Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
Comment: Samuel who had already poured oil over Saul’s head proclaiming him as the king to be over Israel, now calls the people together. No doubt to make the private announcement public. He commences by giving them a stern lecture about how they ,rejecting their God, as their king for an earthly one. But they had made their choose.
The casting of lots seems a bit odd to us with our modern ideas. The people of Israel believed that this was the way God showed His choice. It is interesting that the end result of this was to choose a man that had absented himself from the gathering, but the man Samuel had previously anointed. He was immediately sought after and found to have hidden himself among the junk pile! What sort of king would such a man become?
Prayer: Teach me to be humble but courageous to do Your will when revealed, O God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for the comments on this passage. I remember when Darryl and I were living in Texas USA, we were at a Passion Play in an open air theatre not far from Dallas, and I saw a young man wearing a T Shirt with the slogan, “The Word of God is the Will of God.” And when I thought about it, I found it could be turned around to say “The Will of God is the Word of God.” This also means the same thing. And it has always stuck in my mind. By the way, at the end of the first paragraph in your comments, I think you needed to use the word “choice” not “choose.” Just a little correction, I hope you don’t mind. God bless you.
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You are correct I should have said ‘choice’! I must be getting past my prime!
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