In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. – Jud 21:25. Pathetic state of affairs! Each one was a king by himself. No rule was the rule.

Samuel was a prophet of the Lord and the last Judge of the Israelites. People came to him and demanded that he install a king for them. That was the time when Nahash the king of Ammon came against Israel. When Samuel approached the Lord, he told him that the people did not reject Samuel but in fact, rejected and despised the Lord Himself who had been their King all along – right from the day He brought them out of their slavery from Egypt. They were reluctant to let go of their demand even after Samuel explained to them the risks of having a human king.

Saul was the son of a mighty man named Kish who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was a choice, young man, goodly and significantly taller than any other man in Israel. This Saul who went in search of his father’s lost asses, returned anointed as king and captain of the Lord’s inheritance – the People of Israel. God gave him another heart. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he became a transformed man. Though he tried to hide himself from the responsibility bestowed on him, he was publicly installed as king of Israel. They shouted, “God save the king”.

With Saul at the helm of affairs of the people of God, and Saul prophesying when the spirit of God came upon him, Satan was in dire straits. Has he lost the battle to God? Would he have any chance at all to spoil the plan of God? Where is that member of the believing generation (somewhere in the neighborhood of Saul) that the Lord’s adversary should target? Could the Old Serpent use this Saul to derail God’s plan of sending His Seed to bruise his head?