Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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! Introduction
! I. god chooses saul (1samuel 9:1-27)
!! A. saul searches for his fathers donkeys (V.1-14)
!!! 1. Kish, the Father of Saul, and His Son (v.1-2)
!!!! a) Saul’s father was a mighty man a power (v.1)
Kish, the father of Saul, was a wealthy and influential man in Israel.
Saul came from a prestigious family, and was born to wealth and influence.
!!!! b) Saul was a tall and handsome young man (v.2)
!!!!! (1) Saul was notable, not only for his family, but also for his appearance.
Saul was tall (*taller than any of his people*) and good-looking.
In fact, there *was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel*.
Saul /looked /like a great king.
If being king over Israel was all about image and appearances, Saul was the man.
!!!!!! (a) In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel had just rejected the LORD God as king over Israel, because they wanted a king like all the surrounding nations had (8:5,19-20).
What they really wanted was the */image /*of a king, because God gave them the */substance /*of a king better than any man could.
Saul was exactly the type of king that the people wanted.
God is giving Israel the kind of leaders they wanted and deserved!
!!!!!! (b) The name *Saul *means “asked of God.” Israel was asking for a king, and Saul would indeed be the one “asked of God.”
!!!!! (2) What is not mentioned in these first two verses is God.
Saul came from a wealthy, influential family and was good looking.
But there is nothing said about his relationship with the LORD God of Israel.
There is nothing said because there was nothing to say!
!!!!!! (a) Saul reflected the spiritual state of the whole nation of Israel.
There may have been some spiritual image present, but the heart was far from where God wanted it to be.
!!!!! (3) *From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people* does not mean Saul had an extremely long neck and head.
It means he was “head and shoulders” taller than just about anyone else.
!!! 2. Saul And His Servant Search For His Fathers Donkeys (v.3-14)
!!!! a) A king is lead by three lost donkeys (v.3)
Look at how God opens one of the most important chapters of Israel’s history!
A king will be led to the throne by three lost donkeys!
We have no idea how God will use the seemingly normal – and annoying - circumstances of life.
!!!!! (1) There Are Two Mistakes People Make Regarding God’s Guidance Through Circumstances.
!!!!!! (a) To Think /Every /Event Of Our Lives Is Heavy With Meaning From God.
This is wrong, because though nothing happens by accident, not everything happens for a great purpose.
!!!!!! (b) To /Ignore /The Moving Of God In Our Lives Through Circumstances.
God wanted to use this situation to guide Saul, and God will often use circumstances in our lives the same way.
We need to trust in God’s goodness and in His ability to make /all things work together for good /(Romans 8:28).
!!!! b) God works His plan through three lost donkeys (v.4)
!!!!! (1) This was frustrating to Saul.
Yet, God was working out His plan through the lost donkeys, in a way Saul couldn’t even imagine.
!!!!!! (a) Those Donkeys Could Have Gone Anywhere.
But they went exactly where God wanted them to go (1 Samuel 6:10-12).
They submitted themselves to what God wanted them to do.
We often speak of “dumb animals,” but these donkeys were smart enough to submit to God.
Are we that smart?
!!!!!! (b) Saul Had No Idea He Was Being Guided By God, But He Was.
The same is true in our lives.
God has a plan and a purpose for you right where you are at, and you should submit to God and get in with His plan.
!!!! c) The suggestion of Saul’s servant shows something about these two men (v.5-6).
!!!!! (1) THEY WEREN’T MEN OF MUCH SPIRITUAL CHARACTER!
They seem to be men who wouldn’t think to come to the prophet Samuel for real spiritual guidance, but they do think, “Hey!
Maybe he can help us find the donkeys!”
!!!!!! (a) Yet, their words are a great credit to Samuel.
His reputation was well known: *A man of God . . .
an honorable man . . .
all that he says surely comes to pass*.
What do people think about you?
When they are looking for a man or a woman of God, would anyone ever come your way?
!!!! d) There was no present for the man of God (v.7-10)
!!!!! (1) Out of respect for the prophet Samuel, Saul did not want to approach the prophet of God empty handed.
But it is wrong to think that Samuel had some type of fee for his “prophetic services.”
Samuel was a great prophet of the living God, not a fortune-teller.
!!!!!! (a) “The word /seer/, /roeh/, occurs for the first time in this place; it literally signifies a /person who /SEES; particularly /preternatural /sights.
A /seer /and a /prophet /were the same in most cases; only with this difference, the seer was always a /prophet/, but the prophet was not always a /seer/.”
(Clarke)
!!!!!! (b) “When consulting a prophet, it was common courtesy to bring a gift (Amos 7:12), whether modest (1 Kings 14:3) or lavish (2 Kings 8:8-9).”
(Youngblood)
!!!! e) God’s guidance through circumstances (v.11-14)
!!!!! (1) It “just happened” that Saul and his servant came looking for their donkeys on the same day Samuel was in town.
God is guiding through these circumstances.
!!!!! (2) The People Are Waiting, And They Won’t Eat Until He Blesses The Sacrifice.
!!!!!! (a) Here is where the custom began of blessing your food before you eat it.
!!!!!! (b) Jesus also followed the custom: He took bread, and blessed it before He broke it.
!!!!!! (c) I think that it is a very good idea to stop and just give thanks to God for His provision.
To bless God for He has been great in His provision for us.
!!!!! (3) Jewish legends say that it was because Saul was so good looking that the *young women *wanted to talk to him.
!! B. saul and samuel (v.15-17)
!!! 1. Saul & Samuel’s relationship With God (v.15-17)
!!!! a) Saul has no relationship with the LORD… /S//o all He can do is speak to Saul through lost donkeys/.
!!!! b) But Samuel knows and loves the LORD… /So the L//ORD //can speak to *Samuel in his ear*/.
!!!!! (1) *The L**ORD had told Samuel in his ear *is literally, “had uncovered his ear.”
The same phrase is used in Ruth 4:4.
“The phrase is taken from the pushing aside of the headdress in order to whisper, and therefore means that Jehovah had secretly told Samuel.”
(Smith, /Pulpit Commentary/) It doesn’t mean Samuel heard an audible voice from God.
!!!!! (2) Samuel heard the voice of God at a young age (1 Samuel 3:2-10)
!!!!! (3) *Tomorrow about this time*: God gave the prophet Samuel very specific guidance regarding future events.
Samuel received this guidance wisely, and looked for the fulfillment of the words to confirm God’s choice of a king.
!!!!! (4) But Samuel was also wise in not manipulating circumstances to “make” what God had said come to pass.
Samuel felt that if this was God’s word, He was able to make it happen.
!!!!! (5) *I will send you*: Even though Israel had rejected the LORD God as their king (1 Samuel 8:7), God was still in control.
He didn’t step off His throne just because Israel asked Him to.
He would indeed give them a king, but He would send a flawed king to a flawed Israel.
!!!! c) God works in very common circumstances.
!!!!! (1) I imagine that when those donkeys ran away that there was quite a bit of worry: ‘Those dumb donkeys!
Where did they go now?’
It was a hardship and an inconvenience.
It must have been an irritating thing to go look for those donkeys.
The longer they looked, they could not find them.
The real story or issue isn’t the lost donkeys.
!!!!! (2) The real issue is to bring Saul to Samuel, that he might anoint him as King.
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