Saul, Israel's First King

Looking for lost donkeys

Long ago, God's people didn't have a king. Judges and prophets led them, and God Himself was supposed to be their King. But the people kept looking at the nations around them, and they wanted a king of their own, someone tall and strong they could actually see.

Around that time, a young man named Saul was sent out by his father, Kish, on a very ordinary errand: some donkeys had wandered off, and Saul had to go find them. Saul was tall, taller than anyone in Israel, head and shoulders above everyone else. But that day, he was just a son looking for lost animals.

The search went on for days with no luck, until Saul's servant suggested they visit a man of God nearby, a prophet named Samuel, who might be able to help. Saul had no idea that God had already told Samuel he was coming, or why.

A king Israel could see

Samuel poured oil on Saul's head and told him something astonishing: the lost donkeys had already been found, and Saul himself was the one God had chosen to be Israel's first king. Saul could hardly believe it. He was from the smallest tribe, from a family that felt ordinary to him.

At first, Saul led well. He rescued a city under attack, and the people shouted for joy and crowned him king in front of everyone. For a while, it seemed like exactly what Israel had wanted: a strong, tall king they could see leading them into battle.

When Saul stopped listening

But over time, Saul started making his own rules instead of following God's instructions. He offered a sacrifice he wasn't supposed to offer, too impatient to wait for Samuel. Later, God told Saul exactly what to do in a battle, and Saul did almost everything right, except for the parts he decided to change himself.

When Samuel found out, he asked Saul a question that every king, and every one of us, needs to hear.

Saul had started so well. But a king who stops listening to God, even a tall, strong, impressive one, cannot lead God's people the way God intended. Samuel told Saul that his kingdom would not continue, and that God had already begun looking for someone else.

The shepherd boy who came after

God sent Samuel to a shepherd family in Bethlehem, to a boy named David, and had him anointed too, quietly, long before anyone else knew what it meant. Saul spent the rest of his reign growing more afraid and more jealous, especially of David. It's a sad ending to a story that began with so much promise.

But God's people were never really looking for the tallest king, or the strongest king. They needed a king with a listening heart. That's exactly what Samuel told Saul, long before it was too late.