining
as the soon to be appointed King of Israel. Here are a few lessons
that I think we can draw, that we can take from this passage. Here's the first one. We should not overlook how the
Lord works in our lives. Though we may be utterly aware
of it happening. Sometimes we use the phrase,
maybe you've heard me saying it before, providential dealings,
providential dealings. I think I've mentioned providence
before. This is another way of saying it, providential dealings. And I use that phrase at least
to describe how God uses what seem to be random events and
circumstances to bring about his will and his purposes. And we can see some of these
providential dealings in Saul searching for these asses. And the Lord thereby bringing
him to Samuel just at the appointed time. Now, I imagine that Saul
was annoyed that these asses had wandered off. and I think
he was probably more annoyed that it had taken him three days
travelling and he still hadn't found them. My, how that must
have spoiled his week. I don't know what he had planned
to do that week, but it wasn't this. And yet this was all in
God's purpose, to accomplish his will. And in our own lives,
though we cannot tell how, the Lord uses little things, even
annoying things, to bring about his purposes. Now I'm not saying
that we need to look for a deep meaning in every encounter or
in every event. everything that happens to us.
But at the same time, it is often a blessing for us to pause and
reflect and to thank the Lord for bringing about his good purposes
for us in ways that were completely beyond our planning or indeed
beyond our knowledge. Nor is it always good things
that the Lord uses. Troublesome events like these
lost asses, annoying things that upset us, all work together for
good to those whom the Lord loves. So here's a wee exercise for
you this coming week. The next time something goes
wrong, and I'm speaking to myself as well, the next time something
goes wrong, or your plans get changed, or someone leaves the
door open and the dog gets out just before you were getting
ready to leave, Just before you get annoyed or
just before you get angry, pause and ask yourself, hmm, I wonder
what the Lord will bring about by this little episode. And when
we have occasion to acknowledge the Lord's goodness and the Lord's
blessing in a particular event, let us take time to reflect how
we got here. not only on the good gift that
God gives us, but the means that the Lord used to bring it about. And here's another thing that
we might learn a lesson from. Saul's first encounter with Samuel
was at a sacrifice. And I'm sure that God arranged
that especially so that Saul's reign as king would begin with
a clear opportunity for the young man in Samuel's company to look
beyond the sacrificed animal to see the Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom the blood of the sacrifice pointed. In doing this, in making
this meeting take place at a sacrifice, the Lord was good to Saul. He gave him every advantage in
life. but it seems that Saul never
trusted the Lord as he ought to have done. And that reminds
us that people can possess many blessings in life. They might
have, oh, I don't know, good looks. They might have an ability
to speak well. They might have lots of resources,
lots of friends. They might have lots and lots
of blessings. But the most important thing
is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and come to know him as saviour. It is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ that cleanses us from sin. It is his death that makes
us right for heaven and righteous for God's presence. Saul heard
it, but it seems he never believed it. May the Lord give us faith
to trust in Jesus Christ as the way of salvation for our souls. And just one final little thought. As Saul was preparing to return
home the next day, Samuel asked to be alone with him for a little
while. So the servant was sent on, Saul
sent his servant on ahead and Samuel and Saul spoke together
man to man. Samuel said to Saul, Stand thou
still a while, that I may show thee the Word of God. Stand thou still a while, that
I may show thee the Word of God. Now exactly what Samuel said,
we don't know because it's not recorded. But I suspect it was
something to do with the fact that God had appointed Saul as
king of his people Israel and perhaps the duties and the challenges
that he would have as the new king. But what about you and me? Our
lives are all very busy. And especially when we are young,
there seems to be so much to do and so little time in which
to do it. And let me tell you, it doesn't
get any easier. But here's my application. Whatever
it is that you do, wherever it is that you go, and however it
is that your life unfolds, don't forget to stand still for
a while. that I may show thee the Word
of God. Don't forget the Lord. Don't forget His Word. Don't
forget what He has done. Don't forget the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the living Word. And may the Lord give us grace
to hear His Word, to receive His Word, to believe His Word. and to trust in him of whom the
word of God speaks. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us today.