Birth of a King - Part 3
1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
Saul, here’s the word I have for you from the LORD. The LORD says He has anointed you to be king over Israel. And, just to show you I’m telling the truth, some things are going to happen to you after you leave me.
These signs
Samuel 10:2 When thou art departed from me to day, [Saul] [here’s what’s going to happen] thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The [donkeys] which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the [donkeys], and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
1 Samuel 10:3 Then shalt thou go on forward from [there], and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three [goats], and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: [Samuel is still prophesying.]
1 Samuel 10:4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.
1 Samuel 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
1 Samuel 10:6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. [Glory to God!]
The anointing of the Spirit
What was the purpose of all these things happening? It was to allow the Spirit of the LORD to come upon Saul, to anoint him with the LORD’s Spirit to be king.
And then Samuel says, after all these things happen to you, go down to Gilgal and I’ll meet you there in seven days. Vs 9.
All those signs came to pass
1 Samuel 10:9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
1 Samuel 10:10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
1 Samuel 10:11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
Is Saul among the Prophets
The answer is no. Saul was not among the prophets. Yet he was anointed by the Spirit of God and he prophesied. The Bible says ye may all prophesy. All who? All Christians. Why? Because all Christians are anointed with the Spirit of God. Now that doesn’t mean everyone’s a prophet, like Samuel, but all believers have the ability to prophesy by the Spirit.
Who were these musical prophets?
1 Samuel 10:12 And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?
Who is their father? Who are these people? That’s a good question. Where did these musical prophets come from? What is their genealogy? This was a new phenomenon in Israel, singing prophets, musical prophets. Where did they come from?
What is this power?
And not only that, but what is this great power surrounding them, so that when somebody comes into their presence, they begin to prophesy? This is amazing!
Well, that power was the anointing of the Spirit of God. And this passage of scripture demonstrates to us one of the best-kept secrets of all time. And that secret is that if you want to be anointed . . . then get into the presence of the anointing. Selah!
You see, the anointing will get on you. Because the anointing anoints. There is only one Holy Spirit, and one of His manifestations is what we call the anointing. It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit manifested to us in some way or another.
We also call it the presence of the LORD, or the glory of God, or the beauty of the LORD, or the power of God, and many other things, but these are all names for the Holy Spirit.
The anointing
You know, people pray, oh God, anoint me. I'm going to preach, LORD. Please anoint me. I’m going to lead worship, LORD. Anoint me. But wait a minute. Is that how the Bible tells us to get anointed? By praying for it? No.
The way we get anointed is by exposing ourselves to the anointing, which is the Spirit of God, through hearing God’s word, by communing with the LORD, and by listening to and singing anointed songs.
In fact, the Bible tells us to be filled with the Spirit by singing and making melody in our hearts to the LORD. Really? By singing and making melody in our heart? That’s how we get filled with the Spirit? Yes, that’s what the Bible says.
Saul was not a prophet. But when he came into the presence of that prophetic anointing of the Spirit, what happened? It got on him. He prophesied. Had he ever done that before? No.
New Testament Worship
I believe this company of prophets is a picture of New Testament worshipers, a group of musical prophetic worshipers surrounded by the presence of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, the anointing. Did they have a different Holy Spirit than we have? No. They had the same Holy Spirit. Can we do what they did? Absolutely.
And we’ll learn in a later chapter that Samuel was the one who trained these guys to prophesy. So, Samuel was part of this new breed of prophets, these musical prophets, these people who used music and worship to connect with the Spirit of the LORD. David was also one of them. Are you one of them? You sure are.
Meeting at the High Place
1 Samuel 10:13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
1 Samuel 10:14 And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, [Where did you go?] And he said, To seek the [donkeys]: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. [Oh really? You talked with Samuel, did you?]
1 Samuel 10:15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. [You have my attention now.]
1 Samuel 10:16 And Saul said unto his uncle, [Oh] He told us that the [donkeys] were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.
Oh, you know, Uncle Fred, he just told us about the donkeys, fed us a meal, gave us a room for the night, and then he anointed me to be king. You know, just the usual stuff. No, he left some stuff out.
The Lord chooses a King
1 Samuel 10:17 And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh;
1 Samuel 10:18 And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:
1 Samuel 10:19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.
Did Israel sin by asking for a king? Yes. Samuel makes that crystal clear. So then they cast lots to determine who the king is going to be.
1 Samuel 10:21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken [or chosen]: and when they sought him, he could not be found. [Where’s Saul?]
1 Samuel 10:22 Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. [Has he gotten here yet?] And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. [You can’t hide from God.]
Now, this wasn’t what you might call good optics. The Lord has chosen a king in front of all the tribes of Israel, but he’s hiding among the baggage. Not a good look.
But it gives us a glimpse into what Saul is thinking. He is overwhelmed by the idea of being king, so he just finds a place to hide.
1 Samuel 10:23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. [You could definitely see him in the crowd.]
1 Samuel 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
1 Samuel 10:25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
1 Samuel 10:26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
1 Samuel 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.