King Saul
Before Saul came along the Jewish people were led by ‘judges’. They came to a point where they thought that they would prefer to be like other countries and have a king of their own. Samuel (the last ‘judge’) was told by God to find the right person to be king.
Saul was chosen by Samuel. He was a tall, handsome man, who
was a natural leader. He was humble enough to ask for advice,
and strong enough to attract lots of people
to follow his lead.
Saul was the first king of Israel. His reign started well but
soon things began to go wrong. He was very jealous of a young
man called David (who went on to become the next king!) and he
forgot to obey God and his commands. His envy of David, his bad
decisions, and the growing strength of his enemies, caused Saul
to become depressed. His troubled mind made him ill and his
ability to rule over
Israel started to desert him. In 1 Samuel 15:11 we can read
about how unhappy God was with Saul – this is what he said to
Samuel about him, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king,
because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my
instructions” (New Living Translation).
Saul even went so far as to try and have David killed, but David
ran away. When the tables were turned and David had a chance to
kill Saul – he wouldn’t do it. David knew it would be wrong to
kill the king.
Saul’s life ended in a sad way – he was defeated by the
Philistines, the sworn enemies of Israel. Saul was a man who
started very well but, sadly, ended very badly indeed!
1 Samuel chapter 26
1 Samuel chapter 9, 10:1-16
and watch Friends and Heroes...
Series 2 Episode 19, “Unwilling Guests”
Series 3 Episode 33, “Rome Alone”
