Saul Confirmed as King

Despite that God has already made Saul king, God permits the people to participate in the process. God did not need their renewal of the kingship, or their celebrations and worship. And yet, in His mercy, God allowed the people to participate. As you read, consider how God is inviting you to join Him in the work He is doing in the world today. 

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from 1 Samuel 11:12-15

For more help use this Bible Study method

 

REFLECTION

 

Mercy Again and Again

by Kelsey Bacon

One of the common themes we see throughout the Old Testament is Israel's rejection of God. Throughout all these books and stories, we see the Israelites turn God away, chase after false idols, and question God's sovereignty. The story of Saul's kingship is no different. In 1 Samuel 8:7, God says to Samuel, "It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." And later Samuel delivers that message to the people, saying, "But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, "No, set a king over us.'" (1 Samuel 10:19). This pattern of rejection is not new to God in this moment, as the Israelites beg for a human king. But it makes me empathize greatly with our Lord. As a person who has experienced even a little bit of life, I know how it feels to be rejected. And imagine being God, the best ruler imaginable, and his own beloved people say, "We don't want you, give us someone else to rule us."

Of course, we do this to God in our own ways even now, despite the fact that we no longer have kings. We give our lives over to the rule of things other than the Lord, rely on things of this world rather than the only reliable One. And as I read today's specific part of Saul's story, it is evident to me how merciful our God is. Even though his beloved people rejected him, God still gave them a king. And even when that king became corrupt and led them astray, God still watched over them. God looked upon his broken, selfish, single-minded children and still loved them, still had compassion for them. His mercy extended beyond their disobedience and sin. And his mercy extends beyond our sin, too. 

Our rejection of God might not look as outright as wanting someone else to rule our lives, but how often do we make selfish decisions, even if they're small? How often do we make idols of things, people, occupations, relationships? How often do we let busyness take over? These choices, though many of them unconscious, can often lead to us picking the world over God, picking ourselves or others over God.

And yet he has mercy for us, over and over again, as he did with the Israelites. So pray today, return to the Lord, and bathe in his mercy.

 

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

 

Thursdays: LIFE Lord God Almighty, we lament the current distress of our nation and we ask for your intervention. We implore you that every precious life would be protected – lives of minorities, lives of the unborn, lives of the hopeless, lives of the mentally ill, lives with deep roots in this land, lives who have recently arrived -- each and every precious life for whom You gave Your precious life.