1 Samuel 10:20-27: a reflection

20So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families and the family of the Matrites was chosen. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22Therefore they asked of the LORD further, “Is there yet a man to come here?” The LORD answered, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23They ran and got him there. When he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” All the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!” 25Then Samuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26Saul also went to his house in Gibeah; and the army went with him, whose hearts God had touched. 27But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.

When Saul is publicly chosen as Israel's first king, not everyone is pleased. As the crowd shouts Long live the king, certain worthless men sneer, How can this man save us? They despised him and brought him no gift, openly showing their contempt for the new king. And Saul's response is recorded in a single telling phrase: But he held his peace. Faced with open scorn, Saul did not lash out, did not retaliate, did not force the issue. He kept silent.

Notice Saul's restraint. He had just been made king; he had the standing, and soon the means, to answer his detractors, to punish the contempt shown him. But he held his peace. He did not let the sneers of a few provoke him into an unworthy response; he let the insult pass, kept his dignity, and did not answer contempt with contempt. There is a quiet strength in that restraint, the strength to absorb an insult without needing to strike back.

That is a discipline worth learning. When we are scorned, doubted, or shown contempt, the instinct is to retaliate, to defend ourselves, to answer the insult and put the scorner in their place. But there is often more strength in holding our peace, in letting the insult pass without an unworthy response, than in striking back. Not every sneer needs an answer; not every bit of contempt needs to be repaid. When you are despised or scorned, consider Saul's restraint. Sometimes the strongest response is to hold your peace, to absorb the insult with dignity rather than repay it, and to let God be your vindicator.

Lord, when scornful men despised Saul and asked how he could save them, he held his peace, absorbing the contempt without retaliating. When I am scorned, doubted, or shown contempt, give me that restraint. Keep me from the instinct to lash out, to answer every insult, to repay contempt with contempt. Help me see that there is often more strength in holding my peace than in striking back. Let me absorb insults with dignity, not every sneer needing an answer, and trust you to be my vindicator.