sha'ul

Confused of the title of this post? Do you know what the word means (or do you care to look it up) or would you rather I just tell you? I'll give you a hint--it's not Greek, it's Hebrew. Any guesses now?

Okay, I can't wait any longer. It means "asked for" in Hebrew & it was the introduction to the single ladies spring Bible study: DAVID: Seeking a Heart Like His by Beth Moore. So, what's so cool about sha'ul & what does that little Hebrew word have to do with David? Let me tell you.

Pop culture proclaims that the story of my life begins with me, but is that really true? In the introduction to week one, Beth Moore refutes this humanistic argument as she introduces us to the people who shaped David's life remarking that "A person's story never begins with his or her own. . . . Our lives are often laboriously intertwined with another we have neither chosen nor fully accepted" (8). God started molding David's life, not at his birth, but with the lives of his two counselors: Saul & Samuel.

In I Samuel 1, a woman named Hannah asks God for a son. When her request is answered, she names her son Samuel (shem'el) which sounded similar to the word "asked for (sha'ul). To show her gratitude, Hannah returnsto God what she had asked for & God uses Samuel to accomplish His will in a mighty way.

In I Samuel 8, the people of Israel demand that Samuel select a king to rule over the nation. Following the Lord's direction, Samuel anoints a tall, good-looking Benjaminite named Saul. Where Samuel's name sounds like "asked for", Saul's name literally means "asked for". God literally gave the children of Israel what they asked for! Sadly, the nation soon discoved that what they asked for, wasn't really what they wanted.

Saul eventually loses God's favor because his "position exceed his passion." He worshipped God, not because he wanted to, but because he was a Hebrew. God was part of the package deal. As Beth Moore put it, "There is a country mile's difference between pleasing & appeasing God" (9).

As Beth Moore spoke, I could remember a little too well times when God gave me exactly what I asked for &, like the people of Israel, I soon regretted my choice. That little word sha'ul (which I can surely write better than I could pronounce) has been a rebuke to me. What have I been asking God for? "He wants my whole heart--the whole splattered mess." Am I willing to give Him what He has asked for?