So you want a King Samuel
asked? – God replied give them Saul –“The one they asked / prayed for.”
The Second King is probably
the most famous king in the whole Bible. As I said in the previous post, King
Saul was allowed to be King, but God was already choosing a king of his heart’s
desire. (1 Sam. 13:14)
Let’s have some fun… As I typically
tell my Old Testament classes, and church that I teach for… “Our Bibles don’t
have everything translated.”
Saul: שאול
= "asked for, prayed for"
David: דָּוִיד = “Beloved, Dove”
What
implication does this have on our lives? The
implication is quite startling. We can have “our choice” or we can have “God’s beloved
Peace.” (The dove is always a symbol of
peace). If the concept of desiring a king is equated to idolatry (sin), then
God always offers us a better choice even while we’re sinning. (Romans 5:8) So why don’t we
naturally choose God’s choice the first time around?
Simple, God’s choice doesn’t look like what we often want. King Saul was Tall Handsome and a good fighter, David doesn't look appealing at all...(1 Sam. 16) David is not the oldest, strongest, most handsom,
or wisest of his brothers… He’s the “runt” of the family. His inheritance would
have been about the size of a back pack, so he couldn’t even hire a mercenary,
let alone a full army. Yet, this is God’s choice. 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong.”
Jesus, the “Son of David,” (Mat. 1:1) a
rightful heir to the throne is pictured in such humble light as his forefather.
Jesus didn’t even have a house of his own (Mat. 8:20), let alone an army to rule. But,
Jesus was and is God’s best choice for our lives. So why let sin rule, instead
of the King of the Universe?
