I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 8-10.

    When Samuel became old and was no longer able to lead the people of Israel, he turned the role over to his sons, who were little, if any, better than Eli’s sons had been. This, among other things, led the Israelites to ask Samuel to appoint someone king over them. They wanted to be like everyone else. Their desire for a king was not a repudiation of Samuel or his service. It was a repudiation of God. Rather than acknowledge that their problems were a result of their failure to faithfully follow God, they blamed God for not giving them a king to rule over them. They looked at other nations and thought that if they were like them, if they had a king, they would not have the problems which they had.

    One of the things which has stood out to me for several years when I read about Saul being chosen to become king. That thing is what the author thought most important to point out about Saul. That something was that Saul was a head taller than anyone else and the most handsome young man in Israel. This does not mean that Saul did not have qualifications which might have made him a great king because I think that he did. However, it shows us once more that the people of Israel were choosing a ruler for the wrong reasons. They wanted someone who looked the part more than they wanted someone who could do the job. We often make the same mistake in choosing leaders today. We choose someone because they look like what we think a leader should look rather than judging them on their skills. There is a difference between how Saul became king and how David became king. Saul became king because he looked like a king. David became king because he led like a king. I want to repeat that I do not want to belittle Saul’s skills as a king because I know they are on display in tomorrow’s passage.