Leadership qualities needed

I Samuel Chapter 15.  Poor old Saul, he just couldn’t get it right. He did seem to try to be in contact with God, but he didn’t get the whole picture. It reminds me of a favourite thought of mine. When God gives us ideas, there are two parts to the process – first we hear the idea for some action which we recognise as coming from God; then we listen carefully for directions from God as to how we should carry out that action. Too often we fail to wait on God for the second part of the plan. We rush off with only human reasoning and actions to carry out the plan.  I liken it to Gen. 1:26, 27, 28 where God says, “Let us make man in our image.” Aha! an idea. Now the doing of it: “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” with more detail to come, before that magnificent statement “And God saw every thing that he had made; and, behold, it was very good.”

As we were reading the Lesson in church on Sunday, I got a little gleam of inspiration (maybe) about Saul’s failure, even though he tried to obey with burnt offerings and such. The Christ (yes, even in Saul’s day) demanded much more than burnt offerings and animal sacrifices.

I went on a hunt for Agar, king of the Amalekites who are central figures in Saul’s endeavours in this chapter. He doesn’t even get a mention in the Bible Dictionary. It merely says that Agar is the same as Hagar, and the only Hagar is the mother of Ishmael. The Amalakites were reduced to “a horde of banditti” by Saul. Their destruction was completed by David, the next king.

 

Chapter 16.  We know it so well. Or do I? Samuel tried so hard to help Saul be a good king. I am reminded of how hard Mary Baker Eddy worked to keep her adopted son, Foster-Eddy, on the right spiritual track. (Perhaps Robert Peel’s Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority is a good place to find this history. The index is very full – under “Eddy, Ebenezer J. Foster (Bennie)”

But, now Samuel is told by God that it is a hopeless case and he must look up Jesse’s family for the next king he is to anoint. Samuel is fearful of Saul’s reaction. The story is very well known - how Samuel inspected all of Jesse’s 8 sons before choosing David and anointing him.

It is interesting the way God chose to get David into Saul’s presence – through his musicianship!  And the effect of his music on Saul’s disturbed mind.  Gently!  Gently!

Joyce Voysey