1 Samuel 10:9-27 Living The Abundant Life Effortlessly in the Spirit

1 Samuel 10:9-27

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. 14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

17 Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. ’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.” 20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” 25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

Background

After Samuel poured oil upon Saul, God anoints him with His Spirit and gave him another heart. The Spirit rushed upon him immediately turning him into another man. Saul being possessed by the Spirit functioned in the role of a prophet and prophesied comfortably and effortlessly. Saul’s experience gives us a preview of the power of a New Covenant lifestyle where a life of purity and power becomes increasingly effortless to those who seek Him.

Observation

God gave him another heart – The Holy Spirit came upon Saul and changed his heart by imparting godly virtues and spiritual capabilities into him. That change of heart gave Saul immediate capacity to function like a prophet in prophesying the word of God. This unusual ability caused people to wonder, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” The ministry of the prophets during that time involved the preaching of God’s word purposed to exalt the people towards holy living and looking forward to the restoration of Israel. Saul prophesied like the prophets because was anointed by the same Holy Spirit that worked within the prophets. When Saul experienced the capabilities evidenced by his prophetic manifestation gave him confidence that God is with him to do all that is required. However, that change of heart did not endure in the later part of Saul’s ministry because he gave in to the temptations of pride and sin.

Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands – The pouring of oil over Saul represented a personal decision to accept the kingly appointment. Now, that divine appointment has to be made known to the public by lot. Saul demonstrated God’s hand of divine providence through a process of elimination. First, the tribe of Benjamin in selected, then the clan, followed by the family and finally Saul. Even though Saul appears humble and unassuming in his appointment, the masses were convinced of his suitability for this high office and cried out, “Long live the king!”

Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship – After appointing Saul as king, Samuel established the rights and duties of the kingship prepared for this occasion of coronation before the people. This includes the Mosaic regulation for kingship found in Deuteronomy 17:14- 19.

Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched – Along with Saul’s appointment came a community of valiant men of truth: whose hearts God had touched, that will form the core of his leadership. At that time, there was also a group of worthless fellows who opposed Saul’s leadership.

Truth

1.   The most important thing that God would do to enable a person to do great works is to change his heart. The change of heart or regeneration represents the alteration of a person’s life goal, spiritual position, values system and resident authority. The change of heart causes the believer put off his own life goals and take on God’s calling for his life; it restores him from the position of a slave to that of a son; it causes him to alter his values systems; and it increases his capabilities and the power to influence.

Regeneration is first initiated by the Holy Spirit, but the subsequent work of the Spirit will depend on two things: the person’s desire for sanctification and discipline over his flesh; and the presence of sin that opposes the process of regeneration. The Holy Spirit initiated the work of regeneration within Saul changing him into another as evidenced by his prophetic display and his leadership over the people, but he gave in to his bondage of darkness that opposes the continual work of the Spirit in his life.

Your success necessarily requires you to allow the Spirit to destroy the bondage that constantly hinders you:

• To remove a self-centered life goal and take on God’s calling and commission for his life; the purpose of his existence is now to accomplish God’s calling and to leave a legacy on earth.
• To put on his new position as God’s son according to the likeness of Jesus Christ and begin to expand Christ’s rule on earth through the family, workplace and social circle.
• To put off old values system and to put on new values of the kingdom to love God and to love others; no longer doing things for your own interest but for the interest of others.
• To no longer depend on your own capabilities but to trust God to keep on expanding your capabilities and resources in order to meet the demands of the situation at hand. No circumstance(s) should stop the progress of God’s kingdom on earth.

2.   The quality of the people that surround a leader will depend on his divine appointment and virtues. Many try to look for people of good standing and competence to work for them. But before they begin to gather his men and women of valor, he must first be appointed by God and having His virtues. God will in his time bring people of valiant and truth to surround the leader that God has appointed. God always surround His anointed ones with valiant man, as long as he continues to walk in the truth, he will have no lack of valiant men. Valiant men and women will follow the truth and the righteous ways of God. They will observe and discern if a certain leader has a divine endorsement, who follows a divine path or is he self-appointed while pursuing an ambition of his own creation. The valiant men of truth followed Saul because they saw God’s divine providence in appointing Saul as king among the tribes and clans.

3.   The New Covenant that is based on Christ’s blood ensures the presence of the Holy Spirit in leading believers towards freedom and abundant living. God gave Saul another heart and he prophesied with the prophets effortlessly while displaying wisdom and humility in the midst of oppositions. But that changed heart could not endure because of the bondage of sin that could not be broken under the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, as the believer keeps in step with the fellowship of the Spirit, he will continue to grow in God’s likeness and experience increasing freedom from sinful addictions. He will also experience freedom from ever having to fight with feelings of injustice, unforgiveness, pride and lust. The below verse describes the abundant life that came with the New Covenant that is based on the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:22 say,

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

“Evil conscience” denotes a sinful nature that is buried deep within our soul that no amount of education or brain washing can remove. When the believer has this “evil conscience” washed with the “pure water” of the word and the Spirit, he no longer struggles against his core instincts of lust and sin. As sin is now replaced by truth in his core, abundant living becomes increasingly unintentional and effortless. He begins to find greater freedom in living out the virtues of God; his true self has in fact become the new self created in Christ; the expression of sin has increasingly become intentional and laborious.

Application

1. Are you battling with a sinful addiction or emotions of hatred and emptiness? We need to draw near to God with a sincere heart, which is the willingness to put off our old self and mindset. We also need to maintain a full assurance of God’s promise towards us, which is a spiritual surgery right in the core of our soul to locate and destroy the virus of sin and to vaccinate us with the Spirit of holiness.
2. Are you finding work and ministry laborious and ineffective? Do you make decisions based on “first instincts” fuelled by your insecurities. Do you observe that many of your efforts are like half-hearted stabs at the problem without putting full dedication and sufficient thought behind it. Perhaps it is time to allow God to change your heart and allow Him to lead you.

Dear Lord, forgive me for not dealing with my issues in a determined manner. As I come to you having made the decision to live abundantly and to fulfill my calling. Destroy the bondage of lust, pride of life, and the sin of unforgiveness by the power of your New Covenant. Fill my core with the divine virtues of love, patience, wisdom, purity and power. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.