Saul the ‘Nobody’ 

1 Samuel 9:21a  Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?”
 

Saul the ‘Warrior King’ 

1 Samuel 11:11  The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

What transformed a ‘Nobody’ into a ‘Warrior King’?

1. Return to the Father

1 Samuel 10:2  When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”‘

Though the donkeys are important but it is more important for the son to return to the father.

Luke 19:35-38  They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. … the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God …”Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The donkey (strategies and structures) is just a mean for an end in which Jesus can triumph in entering into the hearts of the pre-believers.

2. Remember the Son

1 Samuel 10:3-4  “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, told his disciples to remember his body that was to be broken for them and his blood that was to be shed for them on the cross.

Luke 22:19-20  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

3. Recieve the Spirit

1 Samuel 10:5-6  “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit so that you can always be a blessing to all and always be victorious in Christ.

Luke 4:18-19  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The Warrior King was formed

1 Samuel 10:7  Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

1 Sam 1

We recently learned about prayer.  Hannah, I think, exemplified the pulpit’s teaching on prayer – priority of prayer (v15), power of prayer (v20) and persevering in prayer (v12).  Hannah joins 6 other ”childless” women in the Bible – Sarah (Gen 21), Rebekah (Gen 25), Rachel (Gen 30), Manoah’s wife (Jud 13), Ruth (Ruth 1, 4), Elizabeth (Luke 1) - whereby in each case, the Lord opened their womb.  

Reading these cases, the story seems to go like this.  They were desperate for a son, they cried out to the Lord (themselves or through the husbands), and God opened their womb.  And should I mention that each of them brought forth a man of destiny.  God is a God of fruitfulness.  Fret not barreness; come forth fruitfulness.   

A housekeeper was employed by a rich, powerful and kind man who owned a beautiful house. This owner was well respected by the people of the land. The housekeeper soon ignored his duty. He never attended to the needs of the owner. Not even a simple word like “Master, do you have any instruction for me?” He allowed his 2 sons to abuse the influence of his master by sleeping around with the other maids in the house. They seldom did their duty and were never home at night. Probably having fun in the pubs and staying overnight at the motels. Whenever the people of the land brought gifts as a tribute to the kind owner, these 2 sons will open up the gifts and chose for themselves whatever they liked.

The owner of the house has shown much kindness to a woman in the land. She decided to send her precious baby boy to the owner’s house. His only mission in life was to serve the owner with all his heart.

But the boy has never met the owner. A strange thing happened one night when the boy was sleeping. You see, the owner was so kind to the housekeeper that he kept waiting for a day where the housekeeper would realise his attitude and change for the better. But enough is enough, the owner wanted to dismiss the housekeeper and raised this young but faithful boy as the new housekeeper. The owner called out from his room, “Heardofgod!” Since Heardofgod never met the owner, he thought it was the housekeeper, Cannothear, who called him.

Heardofgod answered Cannothear, “Here I am, here I am; you called me.”

Cannothear was thinking that in the middle of the night in this house, only 4 people should be around; Cannothear, his 2 sons and boy boy Heardofgod. But his 2 sons were attending a party and would definitely be drunk and stay overnight outside. Since he did not call for Heardofgod, then the only conclusion was “Heardofgod is dreaming”. So he told Heardofgod to go back and lie down.

The owner called Heardofgod the second time. Again Heardofgod went to Cannothear and again Cannothear told Heardofgod the same thing. Cannothear was very aggitated about Heardofgod though.

The owner called Heardofgod the third time. So Heardofgod went to the housekeeper once agian. Suddenly, the housekeeper panicked. It dawned upon him that for the last many years, he has neglected the owner. He has forgotten that the house did not belong to him and his 2 useless sons. It rightly belonged to the kind and patient owner who was in his own room all these years. Cannothear told Heardofgod, “Go lie down, and if he calls you, say ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

Finally, Heardofgod met the owner and he was so excited. The owner was pleased with Heardofgod, a faithful servant compared to Cannothear and his 2 sons. The owner chased Cannothear out of the house and made Heardofgod the new housekeeper.

Reflection:

- Cannothear was living in the owner’s house and he disregarded the owner totally.

- It didn’t even cross Cannothear’s mind that he had an owner and the owner was always at home.

- Could we have conducted our Network, Tribe, Clan or Family G12 affair but ignore our Soveigner Owner?

- Is God in your House?

- Read 1 Samuel 1-3