1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,600 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,680 All right, we're going to go ahead and continue our Bible study 10 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:27,920 here in First Samuel. 11 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,600 So if you want to follow along in your Bibles, we're in First Samuel, 12 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:32,480 chapter nine. 13 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,480 And if you've been with us now for a while, you know what we've 14 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:36,840 been doing. 15 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,640 We've been tracking this book of the Bible verse by verse. 16 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,000 And really the first eight chapters have a focus on a man named 17 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:45,520 Samuel. 18 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,520 Obviously, at the very beginning, we know that his mom, 19 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,800 Hannah, was praying for a child, and God granted her a child 20 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,000 in his grace and in his mercy. 21 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,880 And so Samuel was committed to the Lord. 22 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:58,680 And so again, the first. 23 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,040 Really, the first eight chapters is dealing with Samuel and 24 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,840 his relationship with God for the most part. 25 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,800 And now here in chapter nine, we see somewhat of a transition from 26 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,239 the focus being on Samuel to the focus being on a guy named Saul. 27 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,040 And if you remember, back in chapter eight, the people were crying 28 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,120 out and saying essentially this. 29 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:21,920 We want our own king. 30 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,300 We want a king like everybody else. 31 00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:29,180 If you remember back in verse, or even all the way back in, at the 32 00:01:29,180 --> 00:01:31,580 beginning of the chapter First Samuel, chapter eight, they demand 33 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:32,100 a king. 34 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:34,820 And they say, we want one just like everybody else. 35 00:01:34,820 --> 00:01:36,500 We want to be just like the world. 36 00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:39,580 We want to have a king like all the other pagan nations. 37 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:43,700 And Samuel warns Israel, he says, israel, if you want this, this 38 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:44,860 is what you're going to get. 39 00:01:45,260 --> 00:01:47,100 And God has patience with the people. 40 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:48,380 He gives them a second chance. 41 00:01:48,380 --> 00:01:49,420 But essentially they. 42 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,280 They say, no, we want a king of our own. 43 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,240 We want to be just like all the other nation nations. 44 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:56,440 That's verse five. 45 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:58,880 At the very end of verse five of chapter eight, they said, we want 46 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,640 a king to judge us like everybody else. 47 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,280 And so the desire to have a king was not a bad desire, but the 48 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,400 motivation behind the desire was the wrong thing. 49 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:07,680 The. 50 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:08,800 The motivation was this. 51 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,000 We want to be like the world. 52 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,360 We want to be like everybody else. 53 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:17,530 And so God in his patience, God and his mercy, allows for them 54 00:02:17,610 --> 00:02:20,010 to essentially have their own king. 55 00:02:20,250 --> 00:02:23,450 Now, leading up to this point, all the way from the very beginning, 56 00:02:23,450 --> 00:02:25,730 all the way up to this point, it essentially was what we call a 57 00:02:25,730 --> 00:02:26,410 theocracy. 58 00:02:26,410 --> 00:02:27,370 God was king. 59 00:02:27,450 --> 00:02:29,490 There were Individuals that were judges. 60 00:02:29,490 --> 00:02:32,690 There were individuals that somewhat gave some guidance when 61 00:02:32,690 --> 00:02:35,610 it came to spiritual matters, like prophets and such, like Samuel. 62 00:02:35,930 --> 00:02:39,290 But up until this point, Israel had not had a human king. 63 00:02:39,530 --> 00:02:42,970 And so they cried out, God gave them what they wanted. 64 00:02:43,710 --> 00:02:46,310 This is indicative of what we see in Romans chapter one. 65 00:02:46,310 --> 00:02:49,470 If you remember back in Romans chapter one, in our study in Romans, 66 00:02:49,710 --> 00:02:51,950 the Bible says that there's going to be individuals that want 67 00:02:51,950 --> 00:02:55,830 what they want and eventually God gives them over to what they 68 00:02:55,830 --> 00:02:56,110 want. 69 00:02:56,670 --> 00:02:59,990 But I want you to see a verse in the New Testament that kind of 70 00:02:59,990 --> 00:03:02,590 parallels, I believe 1st Samuel chapter 9. 71 00:03:02,670 --> 00:03:05,070 And that's found in 2nd Timothy chapter 2. 72 00:03:05,630 --> 00:03:08,070 And so I think this is important for us to know because 73 00:03:08,070 --> 00:03:13,080 even in Israel's rebellion, even in Israel's selfishness, even 74 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,200 in Israel's pride, God still extends mercy to them. 75 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:18,720 He still is faithful. 76 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,120 He still gives them an opportunity to have a king. 77 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,600 And a lot of people will look at the life of Saul and say, well, 78 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:24,640 Saul didn't have a chance. 79 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,360 But we see Saul having many chances by the Lord to obey him and 80 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,880 to ultimately be a good king. 81 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,920 And so in the midst of Israel's rebellion, God still gives 82 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:35,600 them a chance. 83 00:03:36,010 --> 00:03:37,530 God still gives them mercy. 84 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:41,930 And so in 2 Timothy chapter 2, I think that this is so important 85 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:44,970 for us to know because sometimes we think that if when we 86 00:03:44,970 --> 00:03:48,210 make a mistake, God's just going to let us go, we when we make 87 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:50,810 a mistake as God's children, that he's just going to forget about 88 00:03:50,810 --> 00:03:51,130 us. 89 00:03:51,610 --> 00:03:55,810 But in second Timothy chapter 2, verse 13, it says this. 90 00:03:55,810 --> 00:03:59,890 If we believe not, or in the, in the concept of the original language, 91 00:03:59,890 --> 00:04:04,070 it's this, if we lack faith, if we struggle in believing what 92 00:04:04,070 --> 00:04:07,150 the Lord gives us, not necessarily in salvation, but in 93 00:04:07,150 --> 00:04:10,470 the case of trusting him on a day to day basis, he says, yet he 94 00:04:10,470 --> 00:04:11,790 abideth faithful. 95 00:04:12,190 --> 00:04:16,070 Meaning this, when we struggle, when we're faithless, when 96 00:04:16,070 --> 00:04:21,230 we doubt God, when we have our own pride, when we have our own selfishness, 97 00:04:21,470 --> 00:04:23,710 it says here, he still is faithful. 98 00:04:23,870 --> 00:04:26,190 So the way that you could summarize that thought is this. 99 00:04:26,590 --> 00:04:29,320 Even when we're not faithful, God is faithful. 100 00:04:29,950 --> 00:04:33,310 Even when Israel was not faithful, God was faithful. 101 00:04:33,630 --> 00:04:37,030 Even when a believer is unfaithful, God is still faithful. 102 00:04:37,030 --> 00:04:38,950 And it says there, why not? 103 00:04:38,950 --> 00:04:41,190 Because we're great people, not because we deserve it. 104 00:04:41,190 --> 00:04:45,390 But it says here, he cannot deny Himself, meaning God cannot 105 00:04:45,390 --> 00:04:46,590 go against his character. 106 00:04:47,230 --> 00:04:49,230 God is faithful in his character. 107 00:04:49,310 --> 00:04:52,430 He's not just faithful because we're faithful. 108 00:04:52,430 --> 00:04:55,550 He's faithful because ultimately that's part of his character. 109 00:04:55,550 --> 00:04:59,080 And so therefore, Israel is not faithful to the Lord. 110 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,080 They want to go out and they want to have what the world has. 111 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,840 The Bible likens it in the Old Testament to spiritual adultery. 112 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,920 Israel goes against the Lord and seeks after the world. 113 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,520 And so God could have just cut the. 114 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,200 The nation of Israel away and said, you want your own king? 115 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:17,520 Fine, have a Canaanite king. 116 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,200 But no, he's faithful. 117 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,120 And he allows for a man named Saul to be selected. 118 00:05:23,740 --> 00:05:25,140 And then Saul could have. 119 00:05:25,140 --> 00:05:27,020 We're going to see this in the study with Saul. 120 00:05:27,100 --> 00:05:30,380 Saul had every opportunity to follow God, but. 121 00:05:30,380 --> 00:05:31,780 And he starts out really good. 122 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:33,500 He starts out in a good place. 123 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:38,140 But the story of Saul is essentially a story of someone who 124 00:05:38,140 --> 00:05:42,940 starts in a good place, but yet just devolves into a place of 125 00:05:42,940 --> 00:05:44,380 brokenness and destruction. 126 00:05:44,460 --> 00:05:46,620 And he gets to a place at the very end where. 127 00:05:46,620 --> 00:05:50,380 Where he's empty, where he's spiritually in darkness and evil 128 00:05:50,380 --> 00:05:50,940 takes over. 129 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,760 And so we're going to study the life of Saul here, starting in 130 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:55,960 chapter number nine. 131 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:57,640 So let's look at it here. 132 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,040 We're going to go through it as much as we can tonight. 133 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,200 And a lot of this becomes what we consider in the Bible to be descriptive 134 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:05,720 passages. 135 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:07,199 What do I mean by that? 136 00:06:07,199 --> 00:06:10,440 Well, there's some passages in the Bible that are prescriptive, 137 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,680 meaning do this or don't do this. 138 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,960 So, for example, you know, love God with all your heart, soul, 139 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:17,520 mind, and strength. 140 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,160 That would be prescriptive. 141 00:06:19,330 --> 00:06:21,890 But then we have other passages of scripture that are considered 142 00:06:21,890 --> 00:06:25,010 to be descriptive, meaning it's just describing what happened. 143 00:06:25,010 --> 00:06:26,450 And that's what a lot of this is. 144 00:06:26,450 --> 00:06:28,330 And so some of this can be monotonous. 145 00:06:28,330 --> 00:06:31,690 And so some of you are not into history or you're not into records. 146 00:06:31,690 --> 00:06:34,530 This might get a little bit boring, but I'm going to try my best 147 00:06:34,770 --> 00:06:36,690 to make the words come off the page. 148 00:06:36,690 --> 00:06:40,690 I'm going to try to see if we can all see the message here behind 149 00:06:40,690 --> 00:06:41,650 chapter number nine. 150 00:06:41,650 --> 00:06:42,770 So, first one, it says this. 151 00:06:42,770 --> 00:06:44,530 Now, there was a man of Benjamin. 152 00:06:44,530 --> 00:06:45,730 Now we'll stop there. 153 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:50,200 This is describing Saul, and it says what tribe he is from. 154 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,360 And Remember, there's the 12 tribes of Israel. 155 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,280 And each tribe has its own significance. 156 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,920 The tribe of Benjamin was a very small tribe. 157 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,480 It was not going to be usually considered by most people at the 158 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,480 time to be the tribe that was the most powerful tribe. 159 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,880 But there's also other aspects of the tribe of Benjamin which most 160 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:08,160 of you may or may not know. 161 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,280 But eventually there's some people in the New Testament that 162 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,770 you might know that are the tribe of Benjamin, another Saul, 163 00:07:12,770 --> 00:07:14,130 who eventually becomes Paul. 164 00:07:14,210 --> 00:07:15,810 He was of the tribe of Benjamin. 165 00:07:15,890 --> 00:07:19,090 And so you'll see that that phrase throughout Scripture. 166 00:07:19,090 --> 00:07:22,450 So it says that he's from the tribe of Benjamin, whose, whose name 167 00:07:22,450 --> 00:07:27,330 was Kish and son of Abel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becket, 168 00:07:27,490 --> 00:07:31,410 the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 169 00:07:31,730 --> 00:07:34,770 And he had a son whose name was Saul. 170 00:07:35,010 --> 00:07:38,810 And so this is what we would consider to be the physical description 171 00:07:38,810 --> 00:07:43,430 of Saul which when we see him described we would say, yes, of course, 172 00:07:43,430 --> 00:07:44,430 that would be the king. 173 00:07:44,830 --> 00:07:49,670 And, and remember the contrast between the people's king and God's 174 00:07:49,670 --> 00:07:50,030 king. 175 00:07:50,110 --> 00:07:53,030 We're going to see a description here of Saul who what 176 00:07:53,030 --> 00:07:55,070 we will see here will be the people's king. 177 00:07:55,070 --> 00:07:57,630 The people say this, this guy looks like a king. 178 00:07:57,950 --> 00:08:00,110 And then eventually we're going to get to a guy named David 179 00:08:00,110 --> 00:08:02,270 who was God's king, not the people's king. 180 00:08:02,270 --> 00:08:05,270 And David is not going to be someone who people would pick out 181 00:08:05,270 --> 00:08:05,670 as king. 182 00:08:05,670 --> 00:08:08,110 Actually, if you remember, David's own family forgot about him. 183 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,920 All the other brothers lined up and David was out in the field 184 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,280 and, and again we'll get to that later on. 185 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:14,840 But this is a description of Saul. 186 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,720 And what we see here in this description is that he is a very 187 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,040 impressive, good looking man, says, and he had a son whose name 188 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,080 was Saul, a choice young man and a goodly, meaning he's of good 189 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:26,560 looks. 190 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,320 And there was not among the children of Israel goodlier person 191 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,080 than he, meaning he looked the best. 192 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:32,800 He was the best. 193 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:34,800 He was the choice individual. 194 00:08:35,599 --> 00:08:39,519 From his shoulders and upward, he was higher than any of the people. 195 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:42,039 And so this speaks to his physical stature. 196 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:45,879 Now we don't know exactly how tall he is, even though there's a 197 00:08:45,879 --> 00:08:48,559 lot of commentators that have some guesses about how tall Saul 198 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:48,799 is. 199 00:08:48,799 --> 00:08:51,679 But what we do know is that he's taller than everybody else. 200 00:08:51,919 --> 00:08:55,719 And so regardless of his actual height, we do know that he's 201 00:08:55,719 --> 00:08:56,639 taller than everybody. 202 00:08:56,639 --> 00:08:58,399 So that would bring some sense of power. 203 00:08:58,479 --> 00:09:01,860 And when people would look at him, they would notice that he had 204 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:03,100 that good looking appearance. 205 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:05,900 And so Saul looked like a great king. 206 00:09:06,540 --> 00:09:10,780 And if being king over Israel was all about image, which for many 207 00:09:10,780 --> 00:09:14,140 people it was, Saul was the man for the job. 208 00:09:14,620 --> 00:09:17,820 But we do know that God is actually looking at other things. 209 00:09:17,820 --> 00:09:20,060 We know that God doesn't look on the outward appearance. 210 00:09:20,060 --> 00:09:21,180 God looks on the heart. 211 00:09:21,980 --> 00:09:26,740 But here we see a profile of someone who fits the bill for the 212 00:09:26,740 --> 00:09:27,020 people. 213 00:09:27,970 --> 00:09:31,010 We go on and See really what his situation is in this case. 214 00:09:31,010 --> 00:09:31,330 And. 215 00:09:31,570 --> 00:09:35,090 And we actually see that at this point in time, Saul is a picture 216 00:09:35,810 --> 00:09:37,730 of the people of Israel. 217 00:09:37,890 --> 00:09:40,930 And so Saul would be an individual representation of the 218 00:09:40,930 --> 00:09:44,290 spiritual aspect of the whole nation at this point. 219 00:09:44,690 --> 00:09:45,050 And. 220 00:09:45,050 --> 00:09:48,290 And so from the outside, Israel looks very powerful. 221 00:09:48,850 --> 00:09:51,810 From the outside, Israel looks successful. 222 00:09:52,050 --> 00:09:54,610 But on the inside, we know that spiritually they're decaying 223 00:09:54,610 --> 00:09:57,150 because they're desiring their own path. 224 00:09:57,150 --> 00:10:01,670 And essentially what we see here is that Saul had lost his dad's 225 00:10:01,670 --> 00:10:02,590 donkeys, okay? 226 00:10:02,590 --> 00:10:04,350 And so he's basically walking lost. 227 00:10:04,350 --> 00:10:05,510 He doesn't know where to turn. 228 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:08,750 That's a great picture of how Israel was at this point, trying 229 00:10:08,750 --> 00:10:13,270 to find some kind of hope, trying to find some sort of satisfaction 230 00:10:13,270 --> 00:10:14,230 in losing something. 231 00:10:14,230 --> 00:10:16,990 So verse three, in the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. 232 00:10:16,990 --> 00:10:20,390 And Kish said to Saul his son, take now one of these servants with 233 00:10:20,390 --> 00:10:21,110 thee and arise. 234 00:10:21,110 --> 00:10:22,190 Go seek the asses. 235 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,920 And he passed through Mount Ephraim and passed through the land 236 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,720 of Cilicia, but they found them not. 237 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:29,600 So they're searching, they're looking, they have. 238 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:31,680 Eventually we're going to see here that they lose hope. 239 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,320 They don't know where to find them. 240 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,240 And so they passed through the land of Shailen, and they. 241 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:37,520 There they were not. 242 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,400 And he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found 243 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:40,960 them not. 244 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,800 And when they had come to the land of Zoof, Saul said to his servant 245 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,800 that was with him, come and let us return, lest my father leave 246 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,120 caring for the asses and take thought for us. 247 00:10:51,700 --> 00:10:53,220 And so in this case, basically what. 248 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,020 What Saul says is that, hey, we're. 249 00:10:55,020 --> 00:10:56,180 We can't figure this out. 250 00:10:56,180 --> 00:10:57,540 We can't find our way. 251 00:10:57,940 --> 00:10:59,140 We don't know where to go. 252 00:10:59,380 --> 00:11:02,340 And so basically, Saul is in a state of frustration. 253 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:05,940 And we see that happening a lot with Saul throughout his life. 254 00:11:05,940 --> 00:11:08,820 His character trait of anything, you could say a lot of 255 00:11:08,820 --> 00:11:10,740 things that would characterize Saul, but one of those things would 256 00:11:10,740 --> 00:11:11,700 be he's frustrated. 257 00:11:11,700 --> 00:11:13,700 He can't figure out the right way to go. 258 00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:14,820 And so. 259 00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:16,020 But God is still working. 260 00:11:16,180 --> 00:11:21,180 And we see God's hand of providence on the life of Saul, even 261 00:11:21,420 --> 00:11:24,180 in the life of the donkeys, actually, because we all kind of 262 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:27,700 aligns him to come and find a fellow named Samuel, which you guys 263 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:29,740 are all familiar with. 264 00:11:29,820 --> 00:11:31,180 So let's look at verse number six. 265 00:11:31,180 --> 00:11:33,100 His servant actually gives him some advice. 266 00:11:33,179 --> 00:11:36,940 And he said unto him, behold, now there is a city, a man of God, 267 00:11:37,340 --> 00:11:38,940 and he is an honorable man. 268 00:11:39,260 --> 00:11:40,940 And so he's referencing Samuel. 269 00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:43,740 All that he saith cometh surely to pass. 270 00:11:43,740 --> 00:11:44,860 Now let us go thither. 271 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,240 Per adventure, he can show us our way that we should go. 272 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:50,960 So you see the irony here. 273 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:56,720 In verse 6, you have Saul and you have his servants who are looking 274 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,240 for these lost donkeys. 275 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,480 So it's a material need that they're looking for. 276 00:12:01,039 --> 00:12:01,400 They. 277 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,040 They think that Samuel could be the guy who tell them where the 278 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:05,720 donkeys are. 279 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,040 So they're going to Samuel, a prophet of God, to give them direction 280 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:11,280 on their material loss. 281 00:12:12,220 --> 00:12:14,740 Now, really, what they should be doing is going to Samuel for spiritual 282 00:12:14,740 --> 00:12:16,140 advice, but that's not what they're doing. 283 00:12:16,460 --> 00:12:20,860 But the irony of what is being said here is that it is true. 284 00:12:21,020 --> 00:12:23,860 Samuel could show them the way to go, but not necessarily the way 285 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:25,420 to find their donkeys, even though he does. 286 00:12:25,580 --> 00:12:28,060 But he should show them the way to go, to follow the Lord. 287 00:12:28,060 --> 00:12:30,460 Because Saul needs guidance when he becomes king. 288 00:12:30,540 --> 00:12:31,140 Verse 7. 289 00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:36,460 Then said Saul to his servant, but behold, if we go again, we see 290 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:37,420 salt here. 291 00:12:37,420 --> 00:12:38,220 I want you to see this. 292 00:12:38,470 --> 00:12:40,310 Saul is always focused on the material. 293 00:12:40,950 --> 00:12:42,630 He says, if we go, what. 294 00:12:42,630 --> 00:12:43,350 What does he say? 295 00:12:43,350 --> 00:12:44,790 What shall we bring the man? 296 00:12:45,190 --> 00:12:48,430 For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present 297 00:12:48,430 --> 00:12:49,670 to bring the man of God. 298 00:12:49,670 --> 00:12:50,230 What have we? 299 00:12:50,230 --> 00:12:52,270 He says, how could we go to this guy? 300 00:12:52,270 --> 00:12:53,670 We don't even have anything to give him. 301 00:12:53,830 --> 00:12:55,910 Remember, he's thinking, like, what could we give him? 302 00:12:55,910 --> 00:12:58,430 It's kind of like the whole idea of, I give you something, you 303 00:12:58,430 --> 00:12:59,070 give me something. 304 00:12:59,070 --> 00:13:01,030 And that's, again, that's not how God works. 305 00:13:01,270 --> 00:13:03,710 Ultimately, God gives us everything, and all we come to him 306 00:13:03,710 --> 00:13:04,710 in brokenness is. 307 00:13:04,910 --> 00:13:06,830 Is in humility, saying, lord, I need you. 308 00:13:06,990 --> 00:13:10,470 But in this case, it was customary of the time to come to 309 00:13:10,470 --> 00:13:11,470 anybody for advice. 310 00:13:11,470 --> 00:13:13,630 You would want to bring something with you as a gift. 311 00:13:13,790 --> 00:13:16,510 And so you could look at this as just, hey, Saul's trying to be, 312 00:13:16,510 --> 00:13:17,630 you know, nice guy. 313 00:13:17,870 --> 00:13:20,670 Also, you could look at Saul thinking that his focus is only on 314 00:13:20,670 --> 00:13:21,350 the material. 315 00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:22,750 I don't have anything to give him. 316 00:13:23,390 --> 00:13:24,390 So let's see what. 317 00:13:24,390 --> 00:13:25,390 What happens next. 318 00:13:25,470 --> 00:13:26,030 Verse 8. 319 00:13:26,030 --> 00:13:29,070 And the servant answered Saul again and said, behold, I have here 320 00:13:29,070 --> 00:13:32,400 at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver that will I give 321 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,280 to the man of God to tell us our way. 322 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:38,800 So what we see here in this case is that they're expecting to 323 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,920 pay Samuel for his prophetic services. 324 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:42,720 And so the. 325 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,000 The servant says, hey, I've actually got something here. 326 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:45,800 I've got some money. 327 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,200 And so I think we can bring that to him. 328 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:49,640 So that's what they do. 329 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:50,200 Verse 9. 330 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,320 Before time in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus 331 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,880 he spake, come, let us go to see the seer. 332 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,920 For he that is now called a prophet was before time called a 333 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:00,360 seer. 334 00:14:01,230 --> 00:14:05,310 So basically what we see here is that if there is a term seer in 335 00:14:05,310 --> 00:14:07,950 the Old Testament, in this particular case, it's talking about 336 00:14:07,950 --> 00:14:08,590 a prophet. 337 00:14:08,910 --> 00:14:12,350 And that idea would be that the prophet and the seer are interchangeable. 338 00:14:12,430 --> 00:14:15,950 The prophet not only professes the word of God, proclaims the word 339 00:14:15,950 --> 00:14:19,030 of God, but also the prophet would see the way that God is working. 340 00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:20,870 So he says, Samuel is a seer. 341 00:14:20,870 --> 00:14:24,230 It's not that Samuel has the supernatural power in himself, but 342 00:14:24,230 --> 00:14:27,360 because of his relationship with God, he's able to essentially 343 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:28,640 give the guidance of the Lord. 344 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:30,200 And that's what he's talking about here. 345 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,560 So the word seer is. 346 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:34,240 Is essentially interchangeable with. 347 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,080 With prophet. 348 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:36,760 So, so we know that that might be the case. 349 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:37,440 And so they're. 350 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,840 They're coming to consult a prophet, and they're going to try 351 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,720 to see if he knows where their donkeys are. 352 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,280 Verse 10. 353 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,320 Then said Saul to his servant. 354 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:46,920 Well said. 355 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,120 He said, that's a good idea. 356 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:49,000 Come, let us go. 357 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:51,400 So they went unto the city where the man of God was. 358 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:56,290 So they think that they're coming to see Samuel for this help 359 00:14:56,290 --> 00:15:01,130 in finding donkeys, where we ultimately know that God is directing 360 00:15:01,130 --> 00:15:04,610 them to Samuel to find out that Saul is going to be the next 361 00:15:04,610 --> 00:15:05,970 king or the first king. 362 00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:06,810 So. 363 00:15:06,810 --> 00:15:07,330 Verse 11. 364 00:15:07,330 --> 00:15:10,130 And as they went up to the hill to the city, they found young 365 00:15:10,130 --> 00:15:12,130 maidens going out to draw water and sentence them. 366 00:15:12,130 --> 00:15:13,090 Is the seer here? 367 00:15:13,410 --> 00:15:15,530 And they said unto them, and said, he is. 368 00:15:15,530 --> 00:15:17,090 Behold, he is before you. 369 00:15:17,170 --> 00:15:17,970 Make haste now. 370 00:15:17,970 --> 00:15:19,810 For he came today to the city. 371 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,310 And for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place. 372 00:15:22,310 --> 00:15:23,430 So they're like, you just missed them. 373 00:15:23,430 --> 00:15:24,550 Hurry up, go find them. 374 00:15:24,550 --> 00:15:25,150 Verse 13. 375 00:15:25,150 --> 00:15:29,030 As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him 376 00:15:29,030 --> 00:15:31,190 before he go up to the high place to eat. 377 00:15:31,190 --> 00:15:33,790 For the people will not eat until he comes, because he doth bless 378 00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:34,430 the sacrifice. 379 00:15:34,430 --> 00:15:36,910 And afterwards they eat that be bidden. 380 00:15:36,910 --> 00:15:40,430 Now therefore get you up, and for about this time ye shall find 381 00:15:40,430 --> 00:15:40,670 him. 382 00:15:40,670 --> 00:15:41,550 So they go. 383 00:15:41,550 --> 00:15:42,110 Verse 14. 384 00:15:42,110 --> 00:15:43,270 And they went up to the city. 385 00:15:43,270 --> 00:15:45,790 And when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out 386 00:15:45,790 --> 00:15:48,260 against them, and for to go up to the high place. 387 00:15:48,420 --> 00:15:52,580 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, 388 00:15:53,300 --> 00:15:56,060 so he's A this is interesting because we actually find out that 389 00:15:56,060 --> 00:15:57,540 God's working ahead of all this. 390 00:15:57,860 --> 00:16:01,460 And I think this is another point that we could take on a theological 391 00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:04,620 side of things, is that when we think that we're right in the 392 00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:06,340 middle of it, God's already ahead of us. 393 00:16:07,060 --> 00:16:10,100 I know there's been times in my life, and probably in your life, 394 00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:13,300 that you could say, I didn't know that God was working behind 395 00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:14,820 the scenes, but he was. 396 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:17,300 I didn't know that God was working ahead of me, but he was. 397 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:19,140 And that's the case here. 398 00:16:19,140 --> 00:16:22,860 Saul has no idea that God has talked to Samuel about this. 399 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:26,260 But we see here, because we have the blessing of Scripture, that 400 00:16:26,260 --> 00:16:28,220 God had already come and talked to Samuel. 401 00:16:28,220 --> 00:16:28,660 And I like. 402 00:16:28,660 --> 00:16:30,580 I like the way that it mentions it here. 403 00:16:30,580 --> 00:16:34,060 Verse 15, it says, now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a 404 00:16:34,060 --> 00:16:34,500 day before. 405 00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:42,630 So the original Hebrew has the idea of God came and unclog Samuel's 406 00:16:42,630 --> 00:16:44,750 ears and filled him with this information. 407 00:16:45,390 --> 00:16:49,910 So God spoke to Samuel prior to this, and he said, tomorrow about 408 00:16:49,910 --> 00:16:52,590 this time, I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, 409 00:16:52,590 --> 00:16:56,110 and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, 410 00:16:56,510 --> 00:17:00,110 that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines. 411 00:17:01,070 --> 00:17:06,190 I'm going to stop right there because many of you know that Saul 412 00:17:06,190 --> 00:17:06,430 is. 413 00:17:06,580 --> 00:17:07,700 Isn't a great king. 414 00:17:08,180 --> 00:17:12,300 He has some high points, but Saul essentially is a man of himself, 415 00:17:12,300 --> 00:17:14,020 and he fails in many cases. 416 00:17:14,420 --> 00:17:18,500 But we do know that God has a plan for Saul, and the plan was for 417 00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:20,620 him to have victory over the Philistines. 418 00:17:20,620 --> 00:17:22,180 And we know that Saul did lead that. 419 00:17:22,660 --> 00:17:25,460 And so I think, again, that's a picture of God's faithfulness. 420 00:17:25,460 --> 00:17:28,980 Even in the midst of our unfaithfulness, God is still working 421 00:17:28,980 --> 00:17:32,020 and giving us opportunities to have victories. 422 00:17:32,020 --> 00:17:32,820 And so he does that. 423 00:17:32,820 --> 00:17:34,810 And he says, this is my plan for Saul. 424 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:38,000 For I have looked upon my people because their cry is, come 425 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:38,640 unto me. 426 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,400 And I just see here really an example of God's faithfulness and 427 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,000 patience and mercy with people who did not know what was best for 428 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:48,320 them. 429 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,080 Israel was pleading with God for something. 430 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,440 And eventually God says, okay, I will give you that. 431 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,680 But even in the midst of that, we know there's a verse in Romans 432 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,000 8, Romans 8, 28, that God works all things together for good. 433 00:18:01,530 --> 00:18:03,690 Now, I think that that principle can be seen right here, 434 00:18:03,690 --> 00:18:07,530 that even in Israel's bad decision in wanting a human king, 435 00:18:07,530 --> 00:18:09,610 God can still use that for his good. 436 00:18:10,410 --> 00:18:13,090 And I think that's also an idea that we can take in our own 437 00:18:13,090 --> 00:18:16,370 life that we shouldn't want to mess up, we shouldn't try to mess 438 00:18:16,370 --> 00:18:16,729 up. 439 00:18:16,970 --> 00:18:20,010 But the grace and the mercy is that when we do mess up, God can 440 00:18:20,010 --> 00:18:22,930 use those good decisions or those bad decisions for good. 441 00:18:22,930 --> 00:18:25,330 I should say he can use good decisions, of course, but he also 442 00:18:25,330 --> 00:18:26,405 can use bad decisions. 443 00:18:26,405 --> 00:18:29,030 And, and I think all of us probably in our life could say, well, 444 00:18:29,030 --> 00:18:30,630 I didn't draw it up that way. 445 00:18:31,030 --> 00:18:34,190 I definitely know that that wasn't God's will for me to do these 446 00:18:34,190 --> 00:18:34,550 things. 447 00:18:34,950 --> 00:18:37,590 But at the end, God can work those out for good. 448 00:18:38,230 --> 00:18:42,030 And I hope that we all can take, you know, comfort and solace 449 00:18:42,030 --> 00:18:44,910 in the fact that we don't have to be perfect. 450 00:18:44,910 --> 00:18:47,790 Even though we should strive to follow God in every way that we 451 00:18:47,790 --> 00:18:48,470 possibly can. 452 00:18:48,870 --> 00:18:51,950 I think that all of us should strive to be obedient and have a 453 00:18:51,950 --> 00:18:52,630 godly lives. 454 00:18:53,030 --> 00:18:57,830 But at the same time, when we do make a mistake, God can revitalize, 455 00:18:57,830 --> 00:19:00,750 he can renew, he can take ashes and turn them into beauty. 456 00:19:00,750 --> 00:19:04,590 And that's what we see here in this case is that even Israel's desire 457 00:19:04,590 --> 00:19:09,350 to have this king of their own outside of the control of God was 458 00:19:09,350 --> 00:19:10,190 not going to be the case. 459 00:19:10,190 --> 00:19:12,310 Even though they wanted their own king, it was still going to be 460 00:19:12,310 --> 00:19:15,630 the under their control and ultimately the allowance of God. 461 00:19:15,630 --> 00:19:17,110 And God allows for this to happen. 462 00:19:17,110 --> 00:19:20,160 And God actually does some degree ordains for this to happen. 463 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:22,720 And so I think that's important for us to note in our lives 464 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,960 that if we think we've done too much to break God's will in our 465 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:27,680 life, we haven't. 466 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,920 Because God can use those bad decisions for his ultimate good. 467 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,160 And that's what he does here in this case. 468 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,120 He says they, they're crying out, I hear them. 469 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,600 But even in their bad decision, I'm giving them something 470 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:38,720 in grace. 471 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:39,240 Verse 17. 472 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,440 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, behold the man 473 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,610 who I spake of, spake to thee of this same shall reign over my 474 00:19:47,610 --> 00:19:47,930 people. 475 00:19:48,010 --> 00:19:52,050 So, so God obviously identifies Saul as the man that, 476 00:19:52,050 --> 00:19:54,570 that Samuel would eventually anoint. 477 00:19:55,050 --> 00:19:56,890 But things have to happen before that. 478 00:19:57,370 --> 00:19:59,210 And so God is working ahead. 479 00:19:59,770 --> 00:20:02,089 He identifies Saul. 480 00:20:02,650 --> 00:20:03,290 Verse 18. 481 00:20:03,290 --> 00:20:06,770 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said, tell me, I 482 00:20:06,770 --> 00:20:08,530 pray thee, where the seer's house is. 483 00:20:08,530 --> 00:20:12,010 So obviously Samuel knows who it is, but Saul doesn't. 484 00:20:12,730 --> 00:20:15,370 And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. 485 00:20:15,690 --> 00:20:19,930 Go up before me unto the high place, for ye shall eat with me today 486 00:20:20,010 --> 00:20:23,930 and tomorrow I will let thee go, and will tell Thee all that is 487 00:20:23,930 --> 00:20:24,730 in thine heart. 488 00:20:26,090 --> 00:20:29,890 And so I, I find this super interesting because again, Saul is 489 00:20:29,890 --> 00:20:33,530 coming to Samuel for a material need, but he's going to 490 00:20:33,530 --> 00:20:38,090 leave the occasion with Samuel, as it says here, and God's 491 00:20:38,090 --> 00:20:40,930 going to reveal what's in the heart of Saul and ultimately reveal 492 00:20:40,930 --> 00:20:42,490 what God's plan is for him. 493 00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:45,810 And so we're going to see verse 20. 494 00:20:45,810 --> 00:20:49,850 And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not 495 00:20:49,850 --> 00:20:50,810 thy mind on them. 496 00:20:50,810 --> 00:20:53,410 Now, this is kind of like in, I don't know if you guys ever seen, 497 00:20:53,410 --> 00:20:56,890 like a movie and, you know, someone knows something that the 498 00:20:56,890 --> 00:20:59,130 other person doesn't know, and they mention it, they're like, wait, 499 00:20:59,130 --> 00:21:01,530 how did you know that I was looking for the donkeys? 500 00:21:01,530 --> 00:21:02,850 That's essentially what happens here. 501 00:21:02,850 --> 00:21:05,850 Saul never tells Samuel that he's looking for donkeys yet, but 502 00:21:05,930 --> 00:21:07,130 Samuel knows. 503 00:21:07,210 --> 00:21:09,970 So Samuel says, hey, just come back and I'm going to let you know 504 00:21:09,970 --> 00:21:10,810 where those donkeys are. 505 00:21:11,210 --> 00:21:11,490 And he. 506 00:21:11,490 --> 00:21:13,810 And he knows how long they were actually gone for. 507 00:21:13,810 --> 00:21:15,170 So this shows the. 508 00:21:15,170 --> 00:21:18,130 The omnipotence, but also the omniscience of God. 509 00:21:18,130 --> 00:21:20,610 God is all powerful, but God is all knowing. 510 00:21:20,610 --> 00:21:21,370 God knows everything. 511 00:21:21,370 --> 00:21:22,410 God's ahead of us. 512 00:21:22,490 --> 00:21:23,730 This reminds me of. 513 00:21:23,730 --> 00:21:26,690 Of many occasions in scripture where God knew what was on the heart 514 00:21:26,690 --> 00:21:29,610 of the individual before the individual shared that with him. 515 00:21:30,090 --> 00:21:34,090 And so he says, and on whom is all the desire of Israel? 516 00:21:34,250 --> 00:21:37,290 Is it not on thee and on all thy father's house? 517 00:21:37,290 --> 00:21:40,170 And so Samuel goes, hey, I'll tell you where your. 518 00:21:40,170 --> 00:21:41,330 Your donkeys are. 519 00:21:41,810 --> 00:21:44,570 But also I'm going to tell you that all of Israel is resting on 520 00:21:44,570 --> 00:21:44,850 you. 521 00:21:45,010 --> 00:21:45,330 That. 522 00:21:45,330 --> 00:21:45,930 That here. 523 00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:49,970 He says, is it not on thee and on all thy father's house the desire 524 00:21:49,970 --> 00:21:50,770 of Israel? 525 00:21:51,330 --> 00:21:53,490 And Saul doesn't know how to take this. 526 00:21:54,610 --> 00:21:56,570 You can look at this from a few different perspectives. 527 00:21:56,570 --> 00:22:00,610 Some people think that verse 21 indicates Saul's humility. 528 00:22:01,090 --> 00:22:02,290 And that could be the case. 529 00:22:02,290 --> 00:22:05,410 Maybe Saul had not had his ego filled yet, and he's still a very 530 00:22:05,410 --> 00:22:06,050 humble guy. 531 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,920 Or it could just be Saul trying to pass the buck off. 532 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:14,200 But Saul basically says, am not I a Benjaminite of the smallest 533 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,000 of the tribes of Israel? 534 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:15,520 He says, why? 535 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,040 Why would all of Israel want me? 536 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:18,280 What's the big deal with me? 537 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,120 And he says, my family, the least of all the families of the 538 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,720 tribe of Benjamin, Wherefore then speakest thou so to me? 539 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,880 So he's like, why would you talk to me this way? 540 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:27,840 I'm not that important. 541 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:35,370 Now if you do go back, because it Just says in verse one that his 542 00:22:35,370 --> 00:22:40,250 dad's a mighty man of power and that, that Saul is a choice man. 543 00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:45,290 So it is kind of incongruent basically to see Saul respond this 544 00:22:45,290 --> 00:22:45,610 way. 545 00:22:45,690 --> 00:22:48,610 And so we don't know the heart of Saul necessarily, other than the 546 00:22:48,610 --> 00:22:51,250 fact that he could be being very humble here or he could be just 547 00:22:51,250 --> 00:22:54,170 trying to say, like, I don't really want to share what I am or 548 00:22:54,170 --> 00:22:54,730 who I am. 549 00:22:54,730 --> 00:22:55,490 Verse 22. 550 00:22:55,490 --> 00:22:58,770 And Samuel took Saul his servant and brought them into the 551 00:22:58,770 --> 00:23:02,050 parlor and made them to sit in the cheapest place among them that 552 00:23:02,050 --> 00:23:03,970 were bidden, which were about 30 persons. 553 00:23:03,970 --> 00:23:07,890 So this is important as well because, you know, even in our culture 554 00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:10,930 today, we understand sitting in the choice seats, right? 555 00:23:11,250 --> 00:23:17,050 And so I as, interestingly enough, I saw a, a recent post. 556 00:23:17,050 --> 00:23:17,970 It was a picture. 557 00:23:18,210 --> 00:23:20,610 It was somewhere in England they were selling, I think it was 558 00:23:20,610 --> 00:23:21,010 England. 559 00:23:21,170 --> 00:23:23,410 Might have been, it might have been in the United States early on. 560 00:23:23,410 --> 00:23:27,650 But it was a picture of when a church used to basically rent out 561 00:23:27,650 --> 00:23:28,210 pews. 562 00:23:28,610 --> 00:23:31,370 So you had to pay money for where you were going to sit on Sunday 563 00:23:31,370 --> 00:23:31,730 morning. 564 00:23:32,180 --> 00:23:36,020 And I was so interested to see where all the most expensive seats 565 00:23:36,020 --> 00:23:38,860 were because I thought maybe they were up front, but that wasn't 566 00:23:38,860 --> 00:23:39,220 the case. 567 00:23:39,220 --> 00:23:39,940 It wasn't up front. 568 00:23:39,940 --> 00:23:42,580 It wasn't in the very back, even though it obviously wasn't a 569 00:23:42,580 --> 00:23:44,380 Baptist church, because then that would have been the, the high 570 00:23:44,380 --> 00:23:45,060 price seats. 571 00:23:45,140 --> 00:23:48,020 I, I can say that because when I grew up, I sat on the back rows. 572 00:23:48,020 --> 00:23:50,340 But, but actually it was like right in the middle. 573 00:23:50,340 --> 00:23:51,740 It was like right in the middle area. 574 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:54,980 But either way, but, but we all know that when you go to a place, 575 00:23:54,980 --> 00:23:57,380 maybe going to a sports game or maybe you're going to. 576 00:23:57,770 --> 00:24:00,810 And even a meal, and you're sitting in the, in the big spot, 577 00:24:00,810 --> 00:24:05,250 the big ticket spot, that's exactly what Saul is given by Samuel. 578 00:24:05,250 --> 00:24:07,290 He says, hey, come sit in the nice spot. 579 00:24:07,290 --> 00:24:09,210 And this would have been a place of honor. 580 00:24:09,210 --> 00:24:10,970 This would have been a place of recognition. 581 00:24:11,770 --> 00:24:13,690 And so Saul was given a special portion. 582 00:24:14,010 --> 00:24:17,090 And again, I, I think we could just look at this as descriptive 583 00:24:17,090 --> 00:24:18,530 and go, okay, he sat in the nice seat. 584 00:24:18,530 --> 00:24:19,530 But what does that mean? 585 00:24:19,930 --> 00:24:21,330 I think that what that means is still. 586 00:24:21,330 --> 00:24:25,260 God is still giving Saul every opportunity, the taste of the blessings 587 00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:27,980 of being part of this opportunity to serve him. 588 00:24:28,140 --> 00:24:29,820 He says, hey, you can have all of this. 589 00:24:29,820 --> 00:24:31,820 You can, you can sit in seat of honor. 590 00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:35,340 You can, you can focus on this opportunity to serve me. 591 00:24:35,900 --> 00:24:38,060 And so Saul was given a special portion. 592 00:24:38,700 --> 00:24:42,260 And I believe that he had every opportunity to serve God. 593 00:24:42,260 --> 00:24:43,500 And we're going to see that. 594 00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:44,380 That he doesn't. 595 00:24:44,380 --> 00:24:46,100 So moving Forward here, verse 23. 596 00:24:46,100 --> 00:24:49,740 And Samuel said unto the cook, bring the portion which I gave thee 597 00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:51,660 of which I said unto thee, set it by thee. 598 00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:53,440 So he says, give him the good food and cook. 599 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,720 And the cook took up the shoulder and that was upon it, and 600 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:57,760 set it before Saul. 601 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,760 So that's like he gives him the best cut of meat. 602 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,120 And Samuel said, behold, that which is left, set it before thee 603 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:03,680 and eat. 604 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,200 For unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, 605 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:08,480 I have invited the people. 606 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,520 So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. 607 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,400 So this just describes essentially their. 608 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:17,080 Their meal that they had together, this opportunity to see 609 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:18,160 this special blessing. 610 00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:19,370 Verse 25. 611 00:25:20,090 --> 00:25:22,850 And when they were come down from the high place into the city, 612 00:25:22,850 --> 00:25:26,010 Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. 613 00:25:26,570 --> 00:25:30,250 So Samuel isolates Saul and he's now going to give him the truth. 614 00:25:30,250 --> 00:25:31,130 He's going to give him. 615 00:25:31,370 --> 00:25:33,450 What we're going to see here is called the Word of God. 616 00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:38,810 And, and this is obviously not something that any of us are probably 617 00:25:38,810 --> 00:25:39,330 going to experience. 618 00:25:39,330 --> 00:25:42,370 We're not going to experience being called by God to be the king 619 00:25:42,370 --> 00:25:47,420 of Israel, but we all have an opportunity to hear the word of God 620 00:25:47,420 --> 00:25:47,740 in. 621 00:25:47,740 --> 00:25:51,460 In the capacity of the word of God, the Bible, or through preaching 622 00:25:51,460 --> 00:25:52,220 or through teaching. 623 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:56,060 So this is Saul's opportunity to take in what God wants for him. 624 00:25:56,220 --> 00:25:57,020 Verse 26. 625 00:25:57,020 --> 00:25:59,580 And they arose early, and it came to pass about the spring of 626 00:25:59,580 --> 00:26:02,620 the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, 627 00:26:02,620 --> 00:26:04,620 up that I may send thee away. 628 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:08,500 And Saul arose, and they went out, both of them, he and sought 629 00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:09,500 Samuel abroad. 630 00:26:09,910 --> 00:26:12,270 And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said 631 00:26:12,270 --> 00:26:14,510 to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us. 632 00:26:14,510 --> 00:26:16,230 He says, I want to have you alone. 633 00:26:16,710 --> 00:26:21,270 And he passed on, but stand thou still a while that I may show 634 00:26:21,270 --> 00:26:22,870 thee the word of God. 635 00:26:23,830 --> 00:26:25,750 And so that's where this chapter ends. 636 00:26:26,390 --> 00:26:32,310 Samuel, no doubt, at this point tells Saul about Israel's desire 637 00:26:32,310 --> 00:26:34,030 for a king, that. 638 00:26:34,030 --> 00:26:37,510 That God had allowed for Saul to be that king. 639 00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:41,260 And so Samuel is going to introduce essentially the official 640 00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:43,300 anointing to Saul here and then. 641 00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:44,580 So we're going to talk about next week. 642 00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:48,460 We're going to talk about Saul's anointing and how even in 643 00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:52,460 the midst of Israel's rebellion and even in Saul's materialism 644 00:26:52,460 --> 00:26:55,860 and his selfishness, God still allows for the anointing to happen. 645 00:26:55,860 --> 00:26:59,740 In the anointing, by the way, the anointing of oil in the Old Testament 646 00:26:59,740 --> 00:27:03,860 is a picture of the Holy Spirit being placed upon an individual's 647 00:27:03,860 --> 00:27:07,440 life, even though in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit did not 648 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,040 entwell believers. 649 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:14,160 When we so give you a quick theological lesson, the New Testament 650 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,240 tells us after Pentecost that after we trust in Jesus as our Savior, 651 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,280 the Holy Spirit indwells us, meaning he comes into our hearts, 652 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:27,160 he comes into our lives, he indwells us, he's within us, and 653 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:28,400 that cannot be taken away. 654 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,880 But in the Old Testament, that isn't the typical norm of what would 655 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:33,200 happen. 656 00:27:33,580 --> 00:27:35,340 We would see indications that the. 657 00:27:35,420 --> 00:27:38,180 It says in the Old Testament that the Spirit of God would come 658 00:27:38,180 --> 00:27:39,020 upon people. 659 00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:42,540 And so it wouldn't be a permanent indwelling of the Spirit 660 00:27:42,540 --> 00:27:46,460 as much as it was at what we would call temporary moments where 661 00:27:46,460 --> 00:27:48,700 God would come on them in the midst of obedience. 662 00:27:49,339 --> 00:27:53,100 But what we will see that even in some cases that. 663 00:27:53,180 --> 00:27:56,780 That in First Samuel, that Saul had times when God's power was 664 00:27:56,780 --> 00:27:57,740 working through him. 665 00:27:58,060 --> 00:28:02,820 But more often than not, Saul chooses to do his own thing and follows 666 00:28:02,820 --> 00:28:03,580 his own path. 667 00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:07,820 And so when we see Saul here being anointed by God, don't think 668 00:28:07,820 --> 00:28:12,740 that he was saved here and then eventually lives in sin and 669 00:28:12,740 --> 00:28:15,340 lost his salvation and God is not faithful to him. 670 00:28:15,580 --> 00:28:16,260 No, that's. 671 00:28:16,260 --> 00:28:17,180 That's not what happens. 672 00:28:17,180 --> 00:28:21,100 Because the Bible says that initially every believer is saved 673 00:28:21,100 --> 00:28:25,140 through faith, we essentially will see a big debate on whether 674 00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,340 or not Saul is in heaven or not at the end of his life. 675 00:28:27,660 --> 00:28:30,380 There's a lot of debate on whether or not Saul was saved. 676 00:28:30,380 --> 00:28:31,420 Saul was not saved. 677 00:28:32,180 --> 00:28:33,820 We don't necessarily know for sure. 678 00:28:33,820 --> 00:28:35,940 There's some speculation on, on both sides. 679 00:28:35,940 --> 00:28:39,900 But what I will say is that really indications in his life will 680 00:28:39,900 --> 00:28:42,020 show that he does not live a life of faith. 681 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:45,340 And so though we can't know his heart, we can see the fruit of 682 00:28:45,340 --> 00:28:46,460 his decisions. 683 00:28:46,460 --> 00:28:49,380 And what we can ultimately see is that Saul has a very hard time 684 00:28:49,460 --> 00:28:50,940 trusting in the plan of God. 685 00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:53,940 And we'll see that unfolding throughout his life. 686 00:28:54,820 --> 00:28:57,980 So what lessons can we take from this passage of Scripture, even 687 00:28:57,980 --> 00:29:00,660 though it was predominantly a descriptive passage? 688 00:29:00,660 --> 00:29:01,900 Well, I will say a few things. 689 00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:04,700 I think the biggest lesson that we can see is that as second. 690 00:29:04,700 --> 00:29:08,100 As second Timothy 2 told us, that there's still the faithfulness 691 00:29:08,100 --> 00:29:10,820 of God in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of our trials, 692 00:29:10,820 --> 00:29:12,460 even in the midst of our selfishness. 693 00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:14,739 Now, it doesn't mean that God's going to continuously bless 694 00:29:14,739 --> 00:29:15,700 us for bad decisions. 695 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:17,180 That's not the principle there. 696 00:29:17,180 --> 00:29:20,140 The principle of sowing and reaping still lays out there even 697 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:21,260 in the New Testament. 698 00:29:21,340 --> 00:29:24,860 But what we do see is that God does give us more than we deserve, 699 00:29:25,230 --> 00:29:28,750 and he doesn't give us as much judgment as we do deserve. 700 00:29:28,750 --> 00:29:29,950 Okay, so that's the idea. 701 00:29:30,030 --> 00:29:31,230 That's mercy and grace. 702 00:29:31,230 --> 00:29:34,470 The definition of grace is that God gives us something that 703 00:29:34,470 --> 00:29:35,950 we don't deserve. 704 00:29:36,590 --> 00:29:37,190 Okay? 705 00:29:37,190 --> 00:29:41,430 The definition of mercy is that God withholds things that we 706 00:29:41,430 --> 00:29:42,430 do deserve. 707 00:29:43,150 --> 00:29:45,310 And what did Israel deserve? 708 00:29:45,310 --> 00:29:48,670 Israel deserved punishment because of their rebellion. 709 00:29:49,310 --> 00:29:52,890 They did not deserve God's presence and guidance. 710 00:29:52,890 --> 00:29:55,570 But yet at the same time, God does all those things for them. 711 00:29:55,570 --> 00:29:55,930 Why? 712 00:29:55,930 --> 00:29:58,930 Because they were his people and he was with them. 713 00:29:59,250 --> 00:30:03,850 And so today as believers, we have to understand that there are 714 00:30:03,850 --> 00:30:07,370 people that even today teach that, you know, if you committed 715 00:30:07,370 --> 00:30:10,010 this sin, you know, God's turned his back against you, that 716 00:30:10,010 --> 00:30:13,330 you've lost your salvation, that God can't tolerate that type 717 00:30:13,330 --> 00:30:13,810 of sin. 718 00:30:13,890 --> 00:30:17,730 But what I will say is that the Bible tells us in many occasions, 719 00:30:17,730 --> 00:30:22,840 in Romans 8, in other books of the Bible, in the Book of John, but 720 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,120 there is what we call internal security, that God holds us fast 721 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,480 and there's nothing that we can do to reject him after we come 722 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:30,320 to him in faith. 723 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,800 Yet there can be ups and downs and struggles in our life. 724 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,560 And so I would look to First Samuel, Chapter 9 as a testament 725 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,080 of God's faithfulness, even to people that are not faithful. 726 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:45,250 I would also see the difference between the appearance 727 00:30:45,250 --> 00:30:47,050 of man and the heart of God. 728 00:30:47,610 --> 00:30:49,530 The appearance of man was Saul. 729 00:30:49,770 --> 00:30:51,530 He looked good, he was strong. 730 00:30:51,770 --> 00:30:53,050 He was the man of the people. 731 00:30:53,210 --> 00:30:54,650 So that must be the right choice. 732 00:30:55,130 --> 00:30:58,650 But what we can see is that just because things look a certain 733 00:30:58,650 --> 00:31:01,170 way on the outside and is. 734 00:31:01,170 --> 00:31:06,210 And maybe an individual or teaching or a movement is appealing 735 00:31:06,210 --> 00:31:08,650 to what we would consider the flesh. 736 00:31:09,130 --> 00:31:11,050 It doesn't mean that it's a work of God. 737 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:13,680 Just because someone looks the part, just because. 738 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,640 Just because someone has someone that follows them, just because 739 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,680 someone is compelling in their message, that doesn't necessarily 740 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:22,240 mean that they're from God. 741 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,720 And we see that over and over again in Scripture. 742 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,240 So I say that because even in the book of Romans, it talks about 743 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,680 how there can be a lot of zeal, but there's no truth, there's 744 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:32,240 no knowledge. 745 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,400 And so for the life of Saul, we see that he does have success, 746 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:41,020 but ultimately he deviates from God's plan. 747 00:31:41,180 --> 00:31:43,540 So first Samuel, chapter 10, we're going to come back next week 748 00:31:43,540 --> 00:31:47,420 and we're going to look at his anointing, and that's a big event, 749 00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:48,180 obviously. 750 00:31:48,180 --> 00:31:51,660 And then we'll see some initial victories in the life of 751 00:31:51,820 --> 00:32:00,140 Saul, and we'll see that Saul has some, some shortfalls, no doubt. 752 00:32:00,620 --> 00:32:05,060 And then we will obviously, over time, integrate David into the 753 00:32:05,060 --> 00:32:05,340 story. 754 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,720 And as David comes in the story, that's when we really see 755 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:14,360 Saul manifesting the sins of his heart from the past. 756 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:20,120 David was basically a vessel used to reveal really Saul's heart, 757 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,800 because David starts coming in and having successes. 758 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:28,840 And what happens is that Saul's ego, Saul's inadequacies, 759 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,800 his insecurities begin to be revealed when that happens. 760 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,370 And so when what I would say is this, and I think this is another 761 00:32:36,530 --> 00:32:38,530 testimony of Saul's life. 762 00:32:39,330 --> 00:32:45,250 Typically in our lives, the outward manifestation of sin is, 763 00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:50,210 is precluded by an inward heart of sin that eventually will 764 00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:51,770 build up to outward actions. 765 00:32:51,770 --> 00:32:54,730 It's not like we just start acting out in these terrible, egregious 766 00:32:54,730 --> 00:32:55,090 sins. 767 00:32:55,250 --> 00:32:59,250 The Bible says, and Jesus says that usually what happens is the 768 00:32:59,250 --> 00:33:02,140 sin of the mind and the sin of the heart that leads the sin of the 769 00:33:02,140 --> 00:33:02,540 flesh. 770 00:33:03,020 --> 00:33:06,140 And so what I would encourage us to think about is this, let's 771 00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:11,020 not get to a place like Saul that we harbor darkness and bitterness 772 00:33:11,020 --> 00:33:14,540 in our life for so long that eventually, when outward stimuli 773 00:33:14,540 --> 00:33:17,100 come, our sin begins to manifest itself. 774 00:33:17,660 --> 00:33:21,060 Really, the, the picture that God gives in throughout the whole 775 00:33:21,060 --> 00:33:24,580 scriptures is essentially deal with sin as its infants, deal with 776 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:27,660 it in the seed stage so that it doesn't take root, so that it 777 00:33:27,660 --> 00:33:28,340 doesn't grow. 778 00:33:28,740 --> 00:33:30,980 And so these are all things that we're going to be talking about 779 00:33:30,980 --> 00:33:32,100 in the life of Saul. 780 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:35,940 And so Saul didn't just overnight become the crazy guy that 781 00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:40,020 we see throwing a spear at David and chasing David morning, 782 00:33:40,020 --> 00:33:42,180 evening and night because he's jealous. 783 00:33:42,420 --> 00:33:46,820 No, it starts really at the beginning of his life as we, we track 784 00:33:46,820 --> 00:33:47,780 his story. 785 00:33:47,860 --> 00:33:50,060 So that's a lesson for all of us to learn. 786 00:33:50,060 --> 00:33:52,180 So I hope that you continue on in this series. 787 00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:58,610 I know that there is a lot of media about David and then by, you 788 00:33:58,610 --> 00:34:02,450 know, by extension, Saul, because Saul's portrayed always with 789 00:34:02,450 --> 00:34:02,970 David. 790 00:34:03,290 --> 00:34:08,130 And so I encourage you, you know, not to just shun media, but 791 00:34:08,130 --> 00:34:09,610 what I'm saying is just be careful. 792 00:34:09,610 --> 00:34:13,330 Like as you're studying anything with scripture, make sure 793 00:34:13,330 --> 00:34:17,130 that what you're intaking with, you know, TV and videos and 794 00:34:17,130 --> 00:34:20,250 all that kind of stuff, just make sure that that's not your standard. 795 00:34:20,850 --> 00:34:24,090 Make sure that the scriptures are standard, and then go from there. 796 00:34:24,090 --> 00:34:26,170 And then I think that that will help a lot when we're coming 797 00:34:26,170 --> 00:34:27,890 to our interpretation of Scripture. 798 00:34:29,250 --> 00:34:31,850 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 799 00:34:31,850 --> 00:34:32,450 Podcast. 800 00:34:32,690 --> 00:34:35,090 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 801 00:34:35,730 --> 00:34:38,010 If you would like to find out more information about our church 802 00:34:38,010 --> 00:34:41,490 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 803 00:34:41,810 --> 00:34:44,290 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 804 00:34:45,090 --> 00:34:49,530 You can also email me directly at joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch 805 00:34:49,530 --> 00:34:53,969 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 806 00:34:53,969 --> 00:34:56,809 along for future podcast and updates. 807 00:34:57,449 --> 00:34:58,329 Thank you so much. 808 00:34:58,649 --> 00:34:59,369 God Bless. 809 00:34:59,609 --> 00:35:00,889 Have a wonderful day.