The Story of the Bible

And it came just as Samuel had said. These men met Saul, and when the prophets came near, singing and praising God, Saul joined them and also sang and praised the Lord. And in that hour a new spirit came to Saul. He was no more the farmer's son, for in him was the soul of a king.

A COMPANY OF PROPHETS MEET SAUL

He came home, and told at home how he had met Samuel, and that Samuel said to him that the asses had been found. But he did not tell them that Samuel had poured oil upon his head and said that he was to be the king of Israel.

Then Samuel called all the people to the meeting place at Mizpah. And he told them that they had wished for a king, and God had chosen a king for them.

"Now," said Samuel, "let the men of the tribes pass by, each tribe and each family by itself."

The people passed by Samuel, and when the tribe of Benjamin came, out of all the tribes Benjamin was taken; out of Benjamin one family, and out of that family Saul's name was called. But Saul was not with his family; he had hidden away. They found him and brought him out; and when he stood among the people his head and shoulders rose above them all. And Samuel said: "Look at the man whom the Lord has chosen! There is not another like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted "God save the king! Long live the king!"

Then Samuel told the people what should be the laws for the king and for the people to obey. He wrote them down in a book, and placed the book before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home, and Saul went back to his own house at a place called Gibeah, and with Saul went a company of men to whose hearts God had given a love for the king. So after three hundred years under the fifteen judges Israel now had a king. But among the people there were some who were not pleased with the new king, because he was an unknown man from the farm. They said, "Can such a man as this save us?" They showed no respect to the king and in their hearts looked down upon him. But Saul said nothing and showed his wisdom by appearing not to notice them.

How Saul Saved the Eyes of the Men of Jabesh

I Samuel xi: 1, to xii: 25.

Saul was now the king of all the twelve tribes of Israel, but he did not at once n his manner of life set up the state of a king. He lived at home, and worked in the fields on his father's farm, just as he had always done.

One day, while Saul was plowing in the field with a yoke of oxen, a man came running with sad news. He said that the Ammonites, a fierce people living near the desert on the east, beyond the Jordan, had come up against Jabesh in Gilead, led by their king, Nahash. The people in that city were too few to fight the Ammonites, and they said, "We will submit to your rule, if you will promise to spare our lives."

And Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, said to the people of Jabesh, "You shall live, but within seven days I will come with my soldiers, and I will put out the right eye of every man in your city."

When a city was taken by its enemies in those times, such cruel deeds were common. Often all the people in it, young and old, were slain without mercy. The men of Jabesh sent a messenger to go to Saul as swiftly as possible, and to tell him of the terrible fate that was hanging over them.

A MESSENGER BRINGS SAUL SAD NEWS

When Saul heard of it the spirit of a king rose within him. He killed the oxen that he was driving, cut them into twelve pieces, and sent swift messengers through all the land, to say to every fighting man in the twelve tribes, "Whoever will not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen."

And the Lord gave to all the people the spirit of obedience to their king. At once a great army gathered at a place called Bezek, and he sent word to Jabesh, saying, "To-morrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be set free from all fear of the Ammonites."

Saul and his men marched swiftly over the mountains of Benjamin and down into the Jordan valley. They walked across the river where it was shallow and climbed the mountains of Gilead. There they fell furiously upon the Ammonites early in the morning, killed many of them and scattered the rest, so that not even two of their men could be found together.

We read in the last Story that when Saul was made king some men were not pleased and were unwilling to submit to him. Now that a great victory had been won under Saul as leader, the people said with one voice, "Where are those men who would not honor our king? Bring them out, and let them be put to death."

But King Saul said, "There shall not a man be put to death this day, for to-day the Lord has set his people free from their enemies." Samuel was with Saul, and he said, "Let us go to Gilgal, where Joshua encamped long ago when our fathers crossed the Jordan; and there let us set up the kingdom again."