“But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of . . . Benjamin?” (1 Sam. 9:21)
Expanded Passage: 1 Samuel 9:19-21
Is it a sign of poor character to expect a promotion? Should one expect to be surpassed by the performance of others? Should one pretend ignorance of her own gifts, abilities, and possibilities?
When God chose Saul as the first king of Israel, he selected him from the least prominent clan in the tiny tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s words to the prophet Samuel registered his surprise. We aren’t told what his specific skills and gifts were. He was obviously a responsible and trustworthy son for his father to send him on a mission to rescue the livestock. Perhaps he was a gifted leader, a clever strategist, a born agriculturalist.
Saul’s opinion of himself is similar to that of Gideon who expressed almost the same thoughts to the angel in Judges 6:15: My family is nothing, and I am nothing. Perhaps both men wondered, “Is this a test of character?”
According to 1 Samuel 15:17, Samuel told Saul that he had originally been chosen by God because he was “small in [his] own eyes.” Here is the crux of character. When self is the biggest image on one’s horizon, good character and wise leadership are impossible. Saul and Gideon were chosen not for their poor opinion of themselves, but for their proper view of who they were in perspective to the God who rules all.
Be humble before God to lead in life.
Valorie Quesenberry is a wife, mother, gramma, speaker, and author of several books including the Sisters in Faith Bible Studies (WPH).
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
