A King Like The Rest

It must be noted that Saul is the answer to the people's request for a "king like all the other nations" around them. The reason this must be noted is that Saul is not a King like the Lord God. That will be revealed later in an unexpected character to come.

So far in the narrative, we see the elements in Saul that the Israelites would have seen in the kings of other nations.

First Saul is from a prestigious family.

1 Samuel 9:1 (ESV) There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth.


Second Saul is tall and handsome.
1 Samuel 9:2 (ESV) Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

It would be wise to remember Israel's history for being short and visually insignificant to the nations around them. Saul is the first Israelite noted for his stature.

Later in the narrative, we see that Saul cannot find his father's donkeys. He seems a bit inept at caring for those under his charge. When Saul is ready to give up it is his servant (not Saul) who suggests finding the prophet Samuel. Saul is not even aware of Samuel and when the servant suggests this course of action Saul's first thought is payment.
1 Samuel 9:7 (ESV) Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man?" 

You have in Saul the makings of an earthly king like all the other nations. He looks the part, he's visually impressive and he comes from money. But he's unspiritual, he's unable to properly care for his father's herd and he considers spiritual advice to be a financially based transaction as most kings did in the ancient world. 

Saul is the king you get when you reject the Lord God as King. 

But what is most notable about Saul is his lack of any experience with the Lord prior to his calling. Samuel will unpack what is going to happen in chapter 10. 

1 Samuel 10:2–7 (ESV) When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

Note that Saul's spiritual lack will be made up for by the grace of God. The grace of God exhibited in Saul's life are these: His problem with the donkeys is taken care of, he can relax. He is led and directed by others to the place where God lives (Bethel). He is provided food and wine at no cost. Finally, he encounters a group of people who create an atmosphere for Saul to experience the Lord.

Now the question is this, why does God do this for His people when they really deserved an inept albeit impressive looking king due to their rejection of Him? Because God considers His people HIS possession. And though they make some unwise decisions along the way, the Lord will graciously guide them through the experience of realizing what they "want" is not what they need.

The Lord will do this for us regularly. And for that, we should be thankful. His grace covers us through the unwise decisions behind us. Through Saul, Israel will experience a modicum of victory but ultimately find Saul's kingship not what they hoped. Their hearts will be primed for a man after God's own heart.

In the end, even our mistakes are leveraged to turn our hearts from worldly images of success to the abiding love of our Father.