Samuel did not look about for the man who should become the first king of Israel. He waited until God should choose a man for the place. And then one day God spoke in his ear and said, “Tomorrow about this time I will send a man to you from the tribe of Benjamin, and I want you to anoint him to become the king of my people. He will be captain of their army, and he will save them from the Philistines.’”
This man whom God had chosen was named Saul. He was a young man, and his father’s name was Kish. His father was a very rich man. He owned wide fields and green pastures in the land of Benjamin, and many cattle and sheep and asses.
One day some of Kish’s asses wandered away from his pasture and were lost in the woods. Where they went not one knew, so Kish sent Saul and a servant to look for them. And what a searching-time they had! For two days they went from one place to another, hunting the lost asses; but nowhere could they find a trace of them. Finally Saul said, “Let us return, for my father will thinks that we, too, are lost.”
The servant did not, want to return until they had found the lost animals He said, “Let us first stop in this city near by and ask the man of God to tell us where our asses may be found. He is a prophet, and whatever he says always happens.” But Saul was unwilling to stop, because he had no present to give to the prophet. His servant, however, had a piece of money, and when Saul knew this he was ready to seek the man of God at once.
As the two men were climbing the hill leading to the city gate they met some young girls with empty pitchers, going out to draw water. They asked the girls where they might find the man of God. And the girls told them that Samuel had come to worship God with the people there, and that the people had prepared a feast and were waiting at the place of sacrifice for him to ask a blessing upon the food before they should begin to eat. Saul and his servant hurried on, and in the gate they met an old man whom: they also asked where they might find the prophet.
This old man was Samuel himself, and he had come to the gate to wait for Saul. He had never seen Saul before. But God told him that Saul was the one he promised to send from the land of Benjamin. And God caused Samuel to know what Saul was seeking.
Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the prophet you are looking for. And today you must go with me to the feast that these people have made. Do not search any more for your father’s asses, which were lost three days ago, because they have been found. And now you are the man to whom all Israel is looking.”
Saul was much surprized to hear Samuel’s words. He said, “I am a Benjamite, of the smallest tribe of Israel. Surely the people do not want me for their king.” But Saul went with Samuel to the feast. And in the best room he sat at a table among the most important guests. Samuel ordered the best food to be set before Saul, and he told the young man that he had kept this food especially for him.
After the feast, Samuel took Saul to a quiet place on a house-top and told him many things that would soon come to pass. And Saul wondered about these things. When SarA and his servant started home the next morning, Samuel walked a little way with them. And before he turned back Samuel asked the servant to go on ahead because he wished to speak tio Saul alone. Then he took some oil and poured it on Saul’s head, and kissed Saul, and said, “I am doing this because God has anointed you to become the captain of his people, the Israelites.”
Then Samuel gave three signs to Saul, that Saul might believe his words. He told him that two men would meet him at a certain place and tell him that his father’s asses had been found, and that his father was now sorrowing because Saul had not yet returned. Farther on three men would meet him, and they would give him two loaves of bread. And last of all, a company of prophets would meet him and he would join their company and prophesy with them. Samuel said that God would change Saul into a different man. And after these words Samuel turned back toward the city, and Saul journeyed on. The three signs that Samuel had given came to pass; and Saul’s heart was changed by the Spirit of God and he prophesied with the young men who met him on the way. Then he stopped with his servant at a place of sacrifice, and his uncle met him there. “Where have you been?” his uncle asked; and Saul told him about their search for his father’s asses, and about his visit with Samuel. But he did not tell that Samuel had anointed him to become Israel’s first king.
Soon after these things had happened, Samuel sent messengers through the land to call all the men of Israel together at Mizpeh, the place where God had given them a great victory over the Philistines. And when they met together, Samuel talked to them about the wonderful ways God had blessed them and helped them out of their troubles. He spoke to them about the things that God had done for their fathers and for their grandfathers long ago. “Now,” said he, “you are asking for a king to rule over you instead of letting God be your ruler and king. You are not honoring God when you ask for a king; but God will give you the desire of your heart. He will choose for you a king today.” And when the twelve tribes came before the Lord, the strong tribes passed by, and God did not choose any one among them. But from the weakest tribe he chose a family, and from that family he chose a man, and that man was Saul.
Every one wished to see the man God had chosen, but Saul could not be found. He had hidden himself from the crowd. Then God told where he was hiding, and the people ran, and found him. They brought him out, and every one saw that God had chosen a handsome young man who stood head and shoulders taller than any other man in the crowd. And the people shouted with a loud cry, “God save the king!” Afterwards Samuel told the people what kind of kingdom they should have, and he wrote all his words in a book. Then he dismissed the assembly, and every man went away to his own home. Saul, too, returned to his home at Gibeah, and a company of men who loved their new king went with him.
But some of the people were not satisfied with the man God had chosen. They had wished to choose a man for themselves And they looked with anger upon Saul. These men were idol-worshipers, and they did not fear God. But Saul pretended not to notice their angry looks and their unkind actions. He went back quietly to work in his fields as he had been working before Samuel anointed him to become the ruler of his people.