Read | 1 Samuel 9:1–14
There was a prominent man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite. He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.
One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys.” Saul and his servant went through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the region of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. They went through the region of Shaalim—nothing. Then they went through the Benjaminite region but still didn’t find them.
When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
“Look,” the servant said, “there’s a man of God in this city who is highly respected; everything he says is sure to come true. Let’s go there now. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.”
“Suppose we do go,” Saul said to his servant, “what do we take the man? The food from our packs is gone, and there’s no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”
The servant answered Saul, “Here, I have a little silver. I’ll give it to the man of God, and he will tell us which way we should go.”
Formerly in Israel, a man who was going to inquire of God would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.
“Good,” Saul replied to his servant. “Come on, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. As they were climbing the hill to the city, they found some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
The women answered, “Yes, he is ahead of you. Hurry, he just now entered the city, because there’s a sacrifice for the people at the high place today. As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he comes because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests can eat. Go up immediately—you can find him now.” So they went up toward the city.
Saul and his servant were entering the city when they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way to the high place.
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Focus
Imagine yourself in the passage of Scripture you read, and the implications of your obedience/disobedience to God, and that of those in authority over you.
Pray
Lord, thank you for your word. Illuminate my mind as I continue learning about you through these stories.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.