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The People’s Choice, May 22
1 Samuel 9:1-2
;
1 Samuel 15:10-11
Behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired.
1
Samuel 12:13
.
In Saul, God had given to Israel a king after their own heart.... Comely in
person, of noble stature and princely bearing, his appearance accorded with
their conceptions of royal dignity; and his personal valor and his ability in the
conduct of armies were the qualities which they regarded as best calculated to
secure respect and honor from other nations. They felt little solicitude that their
king should possess those higher qualities which alone could fit him to rule with
justice and equity. They did not ask for one who had true nobility of character,
who possessed the love and fear of God. They had not sought counsel from God
as to the qualities a ruler should possess, in order to preserve their distinctive,
holy character as His chosen people. They were not seeking God’s way, but their
own way. Therefore God gave them such a king as they desired—one whose
character was a reflection of their own. Their hearts were not in submission to
God, and their king also was unsubdued by divine grace. Under the rule of this
king they would obtain the experience necessary in order that they might see
their error, and return to their allegiance to God.
Yet the Lord, having placed on Saul the responsibility of the kingdom, did
not leave him to himself. He caused the Holy Spirit to rest upon Saul to reveal
to him his own weakness and his need of divine grace; and had Saul relied upon
God, God would have been with him. So long as his will was controlled by
the will of God, so long as he yielded to the discipline of His Spirit, God could
crown his efforts with success. But when Saul chose to act independently of
God, the Lord could no longer be his guide, and was forced to set him aside.
Then He called to the throne “a man after His own heart” (
1 Samuel 13:14
)—not
one who was faultless in character, but who, instead of trusting to himself, would
rely upon God, and be guided by His Spirit; who, when he sinned, would submit
to reproof and correction
[149]
46
Patriarchs and Prophets, 636
.
153