February 2, 2025

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 9-12
Meditation Verses: 12:12-15

Thought

What a way to start your kingdom, by hearing that you being made king is rebellion against the Lord. It'd make you question whether you really want to be king, the thing that is sin in God's eyes! And then Samuel calls down thunder and rain to confirm that he is speaking the Lord's will, and it happens! God is angry, the people have sinned, and here you stand as the product of their sin! Do you really want to be there? How uncomfortable Saul must have felt, and how conflicted. He didn't seem to want the position in the first place, and now here he was, supposed to be a king without ever having been one, with little in the way of instruction, and now seeing clearly that God was offended by his appointment as king, even though God has anointed him king!

Application

Samuel did make one thing clear: If the king and people walk in obedience to God, then things will be fine. If not, then God would be against them all. So Saul should have understood clearly that he was on shaky ground, and the only way to firm it up was to walk in the Lord's ways and lead the people to obey Him. That message should have been loud and clear, and his insecurity should have driven him to know the Lord's commands and direct the people to walk in them. Unfortunately, if Saul got the message, it didn't leave a listing impression. That is the same message for anyone in leadership. My job is to know the Lord and lead the people in His ways, to direct them and motivate them to walk in His ways. That might include discipline and rebuke, and I need to be ready and willing to carry it out. I need to fear the Lord more than anything else, and recognize that He requires this of me; therein lies both my marching orders and my security in my position.