Lessons for life: Saul

Allan Bartlam | 1 Samuel 8:1-9, 1 Samuel 10:9-11, 1 Samuel 10:17-27 

It all started so well: Saul had everything he needed to serve as Israel's first king, but he made some serious mistakes along the way which led to disaster for him and the nation. Allan traces Saul's path from hero to zero and challenges us to take care of our own lives.

Discussion questions can be downloaded here.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, 'You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.'

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.

They ran and brought [Saul] out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, 'Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.' Then the people shouted, 'Long live the king!'