Saul Among the Prophets

  

Today's guest post is provided by Rev. Todd Smith.  Rev. Smith is the pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Ludlow, Kentucky.

Scripture

1 Samuel 19:18-24

¹⁸ Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. ¹⁹ Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of^[a] them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. ²¹ When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu;^[b] he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (NRSV)

Devotion

The reading today describes on of Saul's many failed attempts to kill David after he had been anointed as the next king of Israel.  It is also a tradition that describes the origins of what was, at some point, a common phrase among the Judean people, "Is Saul among the prophets?"  A previous account of the origin of this saying is from 1 Samuel 10, where it stands as the confirmation of Samuel's words upon Saul that he had indeed been chosen by God to be the king of the people of Israel.  Here, however, the story is not an account of Saul's humility in being chosen but is an example of his hubris in the face of God's anointing being upon another.

In the podcast "The Bible for Normal People," Dr. Pete Enns spoke on these as parallel traditions that were immortalized in the Canon.  He described these stories as two different traditions that attempted to explain the same thing.  As the Hebrew Bible came into being, these two traditions that attempted to explain the same thing.  As the Hebrew Bible came into being, these two traditions were still venerated by the editor.  Thus, we have two accounts of Saul being among the prophets.  In the accounts, Saul enters what the reading calls a "prophetic frenzy."  Dr. Enns describes this as a messy, seizure-like event where the prophet is thrown to the ground in convulsions and rolls about in the dirt as they convey the message of God.  While the same thing happens in both accounts, the context and interpretation of those events is very different.

 We could stop at the historical reasoning for the inclusion of both stories in the Canon, but I believe that we can learn something from these accounts.  Sometimes, the same thing can happen in our lives, but the context of those events can lead to a very different understanding of them.  One of my earliest memories is going to the tobacco barn late in the year to help with stripping tobacco.  To me, this was fun day that included making snow anagels in the dirt floor of the barn.  A few years later, the same trip meant a day of very hard work. I am sure that you can think of many things that have lost or gained luster throughout your lifetime as well.  While our experiences of things both secular and religious may change, and through our understanding of the world around us may evolve as we grow, we know that there is still meaning in both stories.  Perhaps we may have to dig deep to find it, but the meaning remains.  For Saul, he learned both that he had been chosen and that he had been rejected by being among the prophets.  What have you learned from being among the prophets yourself? 

For the musical offering today, we have a song that I loved not that many years ago, but with time and development, I have a lot of uneasy feelings about it today.       

 

Prayer

Almighty God, you are with us when we are among the prophets.  Give us peace as we wrestle with the uncertainties of life that we may be drawn ever nearer to you and know your grace, mercy, and love even among the prophets through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray in the nae of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.