Day 11: 1 Samuel 9:14b–25

Then Samuel said, “Notice that the reserved piece is set before you. Eat it because it was saved for you for this solemn event at the time I said, ‘I’ve invited the people.’ ” So Saul ate with Samuel that day (v. 24).

The people rejected the sons of Samuel and demanded a king. Because they did, we meet one of the great and tragic figures of the Bible. He stood a head taller than anyone else in Israel yet showed all the characteristics of a poor self-concept. His name was Saul, and he would be king. We learn volumes about the shepherd king, David, from his peculiar relationship with his predecessor, Saul.

God arranged for Saul to encounter Samuel while Saul and a servant were out searching for lost donkeys. God had already told Samuel that Saul was coming. But Saul got a puzzled understanding of Samuel’s statement:

“As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father’s family?” (1 Sam. 9:20).

Saul’s response gives us a glimpse of a root problem in his life. The future king replied, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?” (v. 21).

How do we distinguish between godly humility and low self-esteem? Which did Saul display? One key lies in our focus. A person with godly humility looks to the Master. He or she neither exalts nor denigrates self, because to do either is to make self the center of our universe. When we’re really serving Christ, our reputations and abilities simply cease to be so important. We must decrease that He may increase.

Saul exhibited the core sin of all self-centered people: he focused on himself. We need to recognize that a lack of confidence does not equal humility. In fact, genuinely humble people have enormous confidence because it rests in a great God. Saul’s self-centeredness eventually cost him dearly, as a self-focus always does.