After having been told by Samuel that the Lord is going to allow them to have a king, we don't find the people seeking candidates from the tribe of Judah. We don't find anyone, from the tribe of Judah or from any other, announcing his intention to run for election. The Lord told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 17 that the kings of Israel must be "a king the Lord your God chooses", so it may be that they are waiting for word from Him although they have gotten ahead of His timing in asking for a king at this particular point in history. The Lord referred to their request for a king as a "rejection" of Him in Chapter 8, so we know that He is not pleased with the request even though He intends to grant it. He actually is, in a sense, going to choose the man to rule over them, but He's going to tell Samuel to anoint a man who is the very image of what the human mind thinks a king should be. As one commentary I consulted phrased it, this man will be "the king straight from central casting". He will be the type of man Hollywood would choose to play the king of Israel, but he won't be a man with a heart for the Lord. His outward appearance will be all they could have dreamed of but on the inside there will be a spiritual emptiness.
"There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else." (1 Samuel 9:1-2) If the average citizen were asked in those times what type of man should be king, (from a human standpoint), Saul would fit the bill. He's from a wealthy and influential family; his father is "a man of standing". It's not likely the people would deliberately choose for themselves a poor man as king. It's unlikely they would choose for themselves a king whose family line is not well known and highly respected. In addition to having an impressive pedigree, Saul is exceedingly good-looking, for the text indicates that a better looking man than Saul could not be found anywhere in Israel. It is a human tendency (or failing) to treat physical beauty as if it is a virtue and deserving of reward. Many opportunities and advantages are awarded to those whose looks can turn heads, regardless of whether or not they have a good heart and sometimes regardless of whether or not they have the qualifications for the job at hand. On top of being so handsome that women and men both can't help staring at him, Saul is the tallest man in Israel. He's going to cut a fine figure when riding his horse ahead of his army or when holding court at his palace or when meeting with other heads of state. He's nowhere near as tall as the giants who still remain in the land (he will be confronted later---to his horror---by the most famous giant of the Bible) but he's tall enough to make his subjects believe a giant would think twice before challenging him on the battlefield.
From the outside, Saul looks like the right man for the job. And the Lord will allow him to have the job for a time. But the Lord is letting him have the job not as a blessing upon the people, as a godly king would be. He's going to use Saul as an instrument of discipline. Because the people have rejected the Lord as king, as He said in Chapter 8, and because they refused to listen when Samuel warned them about everything the king would demand of them, the Lord is going to give them a man who will do all the things Samuel said the king would do. They will wish they'd waited for the Lord's timing and for a king who has a heart for God. But though Saul will not be a man who is led by the Lord in all his decisions, and though his looks and pedigree are not what the people should have been looking for in a king, the Lord is not going to turn His back on the nation in anger and walk away. Discipline is never pleasant but it's what the Lord administers to those He loves; discipline is not judgment. Judgment is for the wicked---for those who don't belong to the Lord. Discipline is for the Lord's children: "Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." (Deuteronomy 8:5) "Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." (9 Job 5:17) "The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:12)
The Lord, like a good father, disciplines us when we need it. He does it for our own good. Saul will not be a good man but, after his unpleasant reign is finished, a man who loves the Lord with all his heart will reign in his stead. The people will be blessed by that king. There will be some hard times in between now and then but that doesn't mean the Lord has forsaken the people.
The Lord's discipline is not intended to discourage us and make us feel forsaken. On the contrary, it's the evidence of a loving heart, as the Apostle Paul pointed out: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined---and everyone undergoes discipline---then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:7-11)
We will conclude by discussing a word Paul uses in verse 11 above. He refers to the one who has been disciplined as one who has "been trained". We tend to think of discipline as correction, which it often is. But discipline also means training. Other words that mean the same thing as discipline are: self-control, development, practice, preparation, cultivation, exercise, and willpower. For example, a person who wants to get in good physical shape must be a person of discipline---a person with the willpower and self-control to do what is necessary to get in good physical shape. The Lord wants us to be in tiptop spiritual shape and that requires discipline, or training. Not all the hardships we face in this world are due to having drifted into sin. We can be living in a God-honoring way and still have problems come into our lives. If we have prayerfully searched our hearts and the Lord has not revealed to us that we have brought trouble upon ourselves through disobedience, we would do well to regard our hardship as training. The Lord has allowed the hardship not as correction/punishment, but as a tool for improving our spiritual fitness. And often the sooner we begin asking the Lord what He wants to teach us through this hardship, the sooner our difficult season passes by. The sooner we "get with the program" and learn what the Lord wants to teach us, the sooner we will be ready to move on into a blessing. You'll recall that a few days ago we talked about the danger of receiving a blessing before we're ready to receive it. Sometimes our hardships are not the result of sin but are being used to prepare us to receive a great blessing. A blessing received when we are not ready to handle it can actually become a curse and the Lord, as a responsible father, doesn't give us more than we can handle. The problems you and I are having today may be the very things that will enable us to receive and enjoy and responsibly handle a great blessing tomorrow.
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