At Samuel’s summon, the people of Israel came together at Mizpah. 1 Samuel
10:20-21 describe the process they took to identify Saul. Although Samuel
already anointed Saul before he departed from Ramah, these verses suggest that
they cast a lot and the tribe of Benjamin was picked up. Then it was further
narrowed down to the Matrite family and finally to Kish and to Saul his son,
who was to be the king that they had asked for. Interestingly, the
name Saul means “asked for”. So God gave them a king whom they asked for. Ironically,
they had to search for the person whom they had asked for. At first, they
thought that he had not arrived and was nowhere to be found. Then they inquired
of the Lord who revealed that he was hiding among some baggage.
Here are a series of puzzling questions that any
curious reader of the Bible would ask: why did Saul hide himself?” Didn’t
Samuel already inform him of what would take place? Was this act an
indication of his lack of trust in God? Could it be that he had a problem
with self-acceptance? There could be a thousand and one reasons, and
the passage didn’t show us any. Hence, we can only guess why he hid
himself. It is understandable why he would feel inadequate. For such a
mammoth task expected, anyone would. But the wonderful truth about God’s
calling is this: when He calls us to a task, He will also empower us. Therefore
as soon as we know God is behind our calling, we must confidently fulfill our
assignment. He will never call us into any assignment without giving us the
grace to fulfill it. In Saul’s case, we recall one time that he had already
failed God. Remember the incidence where he met the garrison of Philistines at
a place known as the hill of God. He was empowered with the Spirit to deal with
the threatening enemy. But he didn’t. He was caught up in the emotionalism of
the moment and failed to do the work he was anointed for. His conscience was
probably affected by his failure and it left him mentally scarred. Thinking
about the task now petrified him. So he hid himself.
Personally, we need to ask the same questions. Is there
any assignment we fear to engage in? Are we hiding from our
responsibility? If we are, why? Do we lack trust in God’s ability to help us in
the assignment? These are questions that we need to come to terms with and then
abandon ourselves to God and the works He has called us to do. If we like
Saul had failed Him before, God has enough grace to help us overcome them. All
that is required of us is to repent, seek His forgiveness and allow Him to
change and transform us by His grace.
Continuing with the account, when Samuel pointed Saul
out, the people at once was impressed with him. He was indeed taller than any
of the people. They then cried, “Long live the king!” What was left
for Samuel to do was to tell the people the ordinances of the
kingdom, and had them written in the book and placed it before
the Lord. The prophet
then sent the people away and everyone returned to each his own home. Even Saul
returned to his home in Gibeah. What immediately took place was that some brave
men who were touched by the incidence turned to follow Saul. There were also
others who despised him. And their rejection of him left an indelible mark in
Saul's mind. There are truths that can be gleaned from this incidence. We
must expect that some would be impressed with our calling and others would need
time to accept God’s calling on our life. For those people who trust us, we
must be sure not to disappoint them. We must bring our best to bear to honor
their trust. For those who cannot immediately trust our leadership, we
will take time to cultivate their trust. With God’s help, we learn to apply
ourselves to the task and incrementally earn their confidence. Never should we
despise any that cannot at first accept us. But to let it challenge us to make the
effort to develop our God-given gifting and calling, and become an effective
instrument for His work.
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