“But some troublemakers said, ‘How can this fellow save us?’ They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. (1 Samuel 10:27)
The Israelites demanded that they be given a king so that they could be “like all the other nations,” they said. Even after God’s warning through His servant Samuel, they were adamant that they wanted to be like everybody else. Before I even go any further, I have to warn against this obsession with being like everybody else. But that’s not the issue for this passage. God goes ahead and gives Israel what they want – a King. He has Samuel anoint Saul as king over Israel, and when Samuel introduces him to the people, I can only imagine the curiosity, the excitement, the intrigue and the mystery surrounding the man. Who could it be? They all wondered.
The Bible says Saul stood a head taller than everybody else. He must have cut quite an imposing and authoritative figure. Surely he was born to be a king! Samuel says to the people, “Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” (1 Sam 10:24) Sounds to me like if you had to have a king, this guy ticked all the boxes! Hand picked by God Himself! And yet the haters were out in full force.
Which brings me to my point. I don’t care how good you are at what you do. I don’t care if God came to you in a vision and told you to do something. If you are in this world, you will have people working against you. They will judge you, misunderstand you, frustrate you, talk about you, lie and cheat on you, HATE you even! And you may never really know why. And that’s OK.
The Bible says that this man, chosen by God to be king over Israel – Israel that cried for a king even against God’s will – did not have the support of all his people. They didn’t even give him a chance! “But Saul kept silent.” Aaaahhh…you mean he didn’t rant on facebook and twitter about how he’d prove his haters wrong? He didn’t brag about how the higher he rose, the more enemies he was likely to have? He never wrote songs about how much bigger and better he was than them? Did he really never waste his time talking about how he wouldn’t waste his time entertaining their disapproval? He never made a big announcement that he was about to cut off all those who bring negativity into his life? All I know is what the Bible told me.
“Saul kept silent.”
I want you to remember that when they say oh, you’re not a good enough singer. Oh Sister So-and-So throws better dinner parties. Somebody always looks better, cooks better, speaks better, sings better, writes better, works harder, studies smarter. Just keep silent and do what God appointed you to do. God says “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (1 Samuel 8:7) Try not to take it personally. If God placed you in that position, all complaints and queries should be directed to Him, not you. So don’t accept them.
Don’t obsess over them.
Don’t talk about them.
Don’t think about them.
Don’t stay up at night crying over them.
Just Keep Silent.
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