Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 6–9
Text: 1 Samuel 9
Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible
Today’s devotion is an important principle that is being taught, because 1 Samuel 9 is one of those chapters where God hides big providence inside little ordinary events. Saul is out looking for lost asses, but the Lord is looking for a king. What looks like a farm chore turns into a divine appointment.
This chapter is a blessing for anybody who thinks God only works through thunder, lightning, and religious fireworks. In this present age of grace, the Lord still works His providence through ordinary events in the preserved words of the AV1611, without the sensational signs, wonders, or religious fireworks that some seek today. Saul starts out chasing animals that wandered off, and before the day is over he is standing in front of Samuel exactly where God intended him to be. The Lord had already told Samuel, “to morrow about this time I will send thee a man,” so what looked accidental on earth was scheduled in heaven. Think about that, I mean really think about that.
There is a lesson there worth nailing down.
- God uses ordinary troubles. Lost livestock got Saul moving, and God used that irritation to direct his steps.
- God uses faithful servants. Saul’s servant had more spiritual sense in this chapter than Saul did; he suggested going to the man of God.
- God uses timing. When Saul entered the city, Samuel “came out against them” right on time.
- God uses closed doors. They searched one place after another and did not find the asses, because God was steering them somewhere better.
A lot of us want God’s will written in the clouds while we ignore the plain steps in front of us. The Lord often leads a man by the next field, the next conversation, the next delay, and the next interruption. We call it inconvenience; God calls it guidance. We grumble over lost asses while He is setting up a meeting we could not have arranged with a road map, a flashlight, and a church committee.
So this chapter teaches us that God’s providence is real; He can guide a man through missing livestock, weary travel, and a servant’s suggestion.
There is a practical help in that for us.
- Do not despise small duties. Saul met Samuel while handling family business.
- Do not overlook godly counsel. The servant’s advice moved the whole story forward.
- Do not assume delays are wasted time. Those failed searches were part of the route.
If you want a good phrase for the devotion, here it is: God’s providence rides in on plain things. No miracle at the Red Sea here, no fire from heaven, no walls falling down. Just lost asses, dusty roads, tired travelers, and a prophet waiting in the right place at the right time. That is just like the Lord. He can steer a whole kingdom with the disappearance of a few farm animals.
Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from 1 SAMUEL 10–13 we’ll watch Saul move from private selection to public spotlight, and we’ll see in a hurry that a man can be chosen for a throne and still make a wreck of things when he will not stay lined up with the word of God.
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 10–13
Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony