Sunday, August 23, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Samuel 9-10
Key Verse
1 Samuel 10:1 — “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?”
Devotional Thought
What do you do when the ordinary errand of an ordinary day turns out to be the hinge of your whole life? Saul set out to find his father’s lost donkeys. That is all. He trudged through mount Ephraim, through Shalisha and Shalim, through the land of the Benjamites, and found nothing. He was ready to quit and go home, worried that Kish would stop caring about the animals and start worrying about him. It was a servant’s suggestion—let us go to the man of God—that carried him up the hill to Ramah, where Samuel waited. Saul had no idea, as he climbed that slope, that the LORD had spoken in Samuel’s ear the day before: “To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin.” God had already scheduled the appointment. Saul thought he was chasing donkeys. Heaven knew he was being led to a crown.
Notice how gently God handles him. Samuel does not begin with the throne. He begins with the thing that had been gnawing at Saul’s mind: “as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found.” Only then comes the impossible question: “And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee?” Saul’s answer is the answer of every honest soul—Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes? My family is the least of all the families. He is not being coy; he genuinely cannot see himself the way God sees him. And then there is the shoulder of the sacrifice, kept back and set aside for him since Samuel said, “I have invited the people.” Before Saul ever wore a crown, he sat at a table where a portion had been reserved for him in advance. That is the way our God works: the provision precedes the calling.
Yet even grace does not remove the mystery of the human heart. When the lots are cast at Mizpeh and the tribe of Benjamin is taken, the family of Matri, and Saul the son of Kish, the man cannot be found. He has hidden himself among the stuff. The one who stood head and shoulders above every man in Israel is crouched behind the baggage. And still the people shout, “God save the king.” Some, the children of Belial, despised him and brought no presents; Saul held his peace. He would need that patience. God gave him another heart that day, and the Spirit came upon him, and he prophesied among the prophets—but a new heart is not the same as a finished one. Saul’s story will darken. This day, though, is bright with mercy.
Perhaps this is where you are today: an errand, a delay, a hill you did not intend to climb. The season is late summer, and the year is turning toward its own Mizpeh, its own new beginnings. Do not despise the small searchings of an ordinary Sunday. The God who numbered Saul’s steps toward Ramah is numbering yours, and He has already set a portion aside for you.
Reflection
- Where in your life has God been using an ordinary errand, delay, or disappointment to lead you somewhere you never intended to go—and are you willing to keep walking up the hill?
- Saul hid among the baggage when God called him. What “stuff” do you hide behind when the LORD’s claim on your life feels too large for you to believe?
Prayer
LORD, Thou who didst send Saul out of Benjamin on the very day appointed, and didst speak in Samuel’s ear before Saul ever knew he was sought, we thank Thee that our steps are ordered by a God who sees the end from the beginning. Forgive us for hiding among the baggage when Thou dost call; forgive our small thoughts of ourselves and our smaller thoughts of Thee. Give us, as Thou gavest Saul, another heart—not merely a new beginning, but a heart that endures in obedience. Help us to hold our peace when men despise us, and to trust the portion Thou hast set aside for us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.