1. He was faithful and thorough in his work - In Chapter 9:3, we read that his father Kish had lost his donkeys. Kish told Saul to go and search for them. Saul conducted a thorough search in all the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah. His father had given him a job to do, and he did it thoroughly. He didn't just go looking for the donkeys for a few minutes and come back saying, "I can’t find them." G-d picks up people who are faithful in small matters like looking for lost donkeys!
2. He was wise - When a long time had elapsed and he still hadn't found any of the donkeys, he told his servant, "Let’s go back because my father will now be more concerned about us than the donkeys." (10:5).
3. He knew how to respect G-d's servants - When his servant suggested that they go and meet a servant of G-d in the city, Saul said, "Let's take a present for him" (10:.7).
4. He had a humble opinion about himself - When Samuel told Saul about G-d having chosen him, he replied, "Who am I? Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?" (9:21).
5. He did not boast - When his uncle asked him what Samuel had said, Saul told his uncle that Samuel said his donkeys had been found, but he did not tell his uncle about Samuel anointing him as king (10:15,16).
6. He stayed in the background - When they selected him to be the king he hid himself in the baggage. He was a man who wanted to be hidden (10:22).
7. He was longsuffering - When Saul went to his house, certain worthless men said, "How can this man deliver us?" They despised him and did not bring any present. But he kept silent even though he was publicly anointed as king (10:27).
8. He was zealous to help those in need - When certain people of Israel were attacked by their enemies, they sent messengers to Saul, who immediately gathered people to go and help them (11:1-7).
9. He was courageous - Saul went and fought the Ammonite enemies courageously and saved the Israelites (11:11).
10. He forgave his enemies - When Saul came back victorious from the battle, some people wanted to kill those who had earlier rejected Saul as king. But he would not allow anyone to be killed (11:12,13).
This was the man G-d chose, who had all these wonderful qualities. Yet in a few years he had lost his contact with G-d, lost the anointing of the Spirit, lost his humility, lost his character, lost his kingdom and lost everything.
In everything the end is more important than the beginning
Topic: Ten Good Qualities That King Saul Had (Read 2590 times)