“And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him” (I Samuel 10:26,27a).

Saul had just been put forward to the people by Samuel, as their new king. There was instant acceptance. “All the people shouted, and said, God save the king” (v.24). At that point, a division arose among the men of Israel. One group, whose hearts God had touched, became immediately loyal and faithfully followed Saul. Our experience is much the same. If our hearts have been touched by the Lord, then we should be loyal followers of Christ and of those whom the Lord has raised up to lead us. Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1).

The second group of men in this story does just the opposite. These individuals would not even give Saul an opportunity to prove himself before they began to gripe and complain, saying, “How shall this man save us? And they despised him” (v.27). Unfortunately, even among God’s people today, disloyalty and division can persist in churches, in schools, and even on the mission field. This ought not to be. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10). “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (I Corinthians 3:3). “Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).

May our loyalties and allegiances be ever with those whose hearts God has touched. NPS