Word of Encouragement (08/31/2023)
When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, "What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" (1 Sam. 10:9-11)
Here, we see Saul prophesying. Of course, prophesying is different from prayer. But as prophesying must be empowered by the Holy Spirit, true prayer is empowered by the Holy Spirit as well: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26).
This happened after Samuel anointed Saul (privately) and sent him back to his home. We are told that “God gave him another heart.” What is this “another heart”? Whatever it is, as a result of receiving this “another heart,” Saul experienced a radical change: he was anointed by the Holy Spirit (“the Spirit of God rushed upon him) and he prophesied among a group of prophets. In this incident, we observe that his identity as the son of Kish was eclipsed by another identity: “‘What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?’ And a man of the place answered, ‘And who is their father’” (10:11-12)? At that time, the leader of a group of prophets was called their father. This implies that Saul has become “a son of the prophets” by being among the prophets (Fokkelman, p. 375). Prophesying that this would happen, Samuel told Saul, “Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man” (10:6).
This shows that the ultimate qualification for Israel’s king was the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Even though Saul was taller and more handsome than all the people of Israel, he had to be anointed by the Holy Spirit to carry out his role as Israel’s king according to God’s will. What made a man a true king of Israel was not the crown but the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That is why God’s rejection of Saul resulted in the removal of the Holy Spirit from him to David as the Spirit rushed upon David as he was anointed.
Was the “another heart,” which Saul received a regenerated heart? Sadly, we must say no. For his repeated disobedience to God’s commands, God rejected him and his house. His experience teaches us that God can empower a person with the Holy Spirit without saving him. We can think of Judas Iscariot, who was able to heal people and cast out demons (Luke 10:17), as another example. At the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that even those who have prophesied and cast out demons and done many mighty works can hear from God, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:22-23). Just because a person is used by the Holy Spirit to do mighty works doesn’t necessarily mean that he is saved. One can be meek and humble, a nobody in the eyes of the world, and still be saved if he truly believes in Jesus Christ and bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus said to the seventy disciples, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:19).
Let us not be discouraged that we can do great things that will impress many people. And let us not be arrogant because God is doing mighty things through us. Let us find our refuge only in Christ and rejoice that our names are written in heaven above all other blessings and privileges!