The Geography of Providence
Introduction: No Coincidences
We live in a world that is drunk on the idea of chance. Our secular soothsayers want us to believe that everything is a grand cosmic accident, a series of fortunate (or unfortunate) bumps in the night. Your existence, your job, your spouse, the traffic jam you were in this morning, it is all, they say, the result of random particles colliding in a meaningless void. But the Christian worldview offers a far more robust, far more terrifying, and far more comforting reality. That reality is this: there are no coincidences. There are no stray molecules. Every event, from the fall of a sparrow to the rise of a king, is woven into the intricate tapestry of God's sovereign providence.
This is a hard doctrine, but it is the bedrock of Christian sanity. If God is not sovereign over the small things, He cannot be sovereign over the big things. If He does not govern the flight of a gnat, He does not govern the fate of nations. But He does. And in our passage today, we see this glorious doctrine played out not in a thunderous pronouncement from Sinai, but in the mundane details of a lost donkey search. Saul, the future king of Israel, is not seeking a crown. He is looking for his father's livestock. He is on a fool's errand, a wild goose chase, and yet at every turn, on every dusty road, God is steering him. God is arranging the geography of his salvation, and of Israel's.
The story of Saul's encounter with Samuel is a masterclass in divine orchestration. It is a story of seeming accidents, of chance meetings, of helpful strangers, and of perfect timing. But when you pull back the curtain, you see the steady hand of the Almighty Director. The lost donkeys, the servant's suggestion, the location of the city, the young women at the well, the timing of Samuel's arrival, all of it is a divine setup. God is in the business of arranging "chance" encounters that are anything but. He is constantly rigging the game in favor of His own eternal purposes. And what He did for Saul, He does for us. Our lives are not a series of random events; they are a string of divine appointments.
The Text
As they were going up the slope to the city, they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” And they answered them and said, “He is! Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today. As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. So now, go up for you will find him at once.” So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them to go up to the high place. (1 Samuel 9:11-14 LSB)
An Uphill Inquiry (v. 11)
We begin with the simple act of walking up a hill and asking for directions.
"As they were going up the slope to the city, they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, 'Is the seer here?'" (1 Samuel 9:11)
Notice the ordinariness of it all. Saul and his servant are tired, they are out of provisions, and they are about to give up. They are acting on the servant's last-ditch suggestion to consult a "man of God." As they approach the town, they do what anyone would do. They ask the first people they see for information. And who do they see? Young women going out to draw water. This is a classic Old Testament scene. It was at a well that Abraham's servant found a wife for Isaac. It was at a well that Jacob met Rachel. It was at a well that Moses met Zipporah. Wells are places of meeting, of transition, of divine appointment. God loves to arrange crucial covenantal moments at the most common, life-sustaining places.
They ask a simple question: "Is the seer here?" The term "seer" is an older word for prophet. It emphasizes the receptive nature of the prophet's office. He is one who sees what God is showing him. He has supernatural insight. Saul is looking for a man who can see where his donkeys are. He has no idea that this man has already seen him coming, and has seen the crown that God has prepared for his head. We often come to God with our small, immediate problems, our lost donkeys, completely unaware that He intends to answer with a kingdom.
A Torrent of Information (v. 12-13)
The response they receive is far more than a simple "yes" or "no." It is a cascade of providential detail.
"And they answered them and said, 'He is! Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today. As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. So now, go up for you will find him at once.'" (1 Samuel 9:12-13 LSB)
These young women are remarkably well-informed and helpful. God has prepared their hearts to be His instruments. They don't just confirm the seer is present; they give Saul a precise, urgent, step-by-step itinerary. First, the timing is perfect. Samuel is not just in town; he has arrived today. Second, the reason is significant. There is a public sacrifice on the "high place." Before the Temple was built in Jerusalem, legitimate sacrifices to Yahweh could be offered at such high places, and Samuel, as God's prophet, presides over this one. This is not some pagan ritual; it is an act of covenant worship.
Third, they give Saul a crucial deadline. You must find him before he goes up to eat. The whole town is waiting for Samuel. The feast cannot begin until he arrives to bless the sacrifice. This blessing is not a mere formality; it is the prophetic act of setting the meal apart for God's purposes, consecrating it. The entire town's schedule revolves around this one man. This detail, which the women could not have known was important, is God's way of ensuring Saul's appointment is not missed. The urgency, "Hurry now," is the Holy Spirit's nudge through these unsuspecting girls.
They are, in effect, God's welcome party and scheduling committee. They lay out the divine timetable for Saul without having any clue what they are doing. This is how God's sovereignty works. He uses the free, cheerful, and chatty speech of young women at a well to guide a future king to his anointing. He doesn't need to send an angel with a scroll when He has a few faithful gossips at the town well.
The Intersection of Providence (v. 14)
The climax of this small scene is a moment of perfect, divinely engineered timing.
"So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out to meet them to go up to the high place." (1 Samuel 9:14 LSB)
Saul and his servant follow the instructions. They obey the intelligence they have been given. And as they walk through the city gate, at that very moment, Samuel is walking out. The word "behold" signals that this is a moment to pay attention to. This is not a lucky break. This is an intersection designed by God from eternity. One step sooner, one step later, and they might have missed him. But God's timing is not like our timing. It is precise, it is purposeful, and it is never off by a second.
Think of the variables. The speed at which Saul walked. The time it took the women to draw their water. The exact moment Samuel decided to leave his house to head for the high place. All of these seemingly independent actions converged at a single point in space and time, orchestrated by a God who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11). Samuel was coming out "to meet them." From Samuel's perspective, he was just going to the feast. But from God's perspective, and the narrator's, he was going to a divine appointment. He was being sent, just as much as Saul was being led.
Conclusion: Your Divine Appointments
It is easy to read a story like this and marvel at God's work in the life of Saul. But it is a great error to relegate this kind of detailed, sovereign care to the distant past or to famous Bible characters. The same God who orchestrated the search for Kish's donkeys is orchestrating the details of your life. The frustrating detour, the unexpected phone call, the person you sat next to on the airplane, the job you didn't get, the one you did. None of it is random.
Our problem is that we, like Saul, are usually just looking for the donkeys. We are focused on the immediate, the practical, the earthly. We want the problem solved, the need met, the question answered. And God is gracious to care about our lost donkeys. But His ultimate purpose is always bigger. He is steering you toward your true calling. He is arranging meetings you don't know you need. He is putting you on a collision course with His grace, over and over again.
The challenge for us is to live with our eyes open to this reality. To see the "behold" moments in our own lives. To recognize that the helpful stranger, the timely piece of advice, the open door, is the handiwork of a sovereign God. And even when the path is confusing, even when we feel like we are on a fool's errand, we can trust that we are being led. We are never just wandering. We are always on an uphill slope to a city, and our Prophet, the great High Priest Jesus Christ, is coming out to meet us. He has prepared a feast, a sacrifice has been blessed, and He is waiting to tell us not about our lost donkeys, but about a kingdom that cannot be shaken.