Wednesday, 19th July 2023
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Samuel knew that the most important thing is to hear God and to be connected with God. Samuel knew the faster to bring someone before God the faster the person can receive the blessings of God. Therefore when Saul came to Samuel, he anointing Saul with oil, so he can connect with God and set himself apart. When we want to do the work of God, we need God’s anointing. But when we don’t set ourselves apart, then everything we do will only be ‘doing’. Not only Saul, but also Paul in the New Testament, who was blind and was told to see the apostles so he could be anointed and receive teaching.
God wants us to submit under the authority in this world, and through our authority, we can learn obedience. We all want to do a lot of things for God, but where is our God? When we don’t follow the authority, when we don’t listen to our leaders, where is our God? We must learn to submit under the authority, before we learn to serve God we must learn to serve our authority. To be humble and obedient before our authority.
God took up great effort to establish a king for the people of Israel, He had the authority to do anything but why would He take so long and so many steps to make Saul the king? It is because of the lives of people, He is not looking at His work as a ‘thing’ but He treasure the relationship. We have freedom but we choose to serve God with our heart, without fear, and full of joy. This is the life God is pleased with. God was helping Saul’s life and He let Samuel poured oil on Saul, so his life has a mark. Samuel kissed Saul because he was willing to build a relationship with Saul.
Samuel wanted to help Saul to go into the destiny of God. First he showed Saul that God knew what he wanted and desired, and He had the power to make them come true. Saul had been worried about the donkeys and about his father, and God knew it all. God is able, He knows everything inside our hearts, and He can make our prayers come true, He is a loving God and He is a real God.
When we read the Bible, we must ask questions. When Saul saw the people bringing the best produce, the best lamb, the best wine to go a long way to worship God, what would be in his mind? He was never told about Samuel, a man of God, and He was never taught about God. So before he was anointed the king of Israel, God let him experience that his life is not for himself. There is a God, this is the fragrance of the Tree of Life, to put God first, next the people, then the earth.
God knew Saul had an orphan spirit, even though he came from a wealthy family, he had servant, and he was strong and handsome. Saul had self-pity, he felt he was not worthy, and he was trying so hard to please people. He tried so hard to please his father and to find the donkeys, but was he really happy? What is inside our heart? Do we really serve God willingly? Do we really have the right motivation to serve? Saul wanted his father to recognise what he could do, his strength and his ability. But at the end he was tired and he wanted to give up.
When God was preparing for Saul, He first satisfied him on his body, his soul, and his spirit. Then God also let Saul meet a group of prophets, who were speaking prophecy and had the Spirit of God. Then God’s Spirit touched Saul and he was able to speak prophecy with the prophets, to speak the Word of God and be renewed. We must be transformed into a new person when we speak the Word of God.
There were signs given to Saul so he could take an action. The signs were telling Saul that God was with him. Samuel told Saul in V8, ‘You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.’ God knew Saul’s weakness, he was unwilling to wait and he wanted to show off himself. So Samuel reminded him to wait, to be still, and to let God come first. Let us be willing to wait, we are so afraid to not be accepted and we want to perform.
Then God gave Saul a new heart, a new life, so he could start anew, and align with God. Then all the promises were fulfilled, everything God said came true, and the Word of God came into the heart of Saul, so in his body, soul, and spirit were filled with the fragrance of Tree of Life. God never gave up on Saul, even before he was the king of Israel. God sees men not like men see men, God looks into the heart of people and He was willing to give Saul a chance. We are unworthy but God chose us, this is a blessing. Do we know that being able to serve God is a blessing? Don’t see ourselves bigger than we should, don’t let other people’s expectations come before pleasing God , then we will not be easily offended.