God Provides

As we begin, I want us to think about, and this is a question you have to answer not out loud, how do you respond to rejection? How do you respond to rejection? Now, obviously, how we answer that question will differ on who we are and who's rejecting us. Maybe it was a job you really wanted, a school you hope to get into, a date you're hoping to have. It gets more painful when it's somebody we really love, a spouse, a child, a parent. How do we respond to rejection? Now, my personal favorite response is pouting and sulking. I find it really brings a bomb to the soul to remove myself and distance myself and just bask in the pain that is and make sure hopefully they see that pain. We're thinking about rejection this morning because last week we saw how Israel clearly rejects God. And this week we're looking at how God responds to rejection. How does God respond to rejection? If you look at our text this morning, it's long. It's 1 Samuel chapter 9 through chapter 11. That is a long text and I'll explain why we're doing that long text. But our text here is mainly focused on Saul. 1 Samuel has three main characters. First, Samuel. We saw the prayer for his birth. We see him coming up as a prophet. We're now going to see him appointing the first king, Saul. The next section of 1 Samuel is about Saul and then David. And it's important to see this trajectory because the people of Israel, they want a king, but they want a specific kind of king, the king like the nations. And that's the rejection of God, because God has appointed himself to be their king. The reason we're doing these three chapters, this long section together, is these three chapters are really united with three different confirmations of Saul as king. They correspond to chapters 13 to 15, where you see three rejections of Saul as king. So the way 1 Samuel has presented this, the way God has organized 1 Samuel, it's very helpful. The first three, we're introduced to Saul with three affirmations, and then we'll see three rejections in just a few weeks. So if you look at this, right off the bat, we see Saul is a young, handsome man. He's a king like the nations. He's going to be a tall man, and we're going to see him going on a wild donkey chase. We're going to see God use that to introduce him to Samuel, who's going to then appoint him and anoint him as king. He's going to be given different affirmations and signs so that Saul has confidence he's called to be king. We're then going to see a public lot drawing, drawing of straws. They fall to Saul. who's hiding among the baggage because he's scared of being a king. And then we see him after being declared king, long live the king, the people say. He does what kings always do, they go and plow the field with the oxen. And then we see him truly functioning like the king. Israel's attacked, the Holy Spirit rushes upon him, and he leads Israel to victory, and then he gives praise to God for that victory. I'll be very clear, what we're gonna say about Saul here is good. He's not the king Israel's supposed to have, but God is actually responding to Israel's rejection of him with kindness in the way he calls Saul and the way he helps Saul. So if you're looking for just kind of one line, what this text is about, it's how God responds to the people rejecting Him. And it's this. God loves the people who have rejected Him. God responds to rejection with love. If you're looking for the three points, we're just going to follow the three confirmations. First, the private anointment. The private anointment, that's chapter nine through 10.16, that is a long section of the passage and a long section of the sermon. It's longer than the rest, so as we just paste and you're looking at your watches, just be aware of that. Second is the public affirmation, and then the victory validation. Private anointment, public affirmation, victory validation. God loves the people who have rejected Him. First, the private anointment. And I want to read through this as we go. And there's a conviction here. If you're new with us, we want to walk through books of the Bible most of the time in order. And a conviction is we also try to read every word. God's Word being read is an important practice for the church. So I'm going to try to make sure I read every word. Chapter 9 verses 1 and 2. Chapter 9 through 10 is private anointment. Let's begin with verses 1 and 2. We're introduced to Saul. There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bekoroth, son of Aphia, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. And there was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. for his shoulders upward. He was taller than any of the people." After Israel has rejected God and said, we want a king like the nations, we're introduced to the perfect candidate. A young man who's tall and mighty and handsome. While this could be the beginning of a fantastic Disney fairy tale, it's actually the beginning of the people receiving the king they want. He's a tall, handsome man. We're also already seeing something a little curious. He's a Benjaminite. In Genesis 49, God said the scepter, the, the rule, the, the royal tribe belongs to Judah. And here is a Benjaminite. He, he's the wrong candidate because he's from the wrong tribe, but the people have rejected God and what he has said. And so he is giving them the king from the wrong tribe, just as they vows. We see here that we're introduced to Saul not only in terms of who he is, but now in action. Verses 3 through 14. Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. Kish said to Saul, his son, take one of the young men with you and arise, go and look for the donkeys. And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shileshah. but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shalim, but they were not there. Then they passed the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. When they came to the land of Zuf, Saul said to the servant who was with him, come, let us go back. Let my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us. But he said to him, behold, there is a man of God in this city. He's a man who has held an honor. All that he says comes true, so now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go. Then Saul said to his servant, but if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring the man of God. What do we have? The servant answered Saul again, here I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way. Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, come, let us go to the seer. For today's prophet was formerly called a seer. That's an inspired commentary note for you. And Saul said to his servants, well, said, come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, is the seer here? They answered. He is, behold he is just ahead of you, hurry. He has come just now to the city because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. 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 till he comes since he must bless the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited will eat now go up for you will meet him immediately So they went up to the city as they were entering the city They saw Samuel coming out toward them in his way up to the high place Now, as we look at this, there's something kind of odd here. One, there's a lot of emphasis on donkeys. We're gonna see more of that, right? So God is using this situation with the donkeys to bring Saul to Samuel. But what really stands out and what should kind of be startling is they find Samuel, the seer slash prophet slash man of God. Those three titles are synonymous. Where do they find him? And the high places. The high places are always associated with pagan idolatry. The high places are where Israelites go to worship other gods, not the one true God. Samuel's supposed to be the good guy. Samuel's supposed to be the prophet who just said, if you're going to return to Israel, tear down your baals. Tear down your, your Asherah poles. Put away the idols. And yet here he is participating with idol worship. False worship. We see here there's secretism. Maybe he's worshiping Yahweh up on the high places. Maybe he's worshiping other gods. What we see are just confusion. Israel has not yet gotten rid of idolatry. It's not till David comes that the high places are cleared out. Full repentance has not yet taken place, and the evidence of that is that they've continued to reject God. Samuel himself is now confused in this. That doesn't mean what he's not going to say later isn't true. God is still speaking to him, through him, and in him. But there's just some confusion about the high places here that need to, we just need to recognize that Israel isn't where it's supposed to be yet. Let's continue to look. Now the day before Samuel, before Saul came, the Lord revealed to Samuel. So Saul's out looking for donkeys. Before Saul actually shows up, God has already talked to Samuel about Saul. Tomorrow, about this time, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince or leader over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen my people because their cry has come to me." There's an emphasis in what God is saying there, three times as repeated. My people. but they rejected him. Why is he calling Israel my people? They've said we want a different God. This is worthy of our disfocus in meditation here. God has not stopped being committed to his people. They've rejected him. He has not responded with rejection. I'm going to give them a king, my people. That king will save my people. I will help him save my people from their enemy. I love them. My ear is bent down towards them. I hear the cry of my people. One of the greatest declarations you can hear is that you are gods, you belong to him. Israel, who was once not a people, was created and called to be God's people. That relationship formed a new identity. Israel is a lot like the prodigal son or sons. They've run away from God. They've rejected Him. They've decided they can do better on their own away from Him. And God is like that father in the prodigal son. He's waiting eagerly, knowing that's still my son out there. I still love him. When he comes back, I will embrace him. It's a judgment that Israel's going to get what they ask for, but God does not stop being their God. There's just something comforting when you know you belong to somebody, right? This week, most of us are gonna be traveling to be with the people we feel like we belong to, or we necessarily have to belong to. If you don't have somewhere to go, please talk to me afterwards. There's folks who would love to have you. But most of us, we're gonna spend time with family members, our family. I'll be very clear, what God has done with Christ and the church is form a new kind of family, a new kind of people that get to be united and connected to Christ, the perfect love. My people, the great declaration of Scripture is, I will be your God, you will be My people. That's identity forming because it's a connection. There's a relationship where God says, you are mine, I am with you, I am for you. The key thing here is God is giving them what they want, but he has not stopped being their God. Verses 17 to 26, we see here, Saul is identified. When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, here is the man of whom I spoke to you. It's very clear. God is making it, he's confirming in every way Saul is to be king. He it is who shall restrain my people. When Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, tell me, where is the house of the seer? Samuel answered, Saul, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me. In the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind 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 house? Saul answered, Am I not a Benjaminite from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way? So Samuel's already hinting at Saul that there's something great for him, and Saul has a humility about him, recognizing he's from Benjamin, and even a small tribe of Benjamin. We see, I think, honest humility. Verse 22. Samuel took Saul and his young men and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about 30 persons. And Samuel said to the cook, bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, put it aside. So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, see what has kept us before you. eat because it was kept for you until the hour pointed, that you might eat with the guests. So Saul ate with Samuel that day. And when they came down from the high place in the city, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof. He laid down to sleep. Then at the break of dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, up that I may send you on your way. So Saul arose. Both he and Samuel went out into the street. What's happening here is pretty simple. God is making it clear to Saul there's something special for you. He then has his feast. And the leg portion, that's the priest's portion. He's giving Saul something metaphorically, symbolically, that doesn't belong to him. This has been appointed for you. In God's time, in God's way, that which is not natural for you, God has appointed, and you have to receive it. God has declared it. Let's just pause here because this is quite a whirlwind for Saul. He's supposed to just be out finding some donkeys. All of a sudden, he's king. That's quite a journey. That's quite a transformation. That's quite a surprise ending. I wanna pause and just appreciate this for a moment, how God worked through the mundane of a wild donkey search to bring about his will for Saul. We do not appreciate what appears to often be mundane opportunities to think how God can use them to bring about His will. God works in every aspect of life. Nothing is outside of His sovereignty. Nothing is outside of His power. There may be things God is seeking to do for you while you're looking for something as crazy as a donkey that you're missing this week. Here's the challenge. Ask, God, what kind of way could I be a witness for you in my mundane, regular events of life? Which friend? Which co-worker? Which neighbor? As you're traveling back to be with your family, what family member, how can you help me see that you're working in every single moment and every single instance to bring about your will? Help me to see what you're doing so I can be part of it. God is not absent from the mundane, regular activities. God does an amazing work in the routines of life. And here we see that there's a public, or there's a more even clear private affirmation. Verse 27. As they were going down into the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, tell the servant to pass them before us. When he passed on, stop here yourself for a while that I may make known to you the word of God. Now there's a moment. This calling and this confirmation, it keeps heightening. And this is still just the public anointing. Chapter 10, Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on the head of Saul and kissed him and said, has not the Lord anointed you to be prince, ruler, over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin of Zelzah. And they will say to you, the donkeys that you went to seek are found. And now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, what shall I do about my son? Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. which you shall accept from their hand. After that, you shall come to Gibeath Elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of people, prophets, coming down from the high places with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre, before them prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and be turned into another man. When these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. Now, we really wish every decision that we have to make would be given such clear signs as this, right? We'd love to go to read the signs as clear as this, but this is unusual. Why is God giving Saul such precise signs? You're going to find three guys. They're going to have this many loaves of bread. They're going to give you that many loaves of bread. They're going to have these kinds of instruments when they're coming down. It's very precise, and it's very clear. Why? We can think, you know, Jesus, He actually, He gets upset when the Israelites, they keep asking for signs. There's nothing wrong with a sign. There was something wrong with the lack of faith that the Pharisees continued to have. They kept asking for signs because they would not believe what Jesus God himself was saying. I believe the signs here is because of how significant and how important this calling is and how shocking it must be to the new King Saul. God is giving him the clearest, most precise way of affirming him, you are the king I'm appointing over Israel. And we can appreciate that. If given such a task, we would want to have some clear signs. But I want you to see here, verse seven, let's just go back and look at that real quick. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do. Why? For God is with you. This is one of those great declarations of Scripture. God is with you. Notice it's, it's not whenever you see all these signs, then you have confirmation that you have what it takes to do the job. It's not a self-confidence boost. It's not kind of a self-awareness boost. You've got this, Saul. I trust you. I've seen what's inside of you. No, God says, I'm with you. You will be my king, and you will be as successful as you can be only because I'm with you. It sure reminds us of Moses. You remember when Moses was called the first time to be the prophet, and he was going to go to Pharaoh and tell him, let my people go? That's quite a job description. What does Moses say? But God, I got a lisp. I can't talk. You want me to go talk to Pharaoh and demand he let his people go? God didn't say, Moses, it's all right. You're good enough. You got this. No, God just said, I know you've got to listen. I'm with you. It's amazing what God's people can do only because God is with them. It's a comfort. There's an equipping power here with Saul. I'm with you. It's a job too big for you. Right? You can't even find donkeys. with you. It's a precious promise of God. I am with you. For Christians, we're asking, okay, how do we get these same kind of signs? How do I get the same kind of confirmation? How do I know if I'm supposed to go to Sweden? Or how do I know if I'm supposed to go to be a missionary or a pastor? Or how do I know if I'm supposed to move and do something different? It's probably gonna work out this way. You know, I, I, I wish it did, you know. But God has given us His Holy Spirit, which is better than any of these psalms. God has given His own Spirit to indwell us and to illuminate our eyes. There is ways in which the Holy Spirit gives us confirmation internally and confirms us with other spirit-indwelled believers who give us confirmation externally. We should be looking for that kind of clarity, because the Holy Spirit is still speaking, and sends us, and equips us, and leads us. Now, there's something going on here where Saul is going to be turned into another man. Verse 9, and he turned back and leaves Saul. God gave him another heart. I don't know if this is referring to regeneration as much as Saul is being changed by God and the very presence of God connecting to Saul. Let's go to verse 8. Make sure we read all these verses. Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I'm going down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait until I come to you and show you what you shall do. When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. He changed him. He transformed Saul. So that Saul could do the things that Saul needs to do for God. And all these signs came to pass that day. When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And a man of the place answered, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. Saul's uncle said to him and to his servants, where did you go? And he said, to seek the donkeys. And when we saw that they were not to be found, we went to Samuel. And Saul's uncle said, please tell me what Samuel said. And Saul said to his uncle, he told us plainly that the donkeys had been found. And about the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything. That's the conclusion of that private anointing. But we just need to appreciate, because this huge change of anointing the first king of Israel, because it's from the wrong tribe, because it's not the king God actually wants to appoint for them that will be best for them, God himself wants to be king, this is a clear calling for Saul's sake. So he knows he's supposed to do this. So he is ready to do what he's supposed to do. There's two truths that I think we need to wrestle with here. God makes and keeps his promises. They're still God's people. Praise God, he never stops saying, you're my people. God keeps his promise, regardless of how much we reject him. That's one truth. The second is this, God does not bless our disobedience. God does not bless our disobedience. Our rejection, our disobedience does not make him stop being our God, but he also doesn't bless it because he wants us to be obedient so we can rejoice in his kindness. So that's the private anointing. Next, these shorter points. Public affirmation. Notice what Samuel does after all this private conversation, Saul, you'll see this, you'll see this, you'll see this, you'll know this, the Holy Spirit's gonna come upon you, you're gonna be changed. Now the public affirmation. Now Samuel called the prophets together, the people together, sorry, the people together to the Lord at Mizpah, and he said to the people of Israel, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. I've saved you. I'm your God, you're my people. But today you've rejected your God who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses. And you have said to him, set a king over us. Now therefore present yourself before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. Now this is kind of like drawing straws. This is trying to figure out who the lot is going to fall to. So all the different tribes are lined up, then by clan and family, and Samuel's going to go from tribe to clan to family to individual until he finds who drew the short straw. That's what's happening. Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribes of Benjamin was taken by lot. and brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matriarchs was taken by Lot, and Saul the son of Kish was taken by Lot. But when they sought him, he couldn't be found. So they inquired again of the Lord, is there a man still to come? And the Lord said, behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage. Here's your grand, glorious, handsome, tall king that you want. He knows he's going to be called king, and where is he to be found? Well, in the hardest place possible. He's hiding. The grand irony here, one, they want a king who's mighty, who they can trust to lead them to battle, and what they end up getting is a coward who hides from the call. The other side of this is God has made it so clear to Saul, you're my guy. I'm with you, and we see a lack of faith. The people will not have him hidden. They believe that he is to be called. They ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? For there is none like him among all the people. And all the people shouted, long live the king. Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his home. Saul went to his home at Gibeah, and with him men of valor whose hearts God had touched. But some worthless fellows said, how can this man save us? They despised him and brought him no present. but he held his peace. This is an odd public ceremony. One, just given how clear God has made the private anointing, given how clear Saul should appreciate and understand God is with him, and the people. The whole ceremony begins by God saying, you've rejected me. Then they find the king they want, and he's hiding, but just because he looks taller than everybody else, That's the only qualification he has. He's a head taller than everybody else. Long live the King. If we think about this from God's perspective, and while this story is about Saul, we have to see the primary character and actor in this story is God. He's driving the whole story. his ears here. Remember, he's bent his ear towards his people. I hear my people. I see my people, because their cries come up before me. The God who says, I love you, continues to hear, we love this other king. Long live Saul. We need to realize how fickle we can be in appearance. And what we think we see. And what we think we know. They wanted Saul because he was a tall, handsome man, and that was the qualification. We know from Isaiah 43 that God's true king is going to look different. For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one with whom men hide their faces, He was despised and we esteemed Him not." That's speaking of Jesus Christ. Who was rejected by the people He came to save. We read earlier from Matthew 21 about the singing Hosanna, blessed be the one who came in the name of the Lord and the Son of David. And yes, there were some Israelites that were rejoicing that Jesus was going to come as king, but they, their expectations were wrong. They wanted Jesus to ride up into the capital city and overcome it with power, a military power that would overthrow the Roman rule. God's true king looked different than what they wanted. Because God's true king had a different mission. When Jesus came and he was on trial, the crowds cried out, crucify him. Crucify him. We think about that, that theme of God with us. His name that we're celebrating this season with Christmas is Emmanuel. God with us. He came to be with us, to be like us in every way, so that when He died for us, He dies to take away our judgment. He dies to take away the curse. He dies to give us new life and new righteousness. But that wasn't who they were looking for. And I wonder if what Jesus is always providing for us is what we're always looking for. How disappointed are we with what God has done? The same sin that we talked about last week, where we want a king like the nations. God, you could be doing a better job. How disappointed are we with what God has given us? And if we actually truly look at the cross, and what God has given us in His own Son, in His death, in His resurrection, His ascension, and the Holy Spirit, can we ever ask, what good thing would God withhold from us, if He did not withhold His own Son? We need to recognize, we usually are looking for the wrong thing, or the wrong expectation. Praise be to God for His Word. We are sinners who need saving. Christ has come to give us a new kind of leader, a new kind of salvation. Finally, our last section, chapter 11, Victory Validation. As I said earlier, Saul does the most unusual thing. After you're privately anointed as king, after you're publicly declared king, you'd think you'd go find a throne to sit on. You figure out how to start enjoying the majesty. Saul's not buying in yet. Then Nahash, the Ammonite, went up and besieged Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, make a treaty with us and we will serve you." But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, on this condition, I will make a treaty with you that I gouge out all your right eyes and thus bring disgrace on all Israel. The elders of Jabesh said to him, give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you. When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud." So we see here an attack from the enemy right out of the gate. Now behold, Saul was coming from the field, from the oxen. He's farming like he was before. He hasn't started ruling at all. So God is going to make another clear confirmation. And Saul heard, Saul said, what is wrong with the people that they're weeping? So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh, and the Spirit of God, notice the key actor and character and agent of power in the passage, the Spirit of God came upon Saul, he rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them through all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messenger, saying, whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to them. And so it was done to his oxen. Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man, when he mustered them at Bezik. The people of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. And they said to the messengers who had come, thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, tomorrow by the time the sun is hot you shall have salvation. The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. And the next day Saul put the people in three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day, and those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. And the people said to Samuel, who is it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Referring back to those worthless men at the end of chapter 10. bring them that we may put them to death. You don't question our king. But Saul said, not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel. Then Samuel said to the people, come let us go to Gilgal. And there he renewed the kingdom. So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. Saul becomes king. It took three confirmations. Personal, public, now validation through victory. The Holy Spirit rushed upon him. He was enraged for his people. God blessed him. He organized, called Israel, organized Israel, and they had a great victory. Let's just be very clear here. Everything we see of Saul is good at this point. Other than the fact that he's from the tribe of Benjamin. He had no control over that. He's humble. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. This isn't from me. He recognizes with reverence the call. He hides from it. It's a lack of faith, but a recognition of what's really going on. We see him merciful. No, the men who mocked me will not die today. And we see him giving all the credit to God. The Lord has given us salvation today. At one level of interpretation, I want to just point out, it's amazing to see what God can do with a humble coward. That's encouraging. That should be very encouraging for all of us. It's amazing what God can do with a humble coward. More importantly, it's amazing to see what the true king did when he came down and courageously died for our sin and rose again. That gives us the courage to go and fight the good fight. As we conclude, I want to simply help us understand what's happening in the bigger picture, as we've read every word, and we've considered the three different confirmations. God's people rejected God, and yet he still says, you're my people. He's given them over to their sin, but he has not rejected them. They wanted the wrong kind of king, and so he's going to give them that, but he's gonna help that king. He's helping the king that they chose to replace him. Now, I've wrestled with how to help us understand this, and follow with me just for a little while here. This is as if the spouse you love left you for another lover. Your spouse. They reject you and they say, we want another lover. I want another lover. And so your response to that is to go to that new lover and help that person love your spouse. You give the new lover advice. This is what she's like. This is the thing she like. Here's how you can really care for her. Here are the things that I did wrong and you could do right. Let's just pause here. Why would anybody do that? That sounds crazy. Why would somebody do that? Because they love their spouse and want them to be loved. God loves his people and wants us to be loved. He helped the king the people chose over him because he loved his people so much That's not the greatest sign of love So he came down to die for all the sins we've committed He came down to be punished. Jesus, the true King. The reality is, there's no King who is going to truly satisfy Israel. Only God could truly satisfy them, and care for them, and love them. And God is showing, I am that King, and I will receive you back. But it's really overwhelming. When rejected, God continues to love. When rejected, God remains faithful. When rejected, God saves us while we're still sinners. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have not left us alone. Even in our fighting against you, our resistance to you, you pursue us with powerful love. Thank you that we can see that in Christ and His incarnation and His death for our sins and His resurrection and your Spirit illuminating our eyes. Help us to be a thankful people for what you've done for us. Help us to recognize that the sin that plagued Israel is the same sin that we have today and that we're just a discontent people. Believing we deserve better and believing you could do better. Forgive us, Lord. Thank you for being the perfect God who is faithful to your steadfast love. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.