Sometimes I think God just gives us what we want to show us we should have trusted him. This chapter  1 Sam 9) introducing us to Saul, the first King of Israel, feels like God giving the people what they want. At this stage there’s no obvious loud warning bells that it will all turn out terribly, but there are a few little indications that what the people are getting is what they wanted rather than what God himself desires.

 

The first little warning bell is v2, which tells us that Saul was “as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.” Saul fits the profile of a king ‘just like the other nations’… just what Israel wanted. Of course, being handsome and head taller won’t make him a good king - not in the way that a human king can ultimately fulfil God’s plans for establishing his kingdom. And the rest of the narrative presents Saul as quite passive - he doesn’t really know what’s going on, he doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s his servant, or Samuel, or even the donkeys!, who seem to be leading the plot more than him. God is certainly going to use this man to deliver his people from their enemies (v16), and the warning bells are only small at this stage. And yet, from the outset, it seems like Saul is clearly the king God gave Israel to show them they should have trusted him rather than demanded to have what they wanted. 

 

Much of the story of Israel is living proof (one way or another!) that it is far better to ‘trust the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding’ (Prov 3:5). It’s worth learning the lesson ourselves as we read. Can you see where God might be giving you want you begged for according to your own wisdom? Can you see how that might not actually be the best thing for you? Better to acknowledge that now and ask God to give you what he knows is best...