As we dive back into our study of 1 Samuel today, I want to set the table for us and orient our minds around some of the central characters, the plot line, and some of the central themes so that we can rightly interpret and apply the text to our lives.

The book of 1 Samuel centers around major shifts in leadership of the nation of Israel as they move from being led by the judges (when everyone did what was right in their own eyes), to being led by priests like Eli who utterly fail to lead in a godly manner, to being led by prophets like Samuel who typically shine as God’s chosen prophetic leaders, whom Israel is guilty of rejecting time and time again, to kings like Saul who is God’s chosen instrument of judgement and David who is God’s chosen instrument of redemption.

The bottom line here is that leadership is at the heart of the matter during this historical period in Israel’s story and at the heart of the issues is the hearts of the people and her leaders; the central point all throughout the story is the condition of the hearts of the people and the leaders who either reject God’s leadership or submit to his leadership.

Think about the contrast between King Saul and King David as an illustration for the issues of the heart that seem to surface over and over again in this story. The stories of King Saul and King David follow, what one commentator refers to as, a “rise-fall” pattern where their lives are characterized by “noble beginnings and painful endings”.2

When you examine King Saul’s life you can see the rise of Saul (1 Sam. 9 – 12), and then you see the turning point for Saul (1 Sam. 13 – 15), and then you see the decline of Saul (1 Sam. 16 – 31). When you examine King David’s life you can see a similar plotline when you see the rise of David (1 Sam. 16 – 2 Sam. 10), and then you see the turning point for David (2 Sam. 11 – 12), and then you see the decline of David (2 Sam. 13 – 1 Kings 2).

The rise of King Saul in 1 Samuel 9 – 12 is brought on by Israel’s rejection of the Lord and their desire for an earthly king in chapter 8. In this episode, we learn that while God’s sovereign choice is on purpose and is controlled by none other than God himself, God still chose King Saul, so that he could give his people exactly what they wanted so that he (God) could reject Saul just as Saul had rejected him (1 Sam. 8:7; 22; 16:1).3

We must also remember that as Saul rises to the throne as Israel’s desired human king, his sin and his full rejection of God and subsequent rejection by God becomes the turning point of Saul’s life (which we will study later in chapter 13) where Saul’s corrupt heart takes the center stage. One commentator helpfully explains that Saul’s impending heart failure can be visualized between two parallel scenes 1 Samuel 9 and 13.4

  1. Parallel Number One: In chapter 9, Saul hurries to meet Samuel as he searches for some donkeys but then in chapter 13, he hurries forward into battle without waiting for Samuel. The first incident leads to success while the second incident leads to “failure and rejection”.
  2. Parallel Number Two: In chapter 9 and verse 13, some women inform Saul that no one will eat until Samuel arrives but then in chapter 13 Saul does not wait for Samuel’s arrival before doing “the inadmissible” as he offers the sacrifice without Samuel’s leadership.

The bottom line here is that the heart of the king is at the heart of the storyline. While the storylines of both King Saul and King David do possess some similarities in the general ark of the story, there is a striking difference between the two storylines in that with David (especially during the years of his decline) “the primary focus is on a delivering, saving God” (2 Sam. 22).5

Once again, these contrasts in the plotline serve to highlight the difference between the repentance of both kings (1 Sam. 15:28 and 16:1 – 7); Saul is rejected because of his false repentance while David is accepted because of his authentic repentance. The heart is the heart of the issue when it comes to God’s acceptance or rejection of a person.

Even if you skip forward to 2 Samuel 12:13, you will see that King David recognizes that he has sinned against the Lord alone (see also Psalm 51:4) but by contrast, King Saul continuously excuses his sin, blames his sin on the people and seeks public recognition instead of God’s forgiveness (1 Sam. 15:12 – 30). Therefore, despite the egregious sins of both men in the story, God chooses to strip King Saul of his kingship (1 Sam. 15) while establishing the throne of King David forever (2 Sam. 7:14 – 16).

King David’s response to God’s promise to establish his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:18 – 29)is another bird’s eye view into the heart of a king who had a heart for God (1 Sam. 13:14)versus, by contrast, the heart of King Saul who continuously rejected God and was rejected by God at the end of the story.

Once again, the heart is at the heart of the difference between the storylines of these two kings. God, who looks upon the heart of man, sees what men cannot see and he is faithful to redeem those who continue to seek him amidst their struggle with sin (1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Sam. 12:13; 24:1 – 25).

Bottom line, you can either be a King Saul or a King David. You can either submit to God and be accepted by God or you can reject God and be rejected by God. This brings us to the first portion of our text for today where Israel’s rejection of God is on full display for everyone to see. Look at the text with me…

17Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.” 20Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” 25Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

#1: ISRAEL REJECTS GOD (VV. 17 – 19)

In verses 17 – 19, Samuel gathers all of Israel into the Lord’s presence where God serves up what should have been a scathing indictment for their rejection of God himself. God literally says, “I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you… But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us’”. And then he instructs them to present themselves to him and organize themselves by the thousands according to their individual tribes.

I do not know about you but if I heard the Lord tell me that I had utterly rejected him because I desired some physical thing more than him, and if he instructed me to present myself before him, I would like to think that I certainly would be trembling with fear of what was about to happen. Of course, we know that Israel did no such thing. They were not afraid. It seems more like they were excited to be getting exactly what their little hearts desired in a physical king just like the surrounding nations had.

Nevertheless, the indictment has been read, and the people have been gathered, ready to receive just what their hearts desired: a physical king rather than the Almighty King who had saved them.

Matthew Henry makes this observation regarding Israel’s rejection of God when he says, “Those that [think they] can live better by [a physical] sense [rather] than by faith, that stay themselves [or rest] upon an arm of flesh rather than upon the Almighty arm, [wind up forsaking] a fountain of living water [as they run headlong after] broken cisterns”.6 

And God basically says, if you no longer want living water but you want broken cisterns instead, then a broken cistern is what I will give you! This is basically what happens in the second portion of our passage as God gives Israel just what her little heart desires and admittedly deserves!

#2: GOD GIVES ISRAEL WHAT SHE WANTS (VV. 20 – 24)

In verses 20 – 24, Samuel leads the people of Israel through a voting process where they casted lots to identify their new human king. At the end of the process, Saul is chosen from the tribe of Benjamin, and he is nowhere to be found because he is hiding among the baggage of all the people who had gathered to vote because he is a coward.

So, the people ask God if there is someone else, but God is determined to give them their just desserts, so he rats Saul out and the people grab him and Samuel confirms that this new king is exactly what the people wanted, a king who is like no one else in all of Israel and a king who stands above everyone. Israel is so full of herself that they cry out, “Ling live the King!”

If only Israel had cried those words out in worship of their One True King who had already proven his ability to lead them and to save them but that is not how the story goes because the heart of Israel had already rejected their One True King.

Here again, Matthew Henry is super helpful with his observations when he says that “Israel had rejected Samuel’s prophetic leadership – and by default had rejected God’s leadership – by demanding a human king, so God sovereignly works through Israel’s human system of voting by casting lots to publicly install Saul as their human king… but anyone with any sense of biblical knowledge should have foreseen the impending judgement that was headed their way since this new king was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin rather than the tribe of Judah.”7

Why is it significant that Saul was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin instead of the tribe of Judah? Well… in Genesis 49:10, 27, Jacob prophesied that the tribe of Judah was where kings were supposed to come from, and that the tribe of Benjamin would only produce ravenous wolves.

In other words, since Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, Israel was getting exactly what she deserved: a ravenous wolf to rule over her because of her rejection of her One True King who alone has the power to save. If the trap for judging Israel’s sin had not been set good enough yet, God puts the final twist on things when he has Samuel instruct the nation of Israel regarding the duties and rights of their new king.

#3: SAMUEL EXPLAINS THE DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF THE KING (V. 25)

In verse 25, we read that “Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.” So, what were these duties and rights that Samuel explained to Israel? Scholars believe that Samuel’s instructions here were probably a reminder of what he had already said in chapter 8 along with some of the details of Deuteronomy 17:14 – 20.

In 1 Samuel 8:11 – 18, immediately following Israel’s demand for a human king, Samuel warns them by saying, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day, you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

The bottom line here is that Israel’s desire for a human king and her rejection of the Lord as her One True King would result in great suffering as her beloved earthly king ravaged her like predatory wolf. Israel has been warned twice, confronted for her rejection of God, and ultimately turned over to having her sinful desires filled by a ravenous wolf who will abuse her and tear her to pieces as she gives herself over to him as a slave.

This is a sobering reminder of what happens when we reject God as our One True King. Once again, Matthew Henry makes a helpful observation when he says that “Samuel’s instructions regarding the rights and duties of the king, simply act as the final, binding warning of the impending judgement that is to come.”8 It is almost as though God is saying, “This is your last warning… there is no turning back now!”

With this final warning everyone is sent home to ponder what they have just experienced but there is a final detail in the last verse of our text that is kind of interesting to take note of as our final scene describes how the new king is both protected by some and rejected by others.

#4: SAUL IS PROTECTED AND REJECTED (VV. 26 – 27)

Look at the last two verses of our text with me where we read that “Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went some men of valor whose hearts God had touched. But some worthless fellows said, ‘How can this man save us?’ And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace” (vv. 26 – 27).

First of all, every commentary I read noted the fact that Saul did not go to his Kingly castle because there wasn’t one yet, so he went home just like everyone else. But interestingly, his hometown is the place that had most likely been overrun with their mortal enemies, the Philistines, whom God had instructed Saul to wipe out earlier in 1 Samuel 10:7 but it seems obvious that Saul had not acted obediently yet, and he had not even told anyone of God’s instructions to wipe out these enemies of theirs.9

Could this be yet another compounding instance of Saul’s cowardly and disobedient character? First, he did not make war against the Philistines when God told him to, then he hid in the baggage during Samuel’s indictment of Israel and subsequent choosing of Saul to appear before the Lord, and now even further, he made no effort to confront the “worthless fellows” who not only reject him as the new king whom the people had demanded but these worthless fellows also rejected the God who chose Saul in answer to the people’s demands.10 Thank God that he touched the hearts of some fierce military men to protect the new King even though it seems like Saul does not even take any courage in his newly appointed secret service detail.

Bottom line… Saul is a cowardly king whom God will use to bring judgement upon the nation of rebellious Israel as he advances his own kingdom and prepares them for the coming of King David not to mention the eternal King in the distant future. The reality here is that our best laid plans of rebellion will never undo the sovereign power of the Eternal King in bringing to fruition, His work of advancing His eternal kingdom.11 This should bring us some comfort and it should also challenge us to look to the Only One to whom we should cry out “Long Live The King of Kings!”

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, after examining Israel’s rejection of God, and God giving Israel exactly what she wants and deserves, and Samuel’s nail in the coffin of a speech regarding the rights and duties of the king who will take more than he will give, and the closing scene where Saul’s cowardice seems to bleed off the page… I am really struck by the irony of the people when they exclaim “Long live the king” on behalf of the king they demanded in their rejection of the Saving King they already had.

Is not this just like us? Do we not struggle with rejecting God and demanding or becoming infatuated with some man-made, physical, or worldly thing that we believe will satisfy our sinful desires? Do we not seek out substitutes for God constantly and then secretly or not so secretly make it known that we wish those substitutes would last forever? Our struggle with things like greed, lust, unforgiveness, pride, anger, contempt, covetousness, acceptance, power, control, popularity, etc., are all evidence that we desperately need a true King who will live forever and will actually save us from our sinful impulses.

This is where it is so good to be reminded of King Jesus. The One who went to the cross on our behalf. There was no cowardly character in him. He did not hide out in the baggage. He did not shrink back from facing down Satan, Sin, and Death. He did not keep quiet in the corner; he came proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God and he never backed down. He proved that he was not a king who would take more than he gives. On the contrary, he gave everything, all the way down to his last breath so that takers like you and I could find true eternal forgiveness and salvation.

Not only that, but he also left the tomb completely empty, signifying his ultimate Kingship in victory over our mortal enemies. He takes little old you and me and commissions us into his army and then advances his kingdom across the world through the church of misfits and to top it all off, he has promised to bring us into his eternal presence in Heaven at the end of the age.

While there are plenty of warnings for us in the people of Israel and in the person of king Saul, there are also plenty of reminders that there is a King who is so much better and so much more deserving of our submission and allegiance. King Jesus is that king! Long Live The King Of Kings!!! – Amen!!!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Victor, P., Hamilton, Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001), 299.

3 Ibid., 253.

4 Ibid., 234.

5 Ibid., 300.

6 Matthew, Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Complete and Unabridged in Six Volumes, Volume 2 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), 261.

7 Ibid., 261 – 262.

8 Ibid., 262.

9 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 185, 187.

10 Ibid., 189-190.

11 Ibid.