Have you ever noticed that God is always choosing the least likely people to do his work in the world? The story of Saul and David (1 and 2 Samuel) is intended to portray precisely this. What’s fascinating is that the story of Saul is not really about Saul, it is about David; it prepares us for David. This is also true of John the Baptist. John prepares for Jesus. Did you know that our lives are not our own? Rather, we are called, by scripture, to live our lives for the sake of others? Consider for whom you are called to live.
Anyway, back to Saul and David. The people of Israel begged God to give them a king. But not just any king. They wanted a king like the other nations (1 Sam 8:5). This upset the Lord and Samuel. They weren’t upset because Israel asked for a king. No, they were upset because they asked for a king that was like the other nations. The people of Israel were to be set apart. They were to be different than the world. This is true for us as well today.
God, even though he wasn’t happy with their request, he gave them what they asked. Did you know that sometimes God gives us what we ask even though it may not be God’s best? Saul was the ideal king according to human criteria. He was tall, handsome, and rich (indicated through his long genealogy (1 Sam 9:1)). He was also from a tribe (Benjamin) that was perfectly position in the centre of Israel’s tall and narrow country. He wasn’t a northerner, nor a southerner. He was neutral. Saul, once again, was the perfect king . . . according to the world’s criteria.
Saul absolutely bombs the job. At first, Saul does well by obeying God. He even has the Spirit of God at one point but eventually looses it. This means that while people of faith may be times of success and victory, the continuation of that success depends on ongoing faith. We aren’t defined by our high moments, we’re defined by our day-to-day. Saul eventually fails and ends up killing himself shamefully on a mountain top.
Because of Saul’s failure, God needed another king, a king according to his criteria. He chose David. Did you remember the story of David and Goliath? Probably one of the most popular stories of the Old Testament. There is a part of that story that people often forget. When David volunteers to face Goliath when all else are afraid, Saul offers David his armour. David tries on the armour and it just doesn’t fit.
You see, the inspired writer of the story is telling us that the criteria of the world just doesn’t fit God and his people. God is set apart and we are to be set apart as well. God doesn’t wish to choose the tall, handsome, and rich of the world to transform the world. To change the world God doesn’t send in the tanks, he sends the meek, pure of heart, and the persecuted (N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus). God chooses the least likely, the least expected, those like David, the eight shepherd boy, the carpenter from Nazareth, to change the world.
Not sword, but a stone–not a sword, but a cross.
