Samuel on Mount Saul

1 Samuel 16:1: Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” It was testing indeed for Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint another king when Israel already had one. What went through his mind as he filled the horn with oil? What goes within you when God sifts you? The rice and the chaff must be sifted apart. Otherwise there is no point in rice harvesting. Similarly once we choose to follow God we must allow God to expunge that which is not of God. It is an ongoing sifting process until we die. God wants to empty us so that He can fill us. Samuel’s visit news reached Bethlehem. The elders trembled. So they asked Samuel: “Do you come peaceably?” Weaned by sacrificial mother Hannah, Samuel was taught by Eli who held two offices – Judge and High Priest. With this background though, Samuel trembled: “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me” (Verse 2). All of us teeter on the edge of fear like the Bethlehem elders and Samuel did. The Saul in us will always try to kill us. This Saul can be anything or anyone hindering you from walking with God. This is a battle we must take to God.
Like Jesse talking about his son David, the Saul in you will undermine you by saying, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep” (Verse 11). You are the youngest and you are the last. You are good for nothing. You cannot make much out of your life. You just got labelled! Then Samuel told Jesse, “Send and bring him [David]. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” Samuel did not sit.  You will not sit until God finishes His work in you. God called Samuel and Samuel called Israel to repentance. He was a nation shaker. The Bethlehem elders felt the aftershock of Samuel. You cannot be called by God and be not called to repentance. Once God anoints you, you are set apart to take part in God’s restoring plan whatever career and calling you may hold. Everything is from God, for God, to God through you and me. In time, Saul missed this point and so Samuel was to anoint another king for Israel. Is God still left out in your walk? The Saul in you will want to obey partially and refuse to accept responsibility for your actions. Samuel told Saul that God alone should receive glory and honour.
Saul is more than a king. Saul is a mountain. Mount Saul. Humungous and boldly staring down at you.  All of us must climb this mountain.  Those who just loiter around the hillsides of mount Saul will miss the view of the land of Canaan—the land of promises. They should climb mount Saul. Are you loitering or climbing? Mountaineers climb not loiter. We are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Saul means “asked for.” Israel asked for a king not God. It infuriated God. Be careful of what you ask. Saul was Israel’s first king. The first step is the most important. The walk with the Lord always starts with first steps. You make the first step and then God steps in. Have you taken a step? In a time when miracles and prophesies were rare Samuel heard God calling his name three times. Samuel was still attuned to God. In today’s lousy world we can still be attuned to God. Have you clearly heard from the Lord about what you are doing now as a follower of Christ? After being Israel’s leader since his youth (till his death) Samuel’s farewell speech to Israel was (1 Samuel 12:3): “Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” The people replied, “He [God] is witness” (verse 5).   
Mount Saul was under Samuel’s feet because God was his witness. Look at Samuel on mount Saul.