Finishing the Christian Journey

I feel sad after completed reading the Book of 1 Samuel last Saturday morning. (Started from Book of Joshua since mid January)

Very sad …

King Saul, the Lord’s anointed ended his life by committing suicide.
Why did God's anointed and first chosen king ended this way?
What went wrong?
Why did God choose him in the first place? Isn’t there any better man to be king?


Apparently, he was the best person available at that time. (Read 1Sam 9-11) OK, the best person should be Samuel, but he already held two more important offices – Prophet and Priest. The next important office is King.

David, son of Jesse was not born yet. 1Sam 13:1 (NIV) recorded that Saul was 30 years old when he became king and ruled Israel for 42 years. David became king at the age of 30 (2Sam 5:4). This meant that when David was born, Saul had already ruled Israel for 12 years.

After 12 years or more, perhaps impatience (1Sam 13), greed and integrity (1Sam 15) have gotten into him after so long as king.

David, son of Jesse was still a boy when he was anointed (1Sam 16). How old was David when he was anointed? We can make a guess. We know that Jesse had 8 sons, David being the youngest. The first three eldest sons served in Saul’s army (1Sam 17:12,13). In Israel, only men above 20 years old could be in the army (Numbers 1:20) so assuming each of Jesse’s son was one year difference in age, David was no more than 15 years old when he was anointed by Samuel to be the next king.

Wow! Only 15 years old and already chosen to be king!

But have to wait for 15 years before really become king, leh.

So, instead of gracefully stepping down as king, Saul became jealous and plotted to kill David many times. Power struggle!! Yet, David did not once take his hand on the Lord’s anointed. In the end, Saul killed himself.

I may not be the Lord’s anointed.
But still, beware of obstacles in my Christian journey.
Be very aware!!

It’s not how we start the Christian journey.
It’s how we end.
(Like running a marathon, only those who cross the line are counted)

Still very sad … (will I see Saul in heaven?)