Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Identity
- Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father. Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
The Hebrew people make me laugh.
They were brought out of Egypt under Moses. They conquered the Promised Land under
Joshua. All of this was put in motion by
God. But a few chapters ago they told
Samuel that they don’t want God as their king – they want a human as a king so
that they can be like the other nations.
I don’t know that there is a clearer statement of identity to be found.
Then we get to this chapter.
Saul goes out to battle and musters a huge force to go with him. When he gets the victory, the people embrace
Saul. He can’t do wrong in their
eyes. In fact, they embrace Saul so much
that they want to go out and kill the people who stood up and asked why Saul
should reign over them! They get swept
up into a single momentous victory!
I heard someone say once, “The person who is in the position of
victory always seems to be invincible at the moment.” Victory comes and goes.
But it is interesting to see who desires to place their identity
in being Saul’s supporters. They
rejected God. They clearly don’t want
their identity to be from God. So they
put their identity in the next successful human that comes along. In their disobedience to God their identity
shifts to a different source.
Of course, I’m not always any better. I’m not judging the Hebrew people. I’m learning from them.
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