After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
Samuel's third sign sent Saul to Gibeath-elohim, the hill of God. Philistine troops held the place, and a band of prophets came down from it with music. The sign showed the new king two things at once: Israel's shameful weakness, and God's power still at work despite it.
The location itself was the message. Philistine troops sat on the very ground where God's power should have ruled.
The hill of God is the seat of the sovereignty and power of God in grace, where the Philistines (Satan's power) were. Yet we see a company of prophets — the Spirit acts in power despite the Philistines — a small remnant who praised the God of Bethel. So if there had been even a little faith, Saul could have known the thoughts of God. He was God's anointed, the one chosen to lead and deliver the people (1 Samuel 9:16). He might well have driven away the Philistines who were in the land of God. The Philistines are always the enemies in the land; the others are outside; these are in the land of God. The worst enemies of the church are those who are within.
The scene did not hide Israel's condition from Saul, and it was not meant to. Faith looks at the real state of things and still praises.
No doubt the state of Israel was dreadful. The people were terrified by their Philistine masters. But what of that, if faith was at work? Circumstances should never frighten the believer... To faith, the worst of times only calls us the more to make melody to Him. These prophets did not lack the testimony of joy and praise. Yet God would still have His people confess their real circumstances. It is always right, wise, and lowly to own the truth.
Saul was becoming king to fight Israel's enemies. But this sign put music and prophecy first.
The remedy for the state of things in Israel is not, in the first place, power. It is returning to God and submitting to Him. He must be lifted high in the very place where men have dishonoured Him, and this is what the spirit of prophecy does. So Saul meets a company of prophets here. Their many instruments of music show the joy and boldness that come when the heart returns to God. How small a thing is the enemy in the presence of God! And this joy in Him is the sure sign of the overthrow of all that sets itself against Him. Jehoshaphat's singers and trumpeters march at the front of the army. The Lord listens to them and gives the victory (2 Chron. 20:22). What a lesson for the Benjamite warrior, Saul!
The four instruments are not decoration around the prophesying.
These prophets did more than speak under the power of God. They came with lyre and harp. That is, there was the spirit of praise as well as of prophecy. In God's presence there is fullness of joy, and He dwells among the praises of His people. So worship should always go along with prophecy. When others called on Elisha to ask counsel of God, he called for a musician, so that his spirit might come fully into tune with the praise of God... This would remind Saul that knowledge alone, even divine knowledge, must never stand apart from priestly worship and joy. No one can fake such worship. It flows from a heart that knows the grace of God well, and that grace alone gives power for true service and testimony.
As to who these men were, one reference work identifies them with a group known elsewhere in Israel's history:
The "company of prophets" with lyre, tambourine, flute and harp, whom Saul met, were probably sons of the prophets. 1 Sam. 10:5.
Saul joined this company and prophesied with them. Later chapters show what that did and did not prove.
The richest and most abundant gifts cannot fill the emptiness that sin has made in the soul. Only Christ, and believing in Him from the heart, can fill it. A man may be enlightened. He may taste the heavenly gift, share in the Holy Spirit, and taste the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. And he may still fall away. He may preach with the gift of Paul, but if that is all, his gift and his use of it will not save him (1 Cor. 9:27). As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him. And as Matthew Henry said, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
Everything in the sign was legible — to faith:
But neither of the signs did Saul understand, though they were clear and instructive to the eye of faith.
- The place. Enemy troops held the hill of God, the very ground where His power should have ruled. The worst enemies, then and in the church now, are the ones inside.
- The honesty. Faith does not pretend the ruin away. It faces the real condition and makes melody to God anyway.
- The order. Music and prophecy come before the battle. God is honoured again where men dishonoured Him, and victory follows.
- The pairing. The instruments beside the prophesying show that knowledge of God belongs with worship and joy no one can fake.
- The test. Saul shared in the gift, prophesied, and stayed Saul. Signs and power do not fill the emptiness sin makes. Only Christ and faith in Him do.
And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
This is the third and greatest of the signs Samuel gave Saul, and it comes at the very place where the Philistine garrison sat. It raises a hard question: can God's Spirit change a man in plain sight and still leave him unsaved?
The place matters. Saul receives this power in front of the enemy he was made king to defeat.
He is brought to the hill of God, and there — a remarkable spot — he finds the Philistines dug in and secure. So he stands face to face with the difficulties before him. The people had wanted a king to fight their battles, and the Lord had given him to be their captain, to rescue them above all from the Philistines, their most bitter and their strongest enemies. He could have done it, had he proved obedient. For here, in full sight of the enemy, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and at once he is seen prophesying with the prophets, with all the marks of joy and triumph. The battle was the Lord's, so he could well rejoice, for then the victory was sure.
Faith could have read these signs. One writer sets Saul beside the king who came after him:
The spirit of prophecy was also given to him (v. 6). But Saul understood none of the signs, though they were clear and full of instruction to the eye of faith. David was the opposite of this, and pictured Christ as King.
What changed in Saul, and what did not?
He was "turned into another man" — that is, he changed from a clumsy country youth into a king-like man who could fill the throne with dignity — and he was made to speak in prophecy. It was a wonderful "sign" (verse 7)... yet Saul was never born again. He went further and further from God, and died under the sentence of His anger. Having "sign gifts," then, is no proof of holiness or real devotion.
There is a line between the Spirit using a man and the Spirit saving a man. It runs through the conscience.
When the conscience stands in the presence of God and bows to His judgment, the Spirit of God acts in saving grace. He does not use the man as a mere instrument; He blesses his soul. In a word, it is salvation. But even where there is no work in the conscience, and so no salvation, the power of the Spirit may be so great that for the time the man under it becomes another man.
Saul is not the only case. Others had great light and stayed unchanged inside:
God gave the same gift to Balaam. The Spirit of God came on him, his eyes were opened, he had the knowledge of the Most High and saw the vision of the Almighty (Num. 24), yet all this light never reached the darkness of his soul... Nothing can fill the emptiness that sin has made in the soul — not the richest and most abundant gifts — short of Christ and heart-belief in Him... As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him; and Matthew Henry, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
Saul was to meet the prophets while music played. That detail carries a lesson:
The prophets were not only speaking by the power of God. Lute and harp played with them. That is, there was the spirit of praise as well as of prophecy... This would remind Saul that knowledge alone, even knowledge that comes from God, was never to be cut off from the worship and joy of a priestly heart. Such worship cannot be faked. It flows from a heart that knows the grace of God well.
The Spirit's power came as an offer for a whole reign, not for one day only. But it came with a condition:
By this God was showing that He was willing to lead Saul by the power of His Spirit as Saul took the kingdom. But Saul had to see for himself that he could expect this guidance only if he submitted to the Spirit of God... Sadly, Saul ignored this spirit of submission to God in his ruling of Israel.
- Place — The Spirit came on Saul at the hill of God, where the Philistines were dug in. God gave the power in full view of the enemy Saul was to defeat.
- Power — The change was real. A country youth became a man who could fill a throne, and he prophesied. But it changed what he could do, not what he was.
- Conscience — The Spirit can use a man as an instrument and never touch his conscience. Where the conscience bows to God, the Spirit acts in saving grace.
- Proof — Gifts prove nothing about holiness. Balaam saw visions of the Almighty and stayed dark inside. "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
- Response — God was willing to lead Saul by His Spirit through the whole reign. Only submission would keep that guidance. Saul ignored it.