1 Samuel 9:1-5 KJV Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. [2] And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. [3] And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. [4] And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. [5] And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
I. INTRODUCTION -- SAUL
-Saul in 1st Samuel 9 is a man wrapped in a great heritage. His kinfolks were a hearty band to whom much success had been achieved. Seven generations of Saul can be traced back. If we were able to do this with our own generations it would be a reach all the way back to the Colonial days.
-Because of this success in Saul’s family, he grew up with much pressure riding on his shoulders. The two Hebrew words that describe his father indicate that he was a mighty warrior with much valor and he also was a very wealthy man. So Saul grew up with all of the advantages and pressure that comes from this kind of heritage.
-In addition to this, the Bible declares that he stood head and shoulders above all of Israel and that his looks had the ability to steal the hearts of the girls.
• If Saul would have been an athlete in our day, he would have been the MVP, the man who would be the Sport’s Illustrated Sportsmen of the Year.
• If Saul would have been a businessman in our day, he would have been a blue-chip investor, with deference given to him from those on Wall Street.
• If Saul would have been an author in our day, his books would live at the top of the New York Bestseller List.
-Saul already had the makings of a great man even though he had not yet proved himself on the stage of life. The weight of his pedigree held much potential for him.
-Yet nothing prepares us for Saul’s first assignment. Imagine how that all of his life that people had been telling him that he was on track for greatness, there will come a day when you will succeed, even words like awesome, fantastic, great, and talented were constantly being used to describe him.
-So with all of this riding on him, we are completely shocked to read that his first assignment would send him on such a demeaning task. “Saul, you’re a great man! Why don’t’ you go and find those donkeys that are lost?”
• All of the heritage is being wasted chasing donkeys.
• All of this presence is destined to pursue grasshoppers.
• All of this potential is deemed necessary to chase down some fence-jumpers.
• All of the great qualifications are going to seed on finding dingbats.
• It is about like asking a heart-surgeon to operate on in-grown toe-nails.
• It is about like telling a rocket scientist that he will have to design toys for children.
• It is about like telling a Harvard Business School graduate to run a pawn shop.
-There suddenly comes this huge canyon between Saul’s preparation and his assignment. It is sort of like asking a home-run hitter to bunt even though the bases are loaded and you have two outs and are two runs down.
-With his pedigree, we would have expected him to go out and kill lions or fight with the enemies of Israel. Instead he is sent out on the great donkey chase caper.
-1 Samuel 9:1-2 seemingly starts a huge lead-in of a story but quickly jerks the rug out from under the reader because in verse 3, the let-down comes and Saul is sent out on the unexpected.
A. The Characteristics of Donkeys
-In the Bible when you begin to look for what donkeys were associated with it sheds light on the picture.
• Donkeys were a means by which heavy burdens were carried around.
-Saul was sent to pursue something that carried burdens for others. Sometimes the destiny of our lives can be determined by the burdens that we find ourselves in pursuit of.
• Donkeys were a means that some farmers used to plow the land.
-Saul was sent to pursue something that was going to involve a harvest. Sometimes the destiny of our lives can be determined by the kind of harvest that we are attempting to overtake. It can be long and monotonous and often a very frustrating endeavor.
• Donkeys were a means that the great desert expeditions were associated with.
-Saul was sent to run down something that was going to bring profit to someone else. Sometimes the destiny of our lives can be determined by how willing we are to help someone else see success and increase in their own life. The test of a great life is to see how many other people you can help gain their dream before yours comes to pass.
• Donkeys were sometimes referred to in association with contemptible things.
-Saul was sent to pursue something that was looked upon with much less value than that of a horse or an ox. Sometimes the destiny of our lives can be determined by how willing we are to work with the misfits of society.
• Donkeys cannot reproduce.
-Saul was sent to pursue something that could not even reproduce itself. It was sterile and fruitless. Sometimes there are seasons of life in which there is nothing productive coming to pass. Destiny plays just as much a role in this time as it does in the great times. Sometimes God is using sterile situations, unanswered prayers, and dead-ends to prove our faithfulness to Him! Don’t get lost in that season of your life and ministry!
-In reality a servant from the house of Kish could have accomplished this job probably with more success than Saul. But the star was sent to pursue.
-In 1 Samuel 9:4 we are told that they did not find these animals. Within this single verse, we find it expressed three times that they did not find what they were looking for. After this, they finally just give up in despair.
-Sometimes life is very much like this:
• The project falls apart.
• We fail the test.
• The job does not pan out.
• The opportunity dries up on the vine.
• Everything turns south.
B. Dead-End In Zuph
-To compound all of the donkey-chasing, time has been gobbled up and it appears that much time and effort has been totally wasted. Then as if this is not enough, you land at Zuph! The name Zuph actually means “a dripping honeycomb.” But on this day all that Saul found at Zuph was a cloud of stinging bees.
-Zuph is the place that you give up. Most saints and preachers end up at Zuph sometime in their life.
-Zuph is the place that you finally spiral out of control and crash.
• It is a place when you feel like the dream of your life has died.
• It is a place when you feel like the very purpose of your life is choked out.
• It is a place where finally acknowledge the great desire of your life has disappeared.
-It was an event in your life that you associated with doing something so powerful, so meaningful, and so fantastic and now it has all crashed in Zuph. Instead of accomplishment, you end up chasing donkeys.
• Instead of eagles, you find turkeys.
• Instead of accomplishment, you find failure.
• Instead of destiny, you find a detour.
• Instead of a four-lane express lane, you find a cow-trail.
-But God can turn a Zuph into a place of promise again. God can actually turn donkey chases into keys that open up throne rooms.
II. PRINCIPLES CAN BE LEARNED FROM CHASING DONKEYS
-There are some principles that can be learned from chasing donkeys.
A. The Donkey Chase Puts Us Into Contact With Servants of God
-God can use the donkey chase to help us find the right way. Great help often comes from God in very unlikely people. An unknown servant told Saul (1 Samuel 9:6) that there was an honorable man of God in the city.
-Then when they got to the city, they found a young maiden who would give them further directions as to what to do to find the seer.
-The Scriptures are full of “no-names” who grace it pages that played crucial roles in the overarching purpose of God.
• Who were the servants who filled the water pots at Cana for the first miracle?
• Who was the little girl who pointed Namaan toward the prophet?
• Who was Jonathon’s armor-bearer who helped him defeat the Philistines?
• Who was the little boy who gave up his lunch to feed a multitude?
• Who were the mighty three-hundred that helped Gideon win the battle?
• Who were the members of Jehoshaphat’s choir that brought victory?
-It can often be the calamities of life that put us in contact with the very emissaries of God’s purpose. The pressures and difficulties of life though they may seek to destroy us, God can use them to put us into contact with His servants that will help us.
-Far too often, we are so enamored with the anointing, the throne, and the royalty of the Kingdom that we forget that it was a donkey chase that propelled Saul into a place where God designated him to be.
-Sometimes emergency intersects us with anointing. God can use the most humble servant to speak some great directions into our lives. God sometimes puts very big messages in very little packages.
1. An Important “Nobody”
Stephen Ambrose spent much of his writing career writing about World War II. In the book, The Victors, and also in D-Day he writes of a very important detail that took place just before the assault of Normandy on D-Day.
Ambrose writes of a meeting that took place with a number of the very important leaders. They met in the late evening of June 5th and were quite discouraged because of the terrible weather conditions. In fact while they were meeting, Ambrose describes that it was raining incessantly outside. He mentions military leaders like Montgomery, Tedder, and Ramsay, who were all high-ranking military officials in the planning of Operation Overlord. But in this great company of men was a 28 year old Scotsman who was part of the RAF, J. M. Stagg. He was a weatherman in the company of generals. He was relatively unknown, in fact he was a nobody and yet the service that he provided on that night would end up beginning the turning point of the war.
When Eisenhower finally called for the forecast, young Stagg stood up and told the general that it would not be long before the weather would be clearing enough for them gave the directions for the attack at D-Day. Furthermore as he spoke, the rain literally started easing. The US forces and her Allies would attack the next morning and push back the German forces.
-The value of a little known man who simply did what was required of him to do to serve his generation.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
And only he who sees takes off his shoes,
The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.
-It is much a matter of perception as to how you look at the donkey chase. It can either wither you with discouragement or you can understand that God has put it all into motion. Obedience can lead to the greatest destiny.
B. The Donkey Chase Can Put Us In Touch With God’s Plan
• First, the Donkey Chase puts us in contact with the servants of God.
• Second, the Donkey Chase can put us in touch with God’s plan.
-What set it all in motion? What was the thing that set Saul into a place where he would be anointed and pushed toward a throne?
-The story is full of unlikely things that put him into the path of God’s plan.
• A great escape of the donkeys was the first thing that put God’s plan into effect.
• Kish, Saul’s father, sent Saul on the hunt and not another servant.
• Saul was willing to obey the instructions that were given to him.
• The plan included Saul in an exhausting hunt where he came up empty.
• The servant spoke to Saul about the possibility of meeting the prophet.
• A village so small but it had a young woman drawing water at the right time. She knows where the prophet is.
• Saul is just in time to meet Samuel and Samuel is just available to meet Saul. The meeting is perfect timing.
-God took care of the rest of the details. All of this was for the sole reason of intersecting Saul and Samuel into God’s great plan.
1. “I Almost Failed to Give Him the Key”
The early years of the 19th century were troubled times in the German confederation. Rumors of revolution and rioting had the federated government in panic. The chief statesman of the confederation ordered thousands of young men drafted into the army to guard the borders and put down internal revolts. Across the countryside, young men in uniform tramped off to an unknown destiny.
In one German village stood a grand old stonewalled church with and ornately carved facade, beautiful stained glass, and a stately pipe organ. The organ was famed throughout the region for its beautiful, rich tone. One day the aged caretaker of the church was interrupted during his chores by a knock on the great oak door of the sanctuary. He opened the door to find a young man in uniform on the steps.
"Sir, I have a favor to ask," the young soldier began. "Would you please permit me to play the organ for one hour?"
"I’m sorry, young man," the caretaker replied. "No one but our own organist is permitted to play the organ."
"But sir, I’ve heard so much about the organ of this church, and I’ve walked so many miles just to see it, just to play it for a single hour!"
The aged man paused then shook his head sadly.
"Please," the soldier pleaded. "My commander gave me a 24-hour leave. In a few more days we move to another province where the fighting is expected to be heavy. This may be the last chance in my life to play the organ."
The caretaker reluctantly nodded. He swung the door open and beckoned the soldier inside. Then he took a key from his pocket and held it out to the soldier. "The organ is locked," he said. "Here is the key."
The soldier took the key and unlocked the ornate cabinet of the organ. Then he began to play. A billow of majestic chords rolled from the great golden pipes of the organ. The caretaker stood transfixed as the glorious music washed over him, bringing tears to his eyes. He moved to one of the pews and sat down, as if entranced.
Within minutes, people from the village gathered at the church doorway and peered in. Removing their hats, the villagers stepped into the sanctuary and sat down to listen. Streams of beautiful music filled the sanctuary for one hour. Then the gifted fingers of the organist struck a final chord and lifted from the keyboard.
The young man closed and locked the keyboard cabinet. As he stood and turned, he was surprised to see that the church had nearly filled with parishioners who had laid aside their chores to listen to his music. Humbly receiving their compliments, the young soldier walked down the center aisle to return the key to the caretaker. "Thank you," the young man whispered.
The old man rose to his feet and took the key. "Thank you," he answered, grasping the young soldier’s gifted hands. "Young man that was the most beautiful music these old ears have ever heard. What is your name?"
"My name is Felix," replied the solder. "Felix Mendelssohn."
The old caretaker’s eyes widened as he realize whose hands he grasped-the hands of the young man who, before he was 20 years old, had become one of the most celebrated composers on the European continent. The old man’s gaze followed the young soldier as he left the church and disappeared into the Village Street.
"To think," the old man wondered aloud, "the master was here and I almost failed to give him the key!" (Adapted from Ron Lee Davis, Courage to Begin Again, (Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR; 1978, pp. 184-186)
-How it is in God’s great plan that we so many times come into contact with things that we literally do not expect! Looking for one thing, we often find something else that is far more valuable!
• A funeral is unexpectedly interrupted by Jesus and the widow of Nain gets her son back from the grave.
• The demoniac from Gadara unexpectedly is delivered from the legion of demons.
• The man with the withered hand unexpectedly comes into contact with Jesus and is healed.
• The ear of Malchus is reattached very unexpectedly by Jesus.
• The poor lame man at the beautiful gate is suddenly interrupted with wholeness because of Peter and John coming to worship.
-This is what you interpret as means of grace. They come suddenly and unexpectedly. . . while we are generally chasing donkeys.
-All of the frustrating, trivial, monotonous, commonplace details of life are actually in the hands of God. He is directing. He is guiding. He is orchestrating it!
C. The Donkey Chase Must Bring Out Obedience
• First, the Donkey Chase puts us in contact with the servants of God.
• Second, the Donkey Chase can put us in touch with God’s plan.
• Third, the Donkey Chase must bring out obedience in our life.
-The direction of Saul’s life should have been obedience from start to finish. If he would have stayed in the confines of this, the course of his life would have been much different.
-The life of Saul is God’s plan.
1 Samuel 9:15 KJV Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,
-In fact, the Hebrew word in 1 Samuel 9:15 for where the Lord told Samuel “in his ear” literally means that God uncovered Samuel’s ear.
-Saul thinks that he is just chasing donkeys but he is living out a far greater purpose that he understands at this point. How often has this been the case with us? We are living out God’s plan but entirely unaware except that we are faithfully doing what God has called us to do.
-God can get me where He wants me without me!
• When you cannot dream it, God is working.
• When you cannot envision it, God is working.
• When you cannot expect it, God is still working.
• When you cannot conceive it, God is working.
-Obedience is crucial in our walk with God. . . . Just do it!
III. CONCLUSION -- GOD CAN DO IT
• If God can bring David out from the sheep to be the king. . .
• If God can take Moses at 80 years of age and use him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. .
• If God can use Joseph in an Egyptian prison. . .
• If God can use a lion’s den to bring Daniel out. . .
• If God can get Amos out from under the sycamore tree. . .
-There is much he can do with me in the middle of the frustrations of a dead-end donkey chase!
Philip Harrelson
December 7, 2007
