Thoughts for the Day

Samuel said to Saul "Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage: When you depart from me today you will meet two men by tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, “The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: What shall I do about my son?” Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from them. After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person. Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you. And you shall go down to Gilgal ahead of me; then I will come down to you to present burnt-offerings and offer sacrifices of well-being. For seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.’

As he turned away to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When they were going from there to Gibeah, a band of prophets met him; and the spirit of God possessed him, and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them. When all who knew him before saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, ‘What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?’ A man of the place answered, ‘And who is their father?’ Therefore it became a proverb, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ When his prophetic frenzy had ended, he went home.

Saul’s uncle said to him and to the boy, ‘Where did you go?’ And he replied, ‘To seek the donkeys; and when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.’ Saul’s uncle said, ‘Tell me what Samuel said to you.’ Saul said to his uncle, ‘He told us that the donkeys had been found.’ But about the matter of the kingship, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

God has guided Samuel to Saul who will in due course become the first king of Israel. But the time is not right for a public proclamation of his position, he needs time to grow into the role and has enough sense not to tell his uncle exactly what has happened. The anointing with oil sets him apart as marked for God's work, in the same way that a priest is anointed with holy oil for their work. Notice the signs that are given to him, and their accuracy - the meeting of the two men who confirm the donkeys are safe; the three men going to make a sacrifice to God who give him two loaves of bread which are meant for the priest (as God's anointed he can eat the 'holy' bread); and lastly the way he is caught up in the frenzied worship with the band of prophets.

The prophets appear to be coming from a sanctuary, probably at Gibeah (which means 'hill of God') and would have been musicians who played instruments and sang praises to God, as well as prophesying. They were likely to have been men from the tribe of Levi who had been set apart to serve God. We see the way Saul is caught up in their worship so that he too prophesies, for God has given him a 'new heart'. We might say he was transformed by God's Spirit.

There are times in our life when we feel energised by God's Spirit. Paul in the letter to the Ephesians talks about putting on a "new self" and allowing God to renew us with His Spirit. He says "You were taught to put away your old self ..... and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God." (Ephesians 4.22-24). This work never stops when we allow the Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes as we spend time each day with Him.

Almighty God,
may we put off our old life
and embrace our new self.
May we be energised by Your Spirit
as we daily seek to renew
our thoughts, our actions,
and our attitudes.
Teach us to grow more like You,
rejecting all that is unworthy
and with the help of Your Spirit
to grow into the person
You would have us be.
Amen.