1 Samuel 10:23-11:1523And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 25Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. 27But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace. 1Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 2And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. 3And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. 4Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. 5And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. 6And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. 7And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. 8And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 10Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. 11And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. 12And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. 13And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel. 14Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. 15And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. (1 Samuel 10:23‑11:15)
Saul was a fine-looking man—head and shoulders above the rest of the people—just exactly the kind of man they would have chosen themselves for their leader. When Samuel brought him before the people as the one whom the Lord had chosen, they all shouted, “God save the king.” Then Samuel told them about the kingdom that was to be established, and he wrote it in a book which was laid up before the Lord.
A group of men whose hearts God had touched gathered around Saul when he returned to Gibeah, but some despised him and did not send him any presents. It is instructive to notice that faith always owns whatever is of God, even when failure has lowered its character. It does not show a good state of soul to set at naught those whom God is using, even though we cannot go along with all they are doing. May we profit by what we learn here of the perfect ways of God.
As far as we can learn here, Saul did not wait for Samuel, as he had been instructed, but returned to Gibeah and went about his regular occupation. Before long, the Ammonites came up and encamped against the men of Jabesh-gilead. The men of Jabesh offered to make a covenant with and serve the Ammonites, but they refused except on one condition; namely, that they would put out the right eyes of the men of Jabesh for a reproach on all Israel. The men of Jabesh asked for seven days to see if they could get help, and sent messengers to Saul and told him what had taken place. He took a yoke of oxen and hewed them in pieces, saying that the oxen of any who did not come after him and Samuel to battle, would be hewn in pieces too. The men of Israel then gathered together with one consent—over three hundred thousand of them. Saul divided them into three companies and went out against the Ammonites in the morning watch. The victory was so complete that there were not even two Ammonites left together.
Saul showed a beautiful spirit here, and would not allow those who had previously opposed his being king to be put to death; but he still did not show any concern about the Philistines who occupied the hill of God, and from whom the Lord had raised him up to deliver His people. We notice too, that he spoke of the people following himself first, then Samuel. His false humility was soon manifested, for he thought of his own honor first, and in this his first conflict, he failed to wait for the word of the Lord through Samuel.
Nevertheless God is patient, as He always is, till we definitely and finally reject His Word. Then Samuel gathered the people together to Gilgal. This ought to have spoken to Saul, since he had been told to wait there for Samuel, as we have noticed previously; but in all the rejoicing over their victory this had been forgotten. However the kingdom was renewed, for God had proved Himself faithful. Saul was still being tested, but how unable he was to enter into the thoughts of God for His people as the natural man always is.
As far as Saul’s personal life was concerned, there was much that the natural man would admire, and little he would condemn, as compared with David. Yet Saul was an unregenerate man, while David, in spite of his sad failure, was a man of faith and mightily used of God. How important it is that we measure things by God’s standards and not man’s. Man measures sin by how it affects himself; God measures it by the standard of His own glory.
ML 07/04/1954