1 Samuel 10: Long Live the... Wait

“The book of 1 Samuel focuses on three characters: Samuel, Saul, and David. A poem near the start of the book reveals the book's key themes: God’s opposition to the proud, exultation of the humble, faithfulness in spite of evil, and the promise of a messianic king.

These themes are played out through the rest of the book as we see Saul rise to power, only to have his character flaws exposed as he disobeys God’s command. In contrast, God raises up David, a humble shepherd who trusts God. As the story progresses, we see these two characters in increasingly stark contrast. Saul slips into madness as David resolutely trusts in God’s timing and purposes.” From theBibleProject

Overall Theme: God’s Providence Despite Human Silliness.

Key Verse: (1 Samuel 12:24) Be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. If you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.

Outline:

1- God raises up Samuel  as prophet and judge (1 Sa 1–7).

2- Israel demands a king: Saul (1 Sa 8–15).

3- God raises up David to be king of Israel (1 Sa 16–20).

4- Saul hunts David out of jealousy (1 Sa 21–31).

Let’s read it together.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Daily Bible Focus
• 0:23 Theme: God Calls Beyond Comfort
• 1:13 Community & Newsletter Invitations
• 1:49 Setting Up 1 Samuel 10
• 2:36 Saul Anointed With Specific Signs
• 4:06 Saul Prophesies And Keeps Silent
• 6:52 Public Selection And Saul Hides
• 9:12 Duties Of A King And Mixed Reactions
• 10:44 Approaching Conflict: Nahash’s Oppression
• 11:44 Takeaway: God Qualifies The Called
• 13:22 Prayer And Final Encouragement

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

SPEAKER_01: 0:23

Well, hello, and welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon, today, 1 Samuel chapter 10. And if I were to give this one a title, it would be Long Live the Wait, where'd he go? You're gonna see in just a moment. Possibly one of the most embarrassing things to happen in the entire Bible, at least from my point of view. We're gonna get to see this today, but I think it's actually a wonderful thing because it really shows that God knows when we're ready for more than we realize. Like God knows what we're capable of. And sometimes he puts us in positions where we say, God, did you set me up for failure? I can't do this. But the reality is, God knows we can. It's not gonna be easy, it's gonna be very, very difficult, but he knows we can do more than we realize. We're gonna get into that in just a moment. But as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Leave us a five-star review on the podcast, and then gather with us at the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. I love how we get to interact with one another. And make sure you're subscribing to the Bible breakdown newsletter. You can go to my blog at brandoncannon.com and subscribe to that newsletter. And we send you out new stuff all the time. We talk about questions that need to be answered, try to give you a hot, a hot topic, you know, uh kind of commentary on what's going on, just all kinds of different stuff to try to help you to use the Bible in your everyday life. And so if you got those Bibles, want to open them up with me in 1 Samuel chapter 10. I cannot tell you how many times in my life that God has opened doors of opportunity for me. And it's like I would pray for them, you know, God, you know, use me, do something in my life, I'm ready to be used by you. And then when the opportunities would come, I'm like, God, why would why are you putting me in this position? Why don't you know who I am? I can't do this. But so many times, just like you, I'm sure, God knows of what we're capable of even more than we do, and to realize that we're actually capable of a whole lot more. And so one of the things I love about God is that he does push us out of our comfort zone so that we can see what we can do. And that's exactly what we're gonna see about Samuel and about Saul in just a moment. Because remember, the overall idea of this entire book is God's providence despite our silliness. Now, you want to talk about a bad beginning to the kingdom reign, it's what we're gonna read about today. And there's so many times in life where we as people we make bad decisions. We we get off of here in crazy places, but God's got a plan, and he is maneuvering and doing things in our lives that we can't always see. And what happens is, is as he begins to do those things, it looks like it's chaos, but then out of but that we start to notice, man, it looks like there's just someone pulling the strings here. Something is just putting everything where it needs to be. Well, it's God, and he's leading us sometimes in spite of us. And so we're gonna see that today as God just maneuvers things where they need to be, and that God knows when you're ready for more than you do. So let's read this together and kind of kind of get the embarrassed for you goosebumps. You ever had those? We're gonna get those today as we look at how Saul becomes king. First Samuel chapter 10, verse 1 says this. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over Saul's head. And then he kissed Saul and said, I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the leader over Israel, his special possession. When you leave me today, you will see two men beside Rachel's tomb and Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys have been found, and that your father has stopped worrying about them, and is now worried about you. And he is asking, Have you seen my son? And when you get to the oak of Tabor, you will see three men coming toward you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One of them will be bringing three young goats, another will be bringing three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine. They will greet you and offer you the two loaves, and you are to accept. When you arrive at Gabia of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is located, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying. At this time the Spirit of the Lord will powerfully come upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be in charge, or you will be changed into a different person. After these signs take place, you do what must be done, for God is with you. Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me, and I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions. First of all, that's amazing. How specific was that? You're gonna go here, you're gonna go there, it's gonna look like this, boom. It is amazing how specific that was. But can you imagine too, if you've there's never been a king before, and all of a sudden you're gonna be the king? I don't know about you, I'd need some very specific like God. I need two burning bushes, I need three people to turn four backflips, and uh, I need just just just something so specific. And so, because of that, God knows, and so he gave him very specific instructions. All right, verse nine. As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel's signs were fulfilled that day. Amazing. Verse 10. When Saul and his servant arrived at Gabea, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them, and then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he too began to prophesy. When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet? And one of those standing there said, Can anyone become a prophet? No matter who his father is? So that is the origin of the saying, even Saul is a prophet. When Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the place of worship. Where have you been? Saul's uncle asked him and his servant. We were looking for the donkeys, Saul replied, but we couldn't find them, so we went to Samuel to ask him where they were. Oh, what did he say? The uncle asked. Well, he told us the donkeys had already been found, Saul replied. But Saul didn't tell his uncle uh what Samuel had told him about the kingdom, and as you wouldn't, right? Like I'm still processing it myself. So I'm not gonna tell everybody else. All right, here we go, verse 17. Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah, and he said, This is what the Lord the God of Israel has declared. I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all the nations that were oppressing you. But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today, and have said, No, we want a king instead. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans. So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by Lot. Then he brought each of the family, each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of Metritus was chosen. And finally son Saul the son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when he looked around, he had disappeared. For they asked the Lord, Lord, where is he? And the Lord replied, He is hiding among the baggage. So they found him and brought him out, and he stood ahead and shoulders above everyone else. To which then I would say, and he was probably shaking like a leaf. Now pause. So imagine for a moment with me, if you can. God tells Samuel, Okay, today's the day. And so there's twelve tribes in Israel, and so he gets, you know, several people from each tribe. Everybody gets together to represent your tribe. So let's say there's several hundred people there. Okay, well, let's pray and ask God which one of the twelve tribes it's gonna be. Pray and ask God. The Lord's telling me, telling me it's gonna be the tribe of Benjamin. Okay, so out of twelve, eleven go get aside. And everybody's getting excited, I'm sure. Man, God's God's gonna give us a king today. It's gonna be awesome. He's gonna be amazing, he's gonna be phenomenal, he's gonna be this, that, and the other, just all this stuff. So, okay, we're getting one step closer. Okay, now out of all the family of the Benjamites, y'all come here and he starts to look and he starts to go, okay, not you, not you, not you. And instead of getting discouraged, people are getting more encouraged. It's like, okay, we're gonna find the king any moment now. So finally, the family of Kish. Finally, the son of Kish, Saul. Can you imagine just like the drum roll and all of a sudden the crash out? Bow, Saul, come forth, Saul. Wait, where is Saul? Somebody found Saul? No one can find Saul. Let's go back to the Lord. Where's Saul? I think he almost can like this is not what happened. But my but my picture in my head is God kind of puts his head, hand over his head like he's got a little bit of a pressure headache, and he's like, well, here's the thing about Saul. He's over in the baggage. So they go find him, and he's hiding. How embarrassing is that? Hey, your wonderful new king is hiding. Okay. But they finally get him, and I got in my in my mind, he's he's like, What guys? I'll just I'll just make sure y'all's luggage is safe. You know, I'm just trying to protect everything. Well, we got that. We're about to anoint you king. No, no, y'all go ahead. I'll just uh Saul, come on. And so they bring Saul out. He's a head and shoulders taller than everybody else when he finally stands up. And then verse 24. Then Samuel said to all the people, This finally is the man that is the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in Israel is like him. Pause, pause, which I have to admit, I am sarcastic enough. I'd have looked back at my at a friend and said, Uh, that's true. No one else is like him, because the rest of us was here. Right, unpause, sorry. All the people shouted, Long live the baggage. I mean, I mean, I'm sorry, long live the king. Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were. He wrote them down on a scroll and placed them before the Lord. Then the Samuel and all the people went home again. Verse 26, when Samuel returned to his home at Gabea, a group of men whose hearts God had touched went with him. Excuse me, when Saul returned with his home, that there were men who went with him. But there were some scoundrels who complained. How can this man save us? They scorned him and refused to bring him gifts. So Saul, but Saul ignored them. Nahash, the king of the Amorites, had been grievously oppressing the people of God and Reuben who lived at the east of the Jordan. He gouged out the right eye of each of Israelites of them living there, and he didn't allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, all the Israelites east of the Jordan, uh, there wasn't a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Amorites, and they had settled in Jabesh Gilead. So we're about to see is the first test of this slightly nervous king. So here's the question. Was God making a mistake? Did should God have chosen somebody else? No. That Saul might have been nervous, Saul might have been afraid, but God knew exactly what he was doing. Now we'll get into much later what Saul does with this trust and what happens, but in this moment, this is who God had chosen. And obviously Saul did not think he was up to the occasion, but what happened is when he became king, God began to empower him the way he needed to to do what he needed to do. But God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies those he's called. And so I want to encourage you today that if you're in a season right now where you feel like maybe God's made a mistake. I don't know if I can stay in this marriage. I don't know if I can stay in this workplace. I don't know if I can if I can stay in this relationship, though the the pressure is too tight, it's too difficult, it's too hard. Can I tell you? If God's got you there, He has the ability, He has the ability to not only keep you there, but for you to thrive there. Maybe God has more confidence in you than you have in yourself. And so when you don't trust yourself, maybe trust the Lord. That the Lord knows what he's doing. And if he's brought you to it, he can see you through it. And so I have courage today that if God has put you in a situation, if he's given you that family, if he's given you that relationship, if he's got you at that job, then he's got enough power to sustain you even through it. Let's pray together. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that your word teaches us more than we could imagine about you, about your faithfulness, and about your word. I pray, God, that you will move in our lives and give us the courage to take every next step. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, don't forget God's word says in 1 Samuel chapter 12, be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. God is for you more than you realize. And so if he's got you in something, he can take you through it all the way. So have courage, stand up, and be counted for the Lord in Jesus' name. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. First First Samuel chapter eleven.