Bird's-eye view
In this passage, the sprawling, chaotic search for lost donkeys collides with the meticulous, sovereign plan of God. This is a masterful display of what we call providence. Saul, a man concerned with his father's livestock, is about to be made the ruler of God's people, and he has no idea. God, on the other hand, has had this appointment scheduled down to the minute. The day before Saul arrives, God gives Samuel, His prophet, a divine heads-up. The private conversation between Yahweh and Samuel (v. 15-17) is set in stark contrast to the public, mundane circumstances of Saul's journey. God's purpose is not driven by chance encounters but directs them. The cry of His people for a king, a sinful cry born of impatience and a desire to be like the pagan nations, is being answered. God is giving them the king they asked for, and the man who fits the bill is about to walk right into Samuel's path. The interaction that follows between the prophet and the future king is thick with dramatic irony, as Samuel speaks of kingship and destiny while Saul can only think of his humble origins and lost animals.
The central theological truth on display here is the absolute sovereignty of God over all human affairs, from the grand movements of nations down to the wanderings of livestock. Nothing is accidental. Saul's search, his servant's suggestion to visit the seer, and their timely arrival are all woven together by an omnipotent hand. This passage serves as a crucial hinge in Israel's history, marking the transition from the era of the judges to the monarchy. It reveals that God's plan is not frustrated by human sin; rather, He incorporates human choices, even sinful ones, into His overarching redemptive purpose. He is giving Israel a king in His anger, as Hosea would later say, but He is doing so with His eyes wide open, preparing the way for the eventual establishment of the Davidic throne, and ultimately, the throne of Christ.
Outline
- 1. The Intersection of Providence and History (1 Sam 9:15-21)
- a. The Divine Revelation to the Prophet (1 Sam 9:15-16)
- b. The Divine Identification of the Man (1 Sam 9:17)
- c. The Mundane Question and the Prophetic Answer (1 Sam 9:18-20)
- d. The Humble Protest of the Chosen King (1 Sam 9:21)
Context In 1 Samuel
This episode follows directly on the heels of Israel's demand for a king in chapter 8. The people, rejecting Yahweh's direct rule exercised through judges like Samuel, wanted a king "like all the nations" to lead them and fight their battles. Samuel was displeased, but God instructed him to grant their request, albeit with a solemn warning about the oppressive nature of monarchical rule. The people persisted, and God told Samuel to "obey their voice and make them a king" (1 Sam 8:22). Chapter 9, therefore, is the direct fulfillment of this command. The narrative zooms in from the national political crisis to a seemingly unrelated story about a man from the tribe of Benjamin looking for his father's donkeys. This shift in focus from the public demand to the private journey is a literary device that highlights God's hidden, providential hand. He is not scrambling to find a candidate; He has already selected His man and is now orchestrating the circumstances to bring him to the prophet for his anointing. This is the beginning of the rise of the house of Saul, which will be characterized by initial promise followed by tragic failure, thereby setting the stage for God's true choice, David.
Key Issues
- Divine Sovereignty and Providence
- The Role of the Prophet (Seer)
- The Nature of Saul's Calling
- God's Concessive Will
- Humility, True and False
- The Transition from Theocracy to Monarchy
The Choreography of God
One of the great temptations for the modern Christian is to live as a practical deist. We believe God created the world, and we believe He will one day wrap it all up in judgment, but we tend to think that the middle part runs on its own steam. A passage like this is a direct assault on that kind of thinking. Every detail here is freighted with divine purpose. A man named Kish loses his donkeys. His son, Saul, a man of impressive stature, is sent to find them. He searches for three days without success. Just as he is about to give up, his servant remembers there is a "man of God" in a nearby town. They have just enough money to offer him a small token for his time. They arrive at the town just as Samuel is heading up to a sacrifice. All of it seems so random, so contingent.
But the curtain is pulled back for us in verse 15. We are shown that God is the one choreographing the entire dance. The lost donkeys are God's leash, pulling Saul across the countryside to his divine appointment. The servant's sudden recollection is a divinely planted thought. The timing of their arrival is perfect. God is not a distant observer; He is the meticulous planner, the one who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph 1:11). This is not fatalism, which is a blind, impersonal force. This is providence, the personal, purposeful, and exhaustive governance of a loving Father. He draws straight lines with what appear to us to be very crooked sticks.
Verse by Verse Commentary
15 Now a day before Saul’s coming, Yahweh had revealed this in Samuel’s hearing, saying,
The narrative lens shifts here from earth to heaven. While Saul is trudging through the hills of Ephraim, God is speaking to His prophet. The phrase "revealed this in Samuel's hearing" literally means "uncovered his ear." It's an intimate picture, as though God has leaned over and whispered a secret to His servant. This is how God works with His prophets. He does not leave them to guess. He reveals His plans to them so that when they happen, it is clear that He is the one acting (Amos 3:7). The timing is precise: "a day before." God is not improvising. The appointment has been on the divine calendar from eternity, and now the reminder is sent to the relevant parties.
16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people because their cry has come to Me.”
God's instruction is specific. The time: "about this time tomorrow." The man: "from the land of Benjamin." The task: "you shall anoint him to be ruler." The purpose: "he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines." This is not a suggestion; it is a divine command. The word for "ruler" here is not the typical word for king (melek), but rather nagid, which means a leader or prince. This may indicate that Saul's kingship is a step removed from God's ideal, a concession to the people's demand. God's motive is also stated. He has seen the plight of His people under Philistine oppression, and their cry has reached Him. This is tricky. Their cry for a king was sinful, but their cry for deliverance was not. God, in His complex wisdom, is answering both cries at once. He is giving them a deliverer who is also the king they sinfully demanded. He is giving them what they want in order to teach them what they need.
17 Now Samuel saw Saul, and Yahweh answered him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall restrict My people.”
The next day, right on schedule, Saul appears. As Samuel lays eyes on him, Yahweh confirms the man's identity. The communication is immediate and direct. "Behold, the man!" This is a divine fingerprint on the moment. The final phrase is telling: "This one shall restrict My people." The Hebrew word can mean to rule, restrain, or hold in check. Given the warnings in the previous chapter about the nature of kingship, this has an ominous undertone. Yes, he will deliver them from the Philistines, but he will also begin to "restrict" them in ways they had not experienced under the judges. The king will be both a savior and a harness. This is the double-edged nature of the gift they have demanded.
18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
The irony here is thick enough to cut with a knife. Saul, the man chosen to rule all of Israel, is lost in a small town. He is standing face to face with the most powerful prophet in the land, the king-maker, and he doesn't even recognize him. His question is entirely mundane. He is looking for the "seer," the old term for a prophet, a man who can see what others cannot. Saul wants information about his donkeys; he has no idea that the seer is about to give him information about his destiny.
19-20 And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your heart. As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?”
Samuel's response is a cascade of revelations that must have bewildered Saul. First, he identifies himself: "I am the seer." Then, he issues a command, an invitation to a place of honor at the sacrificial meal. He promises to reveal "all that is on your heart," which goes far beyond the matter of the donkeys. He dismisses Saul's primary concern with a wave of the hand: the donkeys are found. Stop worrying about trivialities. And then he drops the bombshell, a staggering, life-altering question: "And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's household?" In one sentence, Samuel pivots from lost livestock to national sovereignty. The "desirable things" of Israel, the wealth, the honor, the power of the throne, are all being laid at the feet of this gangly Benjamite who, moments before, was only worried about what to tell his father.
21 And Saul answered and said, “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 in this way?”
Saul's reaction is one of stunned disbelief. He protests his own insignificance. His tribe, Benjamin, was the smallest, having been nearly wiped out in a brutal civil war generations earlier (Judges 20-21). Within that small tribe, his own clan was the "least." On the surface, this sounds like commendable humility, much like Gideon's protest when he was called (Judges 6:15). And perhaps it was, at first. But in light of Saul's later career, this initial humility curdles into a kind of insecurity that fuels his paranoia and disobedience. True humility does not argue with God's calling; it submits to it, acknowledging its own inadequacy but trusting in God's sufficiency. Saul's protest, while understandable, contains the seed of his future failure. He is focused on his smallness, not on the greatness of the God who is calling him.
Application
This story is a profound encouragement to trust in the detailed, personal providence of God. We often feel like Saul, wandering around looking for lost donkeys. We are consumed by the immediate anxieties of our lives: the bills, the job, the health scare, the family conflict. We feel lost, and we think our problems are the whole story. But God is writing a much larger story, and our mundane troubles are often the very instruments He uses to move us to the place where He wants us to be. The thing that you are most worried about today might be the very thing God is using to position you for a calling you cannot yet imagine.
Secondly, we must be careful what we ask for. Israel demanded a king, and God gave them one. He was tall, handsome, and from a humble background. He looked the part. But he was what they wanted, not what they ultimately needed. God often disciplines His people by giving them the sinful desires of their hearts, so that they might learn the bitterness of those desires. We should pray that God would shape our wants to match His will, not the other way around. We should not want a king "like the nations," but rather desire to be a holy nation, subject to our true king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, we see in Saul's protest a warning against false humility. When God calls us to a task, our response should not be, "Who am I?" but rather, "If you are with me, I will go." True humility is not found in denying the gifts and callings God has given, but in receiving them with an open hand and depending entirely on His strength to fulfill them. Saul's story is a tragedy that begins with him looking for donkeys and ends with him consulting a witch. The seeds of that entire downfall are present here, in an initial reluctance to believe that God could truly use someone like him. Our confidence must never be in our tribe or our family or our own abilities, but solely in the God who calls the least and the smallest to accomplish His great purposes.