And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. 1 Samuel 9:2
A hockey agent named Ray Pektau happened to be at a small tournament for boys in Steinback, Manitoba, when he was placed in charge of a church team from the tiny Mennonite community of Morweena. The team was not very good, and they had a goalie playing his very first game. And the team lost 6-0. But Pektau was impressed with that inexperience and uncoached goalie. So impressed that he passed word on to several scouts for Western Hockey league teams. And one of those scouts convinced the Red Deer Rebels to draft the goalie. And that’s the start of an unlikely story of how James Reimer eventually became a goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League. Reimer’s story is fascinating, but not unique. A few other sports figures can tell somewhat similar stories about appearing unexpectedly from almost nowhere to enter stardom. And it is essentially how ancient Israel obtained their first king. The trouble was, he was the king who the people wanted, not who God wanted.
Everything was positive about Saul at first. Our text indicated how handsome and tall he was. The chapter in which our text is found indicates how diligent he was and how respectful of his father. Even into the first years of his reign, he sought to serve and honour God. But if the Israelites had studied the Scriptures, they would have found this man should not have qualified as king. In his blessing of his sons, Jacob had declared centuries earlier that the descendents of Judah would be Israel’s kings (Genesis 49:10). Saul was not of Judah but a descendent of Benjamin. That means he might well fit the people’s agenda, but could not fit into God’s agenda. It took 42 years, and was marked by a steady decline in his spiritual condition, but Saul proved himself eventually as a failure. A good looking start never guarantees a good finish.
Israel’s experience with Saul ought to give us several good lessons. First, we need to be careful that we don’t put our trust in people based on a good appearance. Secondly, we ought to be careful not to put confidence in our own natural abilities when we need to depend on God. But the greatest lesson here is that we need to make sure our decisions always line up with the Word of God, no matter how attractive our choice would be. That way, we will always be within the purposes of God.
Sometimes God allows us to choose a good looking Saul, so we will learn how much better it would be to accept His will for us. -Jim MacIntosh