Theological Commentary: Click Here
We get a
fairly good first glimpse of Saul the leader.
He starts out well. I might have
a personal quibble over the need to slaughter some oxen to prove his point, but
that’s a secondary issue today. The
point is that Saul starts out on a pretty decent foot.
Saul hears
that God’s people are being subjected and threatened. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Saul and
Saul responds. That’s the first thing
that he does well. Saul rises up to the challenge. Saul responds. He answers the call of the Lord. Saul doesn’t quench the Spirit, he fosters
it.
Second, Saul
leads with wisdom. He divides up his
people so that they can attack on multiple fronts. He communicates with the people being
threatened so that they can plan the attack well and keep the enemy right where
Saul wants them. Once they run, Saul
pursues them well enough that the force scatters so that it cannot reorganize.
Third, Saul
leads with grace. Do you hear the human
impatience of those around him? Those
around him want to put to death those who opposed his rule. Saul steps up and calls for cooler heads to
prevail. In doing so he shows wisdom and
takes a step towards peace with his enemies.
It’s nice to
see that in the beginning Saul was a good choice as leader. He does have the capacity to lead with
wisdom. He has the capacity to be
gracious. He has the capacity to organize
people underneath him. At the beginning
of his reign, he is a good leader.
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