Losing donkeys and keeping sheep
Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys” (1 Samuel 9:3).
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him” (1 Samuel 16:11).
Samuel was Israel’s most outstanding judge. But as his ministry drew to a close, Samuel appointed his sons as judges. It must have been heartbreaking for Samuel to discover his sons did not follow in his ways, but used their privileged positions to financially profit themselves and pervert the course of justice. It is striking that God judged Eli for the failure of his house, but God did not judge Samuel. God is the true judge of how we bring up our children. Ultimately they become responsible to God for the path they take in life. The failure of Samuel’s sons influenced Israel to ask for a king so that they could be like other nations. It was a national desire which reflected the spiritual condition of the people of God. We are always in danger of dismissing a pattern God has given us because we fail in carrying it out. We need to consider carefully what we are really discarding. The people’s decision was not a rejection of Samuel or even his sons, but the rejection of God Himself. Change can be exciting and full of promise, but a real change has to begin in our hearts.
God gave Israel the kind of king they were looking for: a young, attractive giant of a man. And although Saul started well, his reign ended in disobedience and disaster. In preparation for this, God chose a second man to become king over His people: David. When we are introduced to Saul, he is looking for his father’s donkeys that were lost, and which he never found. They were found for him. When we are introduced to David, he is keeping his father’s sheep. It was in this lowly occupation of shepherding that David learnt to worship and trust God. He didn’t lose sheep. David risked his life to protect his father’s sheep against a lion and a bear. He fought battles which only God saw. This equipped him to fight and be victorious in the great struggles he would later face. David was a lesson to the nation about what really mattered: a living relationship and implicit trust in the living God. Israel thought that becoming like all other nations would improve their lives. But changing the approach to their government was simply a mask to disguise turning their back on God. What needed changing was hearts that were so far away from God. It is foolishness to blame our failure on people or things. The path of blessing starts at the foot of the cross. There we understand what we are in the flesh and there we know the love which alone can transform us. God bore with Israel and allowed them to reject Him as their King, and discover the consequences. But then, in grace, He gave them a king like no other, one who believed above all else that the Lord was His shepherd – and God made David the shepherd of a nation. Our relationship with Christ changes our relationship with everything. We don’t find failure in people and things; we find the power to love and act in grace, and discover the paths He wants us to take to witness to Him.
