Thoughts for the Day

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: ‘Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people, because their outcry has come to me.’ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ‘Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.’ Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, ‘Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?’ Samuel answered Saul, ‘I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, give no further thought to them, for they have been found. And on whom is all Israel’s desire fixed, if not on you and on all your ancestral house?’ Saul answered, ‘I am only a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then have you spoken to me in this way?’

Then Samuel took Saul and his servant-boy and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom there were about thirty. And Samuel said to the cook, ‘Bring the portion I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside.’ The cook took up the thigh and what went with it and set them before Saul. Samuel said, ‘See, what was kept is set before you. Eat; for it is set before you at the appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests.’

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. When they came down from the shrine into the town, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul upon the roof, ‘Get up, so that I may send you on your way.’ Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, ‘Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.’ Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, ‘The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage:'

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The day before Saul arrives in the town we hear that 'God uncovered Samuel's ear', as the original has it, and indicated who would be the leader of His people, not at this stage called a king, but rather a prince in waiting. We notice yet another God-given coincidence - just as Saul is going into the town, Samuel is coming out of the town; and the very person whom Saul asks directions from is the Prophet himself. But Saul's mind is all on his family's lost donkeys, until he is reassured that they have been found. The announcement that on him and on his ancestral house "all Israel’s desire" is fixed, brings merely the comment that his tribe of Benjamin was small (after many losses in a war), and was also named after the last of Jacob's sons. He also points out that his family is the least important.

Modesty or not, Saul and his servant are given places of honour at the feast, and Saul is presented with the meat that was usually offered to a priest, for Leviticus 27.32 states : 'And the right thigh from your sacrifices of well-being you shall give to the priest as an offering.' He must have been mightily confused for he didn't yet know that God had him in mind as the ruler of His people.

The following morning Samuel takes a flask of oil and pours it on Saul's head, anointing him in secret for the task that lies before him. It is not right, just yet, for Saul's mission to be made public. He needs time to adjust to to the notion, but he does need to know that God had chosen him as the warrior who will protect His people and as the ruler who will lead them in future.

It is important that we note that what God has planned may not necessarily work out since we are all open to accepting or rejecting what God suggests, and all too often we turn away from His ways.

Lord Jesus Christ,
we ask Your involvement in our life,
and are willing to go with Your ideas
when it suits us,
not always recognising that it
may well not be the easiest path.
Keep us true to our promises to You
wherever the road leads us,
that Your plans and ours will fuse
seamlessly together.
Amen.