The Providential Work of God
1 Samuel 9:1-27
Turn to 1 Samuel 9. Not too many of us are all that good with change. I could be accused of being a little traditional myself. When we had all our crew at our house just after Christmas, \our oldest granddaughter Lynnie saw the jars of candies sitting out, a bit of a tradition at Christmas and also when the grandkids come for holidays in the summer. And she went right over to one of the jars, opened the lid, smelled it, and said, ahhh! Just like summer holidays at Nana and Papa’s house. What she was really enjoying was the security of the way things have been, and then the feeling that I wish they would always be like this. As any kind of uncertain change is always a threat to our security.
So here Israel is in the process of changing from being led by judges, men such as Gideon and Samson, and now finally Samuel. And especially since Samuel was likely their best judge, to now having a king, a monarchy. And there is also no lack of problems for Israel. This question of leadership and still the threat of a powerful enemy nation near them. And so, the question for the average guy on the street would be, I wonder what is next? So, these types of questions would be common for these people: Who is going to lead us? What kind of qualifications would he need to have? Should he be a warrior, smart financially, a man with a heart for God? And which aspect of these qualities of the new leader would be the most important?
So, this is on the heels of the people asking for a king, like all the nations around them. To which Samuel did not appreciate their request saying that it was evil and he was right, as the motive for such a request was a complete rejection of God. And so, the next chapter is written for Israel, as this is not an easy transition to make, nor will it come without complications as it becomes quite an involved story. And before we get into our story, I wish to do something a little different this morning. That while we are going through our story, I want you to be thinking about two things: What lessons is God teaching us about Himself and what lessons is God teaching us about ourselves?
“Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor.”
1 Sam 9:1 (LSB)
The story begins here with, “there was a man.” So, I suppose if we were reading this for the first time since it immediately follows where God told Samuel to give them a king, we might think that this is the man. This does remind us of the introduction in chapter 1, of the guy with the two wives, Elkanah, as it said there too, now there was a man name Elkanah, again, another nobody. And that this man in our chapter is from the tribe of Benjamin which is no great shakes, as Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes of Israel.
“Now he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.”
1 Sam 9:2 (LSB)
So, we find out that the focus of the story is not on Kish, but like the story of 1 Samuel 1, it will be on his son, as we are introduced to Saul, a man who will be a chief character for the rest of the book of 1 Samuel. And from the get-go, we learn some things about this man named Saul. One, the name Saul in Hebrew means “asked for,” as we get a direct correlation of the people’s request, as they “asked for” a king. The second thing we learn is that Saul was handsome. Now this description of Saul might take a hit to their confidence. That they have tough times ahead and now we have a leadership prospect, though the narrator really hasn’t told us this yet, who is good-looking, but nothing said about character and commitment. As we are not reading here that Saul is a godly man, a righteous man, or a man after God’s own heart. I would suggest that what we are getting here is sort of the cream of the crop in the eyes of men. Not necessarily the Lord’s best choice, but the cream of the crop of the people. In other words, the best they have to offer. I guess we could say at this point if we were being a little skeptical that time-will-tell.
“Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, ‘Take now with you one of the young men, and arise, go search for the donkeys.’”
1 Sam 9:3 (LSB)
Now this is an odd way to approach this story, isn’t it? That with such threats in Israel and the high priority of selecting a leader, the narrator chooses to tell us that Saul is looking for lost donkeys. Now we are confronted once again, here with the great importance of the relationship between a father and a son. This was true in the stories thus far of Eli and his sons and Samuel and his sons and now we have a father, Kish, working with his son, Saul. And the story then takes us on the journey of Saul trying to find the donkeys, where we come to the phrase in (vs 5) where Saul says to the young man with him, “Come, and let us return, lest my father cease to be concerned about the donkeys and become anxious for us.” This is actually the first quality thing we read about Saul, that he was thinking about his Dad and that his father would be concerned about him. So, this gives us a little more hope that we might have with Eli’s sons or Samuel’s sons. So, then in (vs 6) the young man with Saul speaks.
“But he said to him, ‘Behold now, there is a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have gone.’”
1 Sam 9:6 (LSB)
Now remember at this point we do not know that Saul is the guy to be king, nor are we told that this man of God is actually Samuel. But since chapter 8 lies just before this we do naturally make a connection here in the story, as Saul’s journey brings him to Samuel, the man of God.
“Then Saul said to his young man, ‘But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?’”
1 Sam 9:7 (LSB)
Here we learn another good quality of Saul in that he was not looking for something for free. In fact, a good quality to look for in our own lives, that of being generous and willing to pay rightly for what we receive. As we do not want to presume on people, we do not want to be looking for handouts. I worked for many years selling kitchens to some contractors who tried to get everything they could for free, and then I worked with other customers who were willing to work with me. Sometimes when pricing a kitchen for certain contractors, I made sure that I went a little over on the estimate because I knew that if I did not have a buffer, it would cost me in the end. Whereas others, I especially wanted to provide a service for them because they trusted me and I trusted them. What we do not want to be known as, is a Christian who is cheap. But that we are generous with people. That we are kind to people. That we pay rightly for those things we receive.
“And the young man answered Saul again and said, ‘Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.’”
1 Sam 9:8 (LSB)
This is interesting as we have this young man, who likely is a servant of Saul, being the one who had some extra cash on hand. And his willingness here to help out and they end up going to see this man of God. Well, if you have read the story you know that this meeting will not be easy, as the narrator takes us first to a woman (vs 11) but finally to Samuel. As this is the way God works sometimes. For when we left chapter 8, it was the people asking Samuel for a king. Then Samuel has a conversation with the Lord and the Lord says to grant their request. So, then you would think that chapter 9 would be all about Samuel seeking out a king for Israel, but the story goes immediately to this man named Kish with a son named Saul who is looking for his Dad’s donkeys and amazingly runs into Samuel.
I mean some of you may have an odd story of how you met someone in your life or how you met your spouse. It may have all begun with some random event that brought you together, nothing that you would have ever dreamed up. Now that did not happen with Anne and me as we were at the same church, as our Moms and Dads were best friends and they had all this in mind likely before Anne and I did. But sometimes God chooses to work quietly in the background.
I was at Peoples for eleven years and played hockey with some guys I didn’t know in Thedford except I think Stewart. And I was just starting to think about, as I was getting older, the desire to teach more. So, you would think that I would call Elim who was without a pastor, but I didn’t know about Elim. But Elim called me, as I played hockey with a guy named Larry Teeple. I have told the Sunday night crowd before that I had connected with a church in Guelph who thought I was too old and so they said they were not interested, and in the interim, I preached at Elim and later received a call from Larry on June 17, 2021. Then after meeting with the Elim elders a little later and some further discussion, I said “yes” to Elim on Saturday, July 17. A couple of days later, I received a call from the church in Guelph asking if I might still be interested, and I said, “you snooze, you lose!” No, I didn’t say that!
It does make you think that though Anne and I were praying and we were truly looking for the Lord’s direction, how God was working in the background and sent a church my way that was not on my radar. And humanly you might think, how did all that happen? And Anne and I cannot express enough just how thankful that the Lord has brought us here. Elim is not a perfect church, for it is made up of all of us, imperfect people. But it is a church that truly desires the Lord’s direction. It is a church that believes completely in the inerrancy of God’s Word. And it is a church that has many who humbly desire to serve Christ. And I am sure that you too can see God’s hand working in situations in your life, that you may have been concerned about, only to find that God was also at work.
So, chapter 8 ended with Samuel telling the people of Israel to go back to their cities, with no mention of Samuel now doing anything at that point. And here the Lord brings Saul to Samuel so of in this round-about-way of doing things, but actually done by a Master planner. And here we find Samuel bringing a sacrifice to the Lord, possibly as Samuel is still lamenting the hearts of the people in asking for a king. And in (vs 13) we read some puzzling information with this woman still speaking to Saul and his young assistant.
“As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. So now, go up for you will find him at once.”
1 Sam 9:13 (LSB)
Just wondering here why it would say that the man of God invited certain individuals to eat, in other words, a chosen few. Not sure if Samuel here had selected some whom he trusted to seek out the Lord’s will for who was to be king, but whatever Saul meets Samuel (vs 14). Now we do learn that Samuel knew what was going on here, as God had informed him of this man named Saul coming, though Saul does not know any of this himself. So, maybe Samuel had selected this high place and this group of people to announce Saul as king. And again, if we read this story carefully we are just assuming that the man of God is Samuel, as he is not mentioned by name yet in chapter 9.
“Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, ‘Please tell me where the seer’s house is.’”
1 Sam 9:18 (LSB)
So, knows nothing about any of it, nor does he even know that this is the man of God, let alone Samuel. So, here we have the first meeting between Samuel and Saul, who will be mentioned together now for many chapters. As God chooses to bring them together. Again, times when God will introduce someone into our lives, that we end up knowing for years, and good or bad it really changes much of the direction and the result of our lives. So, now we can see the plot of the story of why the lost donkeys, why the search, that Samuel just happened to be there, as all the events and all the timing were completely in the hands of God.
Now I do believe we need to be leery of viewing life in a mystical way. That everything means a sign for something. But also believe we need to think deeply about why God has placed us where we work, or why God has placed you in this ministry, or why God has positioned with these people. Why the connections here at Elim between you and your children, and other Moms and Dads and their children. Why the Sunday school teacher you have? Why the certain kids in your class? Why those babies in the nursery? Why the friendship you have made with someone here? As it is all important and not by happenchance. That even the struggle you may face tomorrow is given to you from God’s hand, or the cause for joy later next week. As these are all events that God oversees and that God has orchestrated, for us to glorify Him or even times when we may fail Him, God allows us to walk through.
Friendships that we have only because we are here, and somehow God drew us here, otherwise we would have never known each other. As I think back to associations that I am so grateful for only because of the Lord’s leading. I am even grateful for a worker back in my kitchen days who made my job harder, and ultimately gave me a nudge toward full-time ministry. And sometimes we do not express enough our appreciation for the good testimony of someone else that the Lord has placed in our path, that the Lord has blessed us to minister beside each week, such a blessing! I love what John Woodhouse observed in this story. He noticed that Samuel only knew about the person of Saul because the Lord revealed this to him, he wrote:
“No one can deduce God’s purpose merely by observing events (either historical or contemporary). Only when God reveals his purpose (as he did on this day for Samuel and as he has done on a larger scale in the whole Bible) can any human know the purpose of God in human events. The important theological principle here is that we only understand the work of God because God has spoken.”
John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader 162
See, what Woodhouse is doing here is directing us to the Word of God. He is encouraging us to lean heavily upon it. In other words, we know what we know, because it has been recorded for us in God’s Word. We would never know that the Lord would return someday if God had not told us. We would never know that in the end all things will be made right if God had not said so to us. We would never know that sin and death would someday be defeated if God had not stated this. As the events of our daily world would never give that indication would it? In other words, what hope would we have outside of God’s Word? This is why our hope is not set on the things that we see, but our hope is set on the truth of His Word.
Young people this is why, like us adults, you may look around and begin to question the goodness of God. Or you may feel that something is right because society says so. Yet we know that what is good and what is right and what is best is because of what God has said, and not how our feelings may direct us. As our feelings cannot determine truth, our society cannot determine truth, even our minds cannot determine truth. Only God can, as God through His Word has spoken to us. This is why Paul could so confidently say to a young Timothy:
“For this reason I also suffer these things [i.e. I, Paul have gone through many struggles Timothy, and testings that I could never explain, I have even gone to prison], but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed [I know what God has said] and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
2 Tim 1:12 (LSB)
And notice here that though God will allow Samuel to anoint Saul as king, as we said last week, God is not letting go of His people. Verse 16, the king shall be ruler over My people Israel. The king shall save My people from the hand of the Philistines. Verse 17, this king shall restrict My people. And though the people were not ready to acknowledge this, God was making it certain that He was still their God, their true leader. And Saul was only in power because God had allowed him, which is true of every person in power today. And I suppose that if this whole plan fell apart, would the people cry out to Saul or to Samuel? No, to God, as it is God who is in absolute control of things here. Because if there is one who we need to cry out to, it is God. The One who is sovereign, the one who has control of all these things. And even a part of our culture, not that long ago, it would not be strange for a political leader to cry out to God in times of trouble. I miss that, as this is such a great loss in our society. Maybe there was a time in your life when crying out to God was more common for you. Though we may not believe what the world believes, we certainly can be influenced by the world’s dependence upon itself and we too can miss God. Remember when the children of Egypt had been made slaves in Egypt:
“And the sons of Israel sighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God.”
Ex 2:23b (LSB)
Then later in the times of the judges:
“Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for the sons of Israel to save them.”
Judg 3:9 (LSB)
What does make me smile in this story is that Saul has no idea of all that is going on as he is just there looking for the donkeys. In other words, he was in the story, in fact, the centre of the story, but for everyday earthly reasons he was there. Yet he didn’t know the story, as I am sure that God has stepped into the lives many times of men and women when they were only there for their own earthly concerns. I have told you before about Anne’s niece Melissa, who grew up with a godly grandmother and grandfather, yet who moved to Florida with her Mom when she was only five. For many years Anne kept in contact with Melissa, though Melissa was not a Christian, who when she was in her early twenties was invited by a Christian boy to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert, where she gave her heart to the Lord and they have both served the Lord with their family of five children ever since. And if you asked Melissa why she was at the concert she may have said that she was there maybe for the music or she was there for the boy. Yet God orchestrated other reasons for her being there, didn’t He? In other words, she was there for her own reasons, but God had His reasons.
“And Samuel answered Saul and said, ‘I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your heart. As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found.’”
1 Sam 9:19-20a (LSB)
Saul might be thinking at this point, say that again? I’m just here for the donkeys. Talk about the Lord turning the direction of your life upside down in a hurry.
“And Saul answered and said, ‘Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?’”
1 Sam 9:21 (LSB)
Again, to Saul’s credit we see another quality here, that of his humbleness, In other words, he is saying, you realize that I am just from Port Franks and you want me to move to Ottawa?
“Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the chamber and gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, who were about thirty men.”
1 Sam 9:22 (LSB)
What a classic story! I noticed after Samuel had prepared a feast for Saul, it would seem that they slept on the roof.
“Then they came down from the high place into the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. And they arose early; and at the breaking of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, ‘Get up, that I may send you away.’ So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, ‘Say to the young man that he might pass before us and pass onwards, but you remain standing now, that I may cause you to hear the word of God.’”
1 Sam 9:25-27 (LSB)
It is interesting to be reminded here of what doesn’t Saul yet know, he doesn’t know the purpose of all this. He has no idea that Samuel is going to anoint him as king. And notice that chapter 9 ends. Imagine if we had not known the rest of the story and the chapter ended here. It is sort of like when the Rings of Power by Tolkien ends after an episode and you have to wait for the next one, with so many loose ends. Now know that the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible were added later, they are not inspired, though they are helpful when finding passages and verses, but they do not always land at a good spot. But we will end here. So, Samuel tells Saul to let his young companion go and that Saul is to wait with Samuel, so that Saul could hear (vs 27). Saul might be thinking, hear what Samuel? Saul, you are going to hear the Word of God. Well, there are some great lessons about God from this story.
What lessons is God teaching us about Himself? One, God is working behind the scenes unbeknownst to us. What we have been learning this morning is all about a providential God. Here is a definition of the providence of God by Millard Erickson.
“The continuing action by God by which He preserves in existence the creation he has brought into being and guides it to His intended purposes for it.”
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology 359
Two, God is intricately involved with His creation, every detail. Three, God never loses sight of His people.
What lessons is God teaching us about ourselves? One, we must be careful to think deeply about the people and the places where the Lord directs us. Two, we must be willing to change direction when God redirects us. Three, we must be willing to take hold of the responsibilities that God places before us. I am thinking here about the seriousness of life. The need to be a good spouse, a good parent, a dedicated worker, to take ministry seriously. In my case, if I believe that God did call me here, the need to take this position so seriously. That God would create us, watch over us, desire us to live solely for Him, and then orchestrate all the events and people and places and conversations that occur each day in our lives. That life would become far greater about Him and far less about us. (pray) Farther, what a blessing to have a God who is so intimate in every part of our lives, that each and everything matters, and that nothing is insignificant. So, teach us to know these things about You. That our lives would be full of meaning and full of Your glory. And all God’s people said, amen.