Context No. 3645 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 9:17-21: in context

17When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! He will have authority over my people.” 18Then Saul approached Samuel in the gateway, and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” 19Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you are to eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don’t set your mind on them, for they have been found. For whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you and all your father’s house?” 21Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?”

God directs Samuel to Saul, saying, here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule my people. Samuel tells Saul astonishing news, that he and his father's house are the desire of all Israel, meaning that Saul is to be king.

And Saul's response is genuine humility, even bewilderment: am I not a Benjamite, from a small tribe, and is not my clan a lowly one among Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me this way? Saul begins with real lowliness, unable to imagine himself as king, keenly aware of his humble and insignificant origins. It is a poignant moment, for we know how his story will darken; but here, at the start, he is humble, and God chooses him. There is something worth noticing: God often chooses those who feel small and insignificant, calling them to more than they can imagine. Saul's early humility reminds us that God delights to raise up the lowly, and it also warns us how success can later corrupt a heart that began so humbly.

When God calls me to something beyond what I imagine for myself, do I begin, like Saul, in humility, and do I guard against letting later success corrupt the lowliness with which I started?

Sources

1 Samuel 9:17: "When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! He will have authority over my people."
1 Samuel 9:21: "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families?"
1 Corinthians 1:28: "God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised."