Unless you've just returned from six or so months on a deserted isle, you know that Election Day is coming up. In the words of syndicated columnist Ann Coulter, the greatest president our country ever had was the only man who didn't want the job -- and the first man to hold it. I remember reading years ago that George Washington was reluctant to be president ... he was afraid he'd be treated like a king, which he felt would defeat the whole purpose of the Revolutionary War. Having a king was a bad idea for the country, and he wanted no part of it.

The prophet Samuel thought that having a king was a bad idea for his country, as well; and he also was reluctant to have any part in it. After the Hebrew people entered and settled into the Promised Land, they were governed by a succession of leaders, fourteen "Judges," over a period of approximately 350 years. Throughout this time, the Israelites were unique among the nations around them in that they had no monarch. No earthly monarch, that is. God was their King, and the King would divinely and supernaturally raise up and appoint judges to carry out His justice. Strictly speaking, judges are and were those who dispensed justice ... but these judges were more than just legal arbiters; they were leaders raised up and empowered by God for dispensing and carrying out justice ... usually by might ... to deliver Israel. They were literally saviors ... and often reluctant ones at that ... raised up by God to deliver Israel from the oppression and harassment of malicious neighbors. During this period the people Israel were harassed and oppressed by the Canaanites, Arameans, Moabites, Midianites, Ammonites, Amalekites, Amorites and Philistines; they continued to be harassed by these peoples until King David put an end to it all much later. Among the Judges were such familiar names as Samson, Gideon, Deborah, and the last judge, Samuel, who was the first-born son of my daughter's namesake, Hannah.

In I Samuel 8, it is recorded that as Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons Joel and Abijah as judges. But, as the text reports, "his sons did not walk in his ways." What follows is one of the ultimate Biblical condemnations and critiques of corrupt leadership we find in the Scriptures: "They turned after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice." These aren't the kind of leaders people wanted or needed ... then or now. To summarize the rest of the chapter, it seems that the people were tired of having appointed judges lead them and decided they wanted a king. A flesh and blood king, a king like all the other nations had. A king that would establish a dynasty and provide some continuity of leadership. Basically, Samuel thought this was a bad idea, but he brought it to God in prayer. God thought it was a really bad idea, and tried to warn the people about the potential burdens and difficulties a king would put upon them. Also, as God says to Samuel in verse 7, this desire for a king was tantamount to rejecting God as king; it displayed an increasing lack of faith and vision among the people. But the people insisted they wanted a king, that everyone else around them had a king, so they wanted one too. So (verse 22) God answered, "Listen to them, Samuel, and give them a king." Very often in the Bible, and quite often in our own lives, we find God accommodating the less than stellar ideas of His people. He doesn't force His perfect will for us on us, but He does stay with us even when we take the less than best path. Along the way He redeems our mistakes for our salvation.

The king God chose for the people was Saul. We are told that Saul was literally head and shoulders above the other men of Israel, 9:2 ..."an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites -- a head taller than any of the others." (As the King James version renders it ... "from the shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.") Too Tall Saul was the pick of the litter, he was the best the people had. Again, we see God's wisdom at work ... if the people insisted upon a leader, I believe He knew the best sort of leaders were those who seemed almost "larger than life," literally and figuratively. People desire leaders they can respect and look up to, leaders they want their children to emulate, leaders who exemplify what is upright and good and noble. People desire leaders who exemplify, "This is who we are at our best. This is what we aspire to be. This is a prime example of our character, our ideals, our hopes, our aspirations." But it would seem Saul was reluctant to be king, which brings us to the text for this morning (10:27).

All the tribes of Israel massed together at Mizpah for the high public drama of this first Election Day, the day they were to discern God's selection for a king. Casting of lots was probably the method used. As each tribe and clan was paraded by, the lot narrowed it down to the tribe of Benjamin, to the clan of Matri, to the family of Kish, and eventually the lot fell to Saul. But as everyone looked around for Saul, they discovered he was nowhere to be found. He was hiding! We don't know why he was hiding, but we can speculate that it was probably because he was reluctant to take office. Perhaps he thought if he couldn't be found, they'd go on and keep casting lots, and pick someone else. We have both high drama and low comedy; in this momentous election, the prime candidate plays hide and seek ... but like a father who watches his kids go hide while they are playing this game, God gives away the hiding place. We see the Lord himself breaking into the narrative to say, "He's hiding in the baggage." (There's a sermon in itself in this ... God calls some of us to leadership, but we're reluctant and hide ourselves among our "baggage" ... "I'm carrying too much personal baggage, there's too much stuff in my life right now, I just can't lead" ... and God tells His people ... or the church Nominating Committee ... "Go fish that man or that woman out of the 'baggage' ... I have anointed him/her, he/she is my chosen, whether he/she realizes it or not. I have gifted him/her; by My grace and strength he/she is up to the job"). So the people go and fish Saul out of the bags (verse 23 again mentions his impressive height), and they brought him to Samuel, and Samuel said, "Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people!" Then the people all begin to shout, "Long live the king!" It doesn't say this in the text, but Saul had to be wondering, "How in the world did all this happen?"

Throughout the Bible, the leaders God calls rarely apply for the job. From Moses on, they are all reluctant. Like Saul, a lot of them try to hide from this responsibility. One reason might be that, like many of us, they feel inadequate. In fact, the Bible says that Too Tall Saul saw himself as a little guy. A couple of chapters later, we read Samuel saying to Saul, "Although you may be small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you as king." (15:17). Those who look big in their own eyes, those who are full of themselves, the arrogant, these are rarely if ever chosen by God. Perhaps God wants it to be clearly evident that the authority and power to lead belongs to God alone. Another reason some are reluctant to assume leadership is that they dislike dealing with opposition. When Samuel called Saul the Lord's anointed, not everyone said, "Long live the king." We are told there were some "troublemakers" who asked, "How can this man save us?" (10:27). Throughout the Bible, God's appointed leaders always faced opposition. Moses faced it throughout the Exodus. David faced it from his own son Absalom who lead a revolt. Elijah faced it in Ahab and Jezebel. Nehemiah faced opposition in getting the walls to Jerusalem rebuilt. Paul struggled his whole ministry with the Jewish Christians. Even Jesus was opposed by one of His disciples. If you are going to respond to God's calling to lead, do not wonder if you will be opposed. You will be. God called you to lead, and His leaders always face opposition.

A third reason some are reluctant to be leaders is, like Saul, they may have other plans. Many are the leaders who dream about just finding a regular job and living a quiet life and enjoying their homes and kids without having to be responsible for everybody else. It seems that Saul just wanted to be a farmer. After his election as king, he doesn't go off to build a palace, appoint staff and/or raise an army. He just goes back to the farm and returns to following his oxen in the field. He figured it was the Lord who got him into this responsibility, and the Lord would come and get him when he was needed. This sense of holy reluctance is commendable. If you are just chomping at the bit to be a leader, you'll most likely be of little use to God. God calls leaders who don't need to lead. If you need to be in leadership, you'll do anything to stay in leadership. That's how Saul later gets into great trouble. And it is how our leaders get into trouble as well. Those who are just chomping at the bit to be leaders, those who resort to every tactic in the book to maintain their positions of power and leadership, should be a little suspect to us. Remember, God accommodates the people's desire to have a king, but He insists on being the only true leader of the people. If we can't walk away from being leaders when the time comes, we may have forgotten God, Who alone is the necessary leader. Ultimately, we are not necessary. That's true for presidents, politicians, preachers, even parents. Yes, in a sense we are necessary, but our necessity is derivative, and it is temporary ... God is the true leader, and our leadership is to lead as He deputizes for an appointed time.

In the next chapter, you'll see that it isn't long after Saul's coronation that the Ammonites invaded Israel and began threatening mutilation of the people. We read that when Saul heard about this, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him with power and he was made angry. This was a holy and righteous anger that was fitting for a leader of God. It was the leadership ingredient that Saul was missing, a sense of God-given indignation. It was the ingredient that turned Saul's reluctance into zeal. He heard or saw what we going on, and it bothered him, and moved him to action. Inspired with righteous indignation, Saul left the oxen, called together an army, and drove the Ammonites out of Israel. After this great victory, some of the people wanted to kill the "troublemakers" who had resisted Saul. But in what was one of Saul's greatest moments as a leader, (11:13) he said, "No one shall be put to death this day, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel." This illustrates that Saul knew his leadership was to all of Israel, all of the people, even those who resisted him. It also illustrates Saul knew it was the Lord who had delivered Israel. In a sense, the troublemakers were right about Saul. He couldn't save anyone. No human being can. Only the Lord can save.

We're out of time; we'll continue with this next week. As we will see next time, Saul's leadership ended as a failure. He started so strong, but the end of his life was so tragic that he is remembered as a failure. How often have you seen that in your lifetime? It some respects, it isn't hard to start well .. finishing well is the mark of the best. What this world needs more then ever are godly leaders who finish strong. The only way to do that is to remember Who it is Who has called you to lead, and to earnestly seek His will each and every day.