The ?new heart? given to King Saul, I believe, made him a better man, husband, king, and servant of God, but it is not the ?new heart? we receive after we have come forth from the watery grave of baptism?we have been given something BETTER!!? Was there an actual change to Saul?s heart?? Yes, I can see when reading the text there was, but from this incident did Saul become a different man??? No, because he turned down the direction and leading of the Spirit of God.? The purpose of the ?new heart? was to make him capable to rule God?s people, Israel.? Saul showed over and over again a stubborn to do it his way!!?? What was the necessity of the Spirit on Saul?? He would be able to act as a king should act, have a greater appreciation the capacity of leadership should bring and its effect on his people, have a greater ability to carry out the duties and demands of kingship, and be able to be what he had been chosen to be.? If he had recognized the extent his person now had on the sons of Israel, he would have ?quaked in his boots? seeing the lack of preparation for such a work.?
???? It is true of us today!? We enter marriage with no courses to take to determine it successful, fatherhood and motherhood with no previous experience, and the body of Christ turned inside out because of sin.? How can we expect to be successful??? In Christianity, each ?new born child? receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.? Many do not know why, some do not think it as important as it is, but when this example is re-told. It brings far more understanding.? With the Spirit, a greater appreciation for obedience becomes real.?
???? When Saul came to Gibeon, the band of prophets was there to meet him.? The language seems to imply that the prophets were there for the purpose of meeting him.? The Spirit of God then rushed upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of the prophets.? It was as though Saul had actually become one of the prophets.? To the eye of the beholder, there would have appeared no difference; ?and behold, with prophets he prophesied,? 1 Samuel 10:11? Whatever the precise nature of this phenomenon may have been, Saul also was partaker of it.? He would here at least in no wise have been distinguished from the other prophets.? Whatever the nature of the ecstatic inspiration which had come over the other prophets and under the influence of which they probably gave expression to the overflowing feeling that filled their hearts, it had come also upon Saul.? It must be noted that this was not mere contact with the prophets which brought about such inspiration; it was the onrushing of the Spirit of God!!
???? When the people who had known Saul saw him, they asked, ?Is Saul also among the prophets??? The very asking of such a question supposes that the p0revious life of Saul had been quite different.? Saul was ONE of the last whom they might expect to find in the company of prophets.? One of those who were present then asked concerning the prophets ?And who is their father??? This question has been interpreted in various ways.? Probably, however, it was just asking whether the father of the prophets was also a prophet.? In other words, did the gift of prophecy come upon these men by way of inheritance?? Was it theirs as a birthright?? The questions would imply a negative answer.? The prophets did not receive this gift by way of heredity.? Rather, it was a free gift of God ?Who bestows it upon whom He will.??? Since the prophets themselves did not receive it, must we be surprised that Saul has also received it??? If God could and did freely bestow this gift upon the prophets, could He not also bestow it upon such a one as Saul, who up to this point had shown a disposition alien or at least indifferent to that of the prophets?
