Lent

March 16, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. –1 Samuel 16:1-5

Before we review this scripture, we need to think about what led up to it. The people of Israel wanted to have the power they saw in their neighboring countries who had kings not the tribal leadership they had. They clamored for a king and finally when Samuel lifted the idea to God, God relented and essentially said if they want a king give them a king. As far as I can tell Saul’s primary qualification for being king according to the people was that he was tall and good looking. We humans can be fickle and thus can let our fickleness cloud our common sense.

Flashing forward to the end of Saul’s reign, we learn that the country was in worse shape than before his selection as king and Samuel is tasked by God to set things right. I must confess I feel sorry for Saul. He clearly was out of his element in taking the job, but his pride at being selected probability made him accept it. The people of Israel were primarily at fault for letting envy and greed drive their lives rather than sharing a form of governance that would provide for the Common Good, the primary purpose of government.

This is an apt scripture for an election year. As we consider the candidates for office, we need to examine their primary purpose in seeking offices and test that against whether it provides for the Common Good of all citizens.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of all the fickle things of life that drive our decision and help us seek leaders whose hearts and minds are centered on the Common Good.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.