Audio Link
Purpose Driven Donkeys
1 Samuel 9:1-10:16, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 11/08/2020
Introduction:
Is God at work in every circumstance? That is a question to which we all need an answer. If God is asking me to trust him with my eternity, to place my faith in what he says in his word and what he’s done through his Son, don’t I need to know I can trust him in every circumstance? Some picture God as managing the flow of history in a broad sense, not really in control of the details, but making sure the general flow of things continues to head in the direction that he wants, and somehow he’ll pull it all together in the end.
But is that how history works? Growing up I heard the story of Henry Shoemaker, a man living in Indiana in the first half of the 19th century. In 1842, Mr Shoemaker was at work in a farmer’s field when he realized that he had promised to cast his ballot for Madison Marsh, who was running for state representative. He saddled his horse and hightailed it for the nearest polling place-12 miles away. When the ballots were counted, Mr Marsh was elected-by one vote. Henry Shoemaker’s one vote mattered. Now, if we believe that God is in control of “big things” like setting up and tearing down rulers, it seems obvious that he is also Providentially guiding even the “small things”-like one more ballot in favor of Madison Marsh.
We need to know that God is in control of every little detail, and in the text this morning, we find God working details together as he answers the request of Israel, and provides them with a king.
Read the Text
That is a long text, but I think having all of that context will help us understand what is going on, as we drill down to see the main point: God is at work here. As we examine this passage I want to organize our thoughts under three headings: Provision, Providence, and Peculiarity.
Provision
Remember that in chapter 8 the people had demanded a king. At the end of the chapter, we read Samuel telling the people, Go every man to his city (v22). Chapter 9 opens, then, in what seems to western eyes an unusual way. We get six generations of genealogy of this man of wealth or significance, Kish the Benjaminite. The presence of this genealogy is significant, however, because it marks a new phase in the book. Remember that chapter 1 opens with the genealogy of Elkanah as a way of introducing us to Samuel. In chapter 16 we will spend most of a chapter, not in genealogy, but in meeting the family of David. And here in chapter 9 we are introduced to the lineage of Kish as a way to bring attention to Saul. The author wants us to see that Saul will become the center of the story for the next several chapters, and he does so by situating him within a particular family context.
As for Saul, we read that he is a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. So the first we know of Saul is that he has an influential dad, and he looks the part of a king. But this may be our first indication that he might not be the best kingly material. As humans, we certainly want rulers who look the part. But is an impressive appearance what God looks for in a king? 1 Samuel 16:7, man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. We are being introduced to the man God will establish as Israel’s first king. But it seems that from the beginning the author is dropping hints that this might not be the sort of man who will be a man after God’s own heart.
Saul is an unlikely figure. We see this in his own reaction, in 9:20b-21. Samuel says, And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? This could be understood as saying that everything good in this land will come to you, as ruler over the nation. This would make a lot of sense given Samuel’s warning to the people in chapter 8, that the king will be taking all the best of your land and property. Another way that could be translated would be to say that all the desires of Israel are for you-that you are the sort of king they want. Either way this strikes Saul as very strange. So he protests, Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? If you remember back in Judges, the people of Benjamin were nearly wiped out following the horrifying incident with the Levite and his concubine. So Benjamin has been reduced down to almost nothing. They also occupy a tiny territory, and it seems that Saul’s family is the smallest in number of the clans, which I think is how we should understand, is not my clan the humblest in all the clans of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken thus to me?
Kingship doesn’t seem to be on Saul’s list of career goals or aspirations. But while this is not part of his plan, it is God’s plan. Even Saul’s name fits these circumstances. I was helped by R.F. Youngblood’s commentary a lot this week, and he comments, ‘The Hebrew root for the name “Saul,” which means “Asked (of God),” occurs in 8:10, where the people were “asking” for a king’ So the people ask for a king, and God says, I have just the guy in mind. Even his name means asked of God.
Another thing I want to draw your attention to under this heading of God’s provision is the idea of anointing. The Hebrew verb mashach here means simply to smear or poil oil onto someone’s head. Here it is used as a setting apart for the kingship, and Samuel makes clear that this is not him setting Saul apart, but rather the Lord himself is doing so. Anointing also carries with it the idea of God’s blessing for the service that one is set apart to, and this is what we see in 10:1. Then Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hands of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be a sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
That Saul is the anointed one, YHWH’s mashiach, becomes important in this book. Not only in the verses that follow, as God essentially seals this to be true by causing the Holy Spirit to rush upon Saul, but even after Saul has abandoned the Lord, David will continue to honor the action of God in this moment by refusing to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed one, his messiah with a lowercase m. God has given Saul to the people. He alone has the right and ability to set up and tear down rulers.
So the people have asked for a king, and God has anointed one. But didn’t he pick a weird way to do it?
Providence
I titled this sermon for the donkeys, not because they are actually main players, but I really liked the play on words. And their presence does frame this narrative for us. After the introduction in 9:1-2, we are thrust into a narrative where the donkeys of Kish are lost. And this sets the son of Kish, Saul, on a journey to find them. He takes one of the servant men with him, and they go looking, for three days 9:20 tells us.
And they wander all over the place. Mainly heading north, up into the fertile hill country of Ephriam, then circling back south into the land of their tribe, Benjamin. This story is remarkable for how unremarkable it is. Donkeys get out, the farm boy and his servant go looking to find them. Super mundane, right?
But during this fruitless search for the donkeys, Saul and his servant “just happen” to come past a city where a man of God (v6) is staying. How handy. Saul is tired after three days of searching, though, and it seems is a little more interested in getting back home than searching out someone to help with the donkey search. What can we bring to the man? he asks in v7. What he seems to be implying is that we don’t have any gift (which seems to imply that part of how prophets made their living was by people paying for their services), let’s just get back home. But again, we have another “just happen”-ing...the servant pulls a quarter shekel of silver out. Hey, look what I have!
All of this seems so normal and unworthy of note. Everyone who has kept livestock knows how it feels when they get out. Most of us have the experience of putting a coat on and finding a $5 or $20 bill that we didn’t expect. And we all can resonate with being tired and just wanting to go home, rather than finishing the job we were sent to do. This is the normal stuff of life. And in it all, God is working. In his 1 Samuel commentary, Dale Ralph Davis has this helpful summary of what is meant by Providence, ‘“Providence” is God’s way of providing for the needs of his people. That’s not all of it, but some of it. When I use “providence” here I mean that wonderful, strange, mysterious, unguessable way Yahweh has of ruling his world and sustaining his people, and his doing it, frequently, over, under, around, through, or in spite of the most common stuff of our lives or even the bias of our wills.’
In this ordinary story of some lost donkeys, we come to find out that God is at work. They do go to look for the man of God, who we come to find out in v14 is Samuel himself. And here the narrator interjects to make sure we see that this isn’t all just happenstance. In 9:15-16 we read, Now the day before Samuel came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. So Saul thinks he’s chasing livestock, but God is actually herding Saul up to this city, to meet with Samuel.
Proverbs 16:9, The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
Proverbs 20:24, A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?
If I were to answer the question asked in that second passage from Proverbs, the only way to understand our way is to see that hand of Providence at work, even in the most mundane parts of our lives. This is part of why verses like Philippians 2:14 are so important. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Why should we not grumble? Because if God is Sovereignly governing our lives, and we are grumbling about our circumstances, then we are in essence questioning the goodness or the wisdom of God. That is not to say there isn’t a right place for lament. The Psalmist asks, how long oh Lord? But there is a world of difference between an honest lament over pain and hardship on the one hand, and a dissatisfied and ungrateful griping on the other. One assumes that a good God has a good plan, and seeks to understand. The other assumes there is no reason for the donkeys to get out and can’t get over how inconvenient it is.
The donkeys continue to help our story along, as Samuel informs Saul and the servant that they have been found (v20), and that he need no longer worry about them. And mention of them brackets the end of our text, as in 10:14-16 Saul tells his uncle how he knew the donkeys had been found-Samuel had informed him. Though in that case he really had far more to say and decided to keep it to these donkeys.
God governs every little detail of this world, from the transfer of kingship to donkeys breaking down fences, and he does so in such a way that it all fits. It’s congruent. Every time I’m asked if there’s anything in my life I’d change I’m almost forced to answer no, because I can start tracing how making even tiny changes in my past would drastically impact things 5, 10, 15 years down the line. God has brought each of us to where we are through his good Providence. Our job is not to question if his hand was at work-it was. Our job is to trust that having an all powerful God in control and guiding the circumstances of life is better than you or I being in control.
Peculiarity
Before we close, I want to briefly address a couple of peculiar or weird aspects of 10:2ff. Samuel gives Saul a list of signs that this anointing truly is of the Lord, and they are so specific there could be no doubting. First, someone is going to meet them near Rachel’s tomb and assure them that the donkey’s have been found. Then, they will meet three men carrying three goats, three loaves of bread, and a skin of wine, and they will give Saul and the servant two of those loaves of bread. And then, as they come into his hometown of Gibeah, they will meet a group of prophets, at which point the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon him and cause him to prophesy.
It’s interesting that 9b gives a simple summary: and all these signs came to pass that day. But as for the last matter, of the prophesying, it gives us a more detailed account in v10-13. As to exactly what is happening with the prophets coming down, what was the nature of their prophesying, we don’t really know. Obviously, these are considered genuine prophets by Samuel so they aren’t just saying random ecstatic things, they have some sort of message from God. It all seems weird, and it only gets weirder when the Spirit rushes upon Saul and he joins them. This seems to take the whole community off guard, What has come over the Son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? It weirds them out to the point where afterward when something weird happened, instead of saying “well, that was strange” they say, “is Saul also among the prophets?”
The point in all of it, though, obscure though the details may be, is that God really is doing something in Saul. The anointing was genuinely from God. He changes him at some fundamental level (v9). And the Spirit rushes upon him, causing him here to prophesy. At points later in the book we will see the Spirit rush upon him again. And perhaps one of the saddest moments in the book is when the Spirit decisively departs from him. In all of this kingship, Saul will be dependent upon God. When he acknowledges this and acts in that strength, things go well. When he seeks to garner and guard his own strength and power, things take a disastrous turn for the worse.
Conclusion:
The primary take away from this introduction to Saul is a reality check: God is still on his throne. Though the people have desired a king, and God has granted their desire, God is still the One controlling the details of every event, from the search for the donkeys, to the choice of an anointed one, to the gift of the Spirit. Every step of the way is ultimately in his control. Do you see life through this lens? Do you see elections and seasons and sickness as all under the control of the Almighty? To drill down deeper-do you see him at work in the details of your own life? Do you trust his providential care even in times of sickness or in the slow deterioration of the body with age? Do you know the hand of God to be at work in your weakness? Do you trust that he can turn every part of your life, good or bad, toward his good purposes?
This is where the rubber meets the road. These chapters present us with all powerful God who is always at work to bring about his good purposes. Trust him in every circumstance.