How Long Will You Mourn?

and the LORD said unto 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 will send you to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided Me a king among his sons (I Sam. 16:1).

At the very time that Samuel the Prophet was “mourning” for Saul, i.e., he saw no positive future for Israel, the Lord was planning great things for His People.

Let me say that again:

Whatever the circumstances might be, however the situation may present itself, the Lord is planning great things for us, that is, if we will only believe Him.

Look at it again!

At this very moment, and no matter how it may seem to be otherwise, the Lord is planning great things for you. To receive those great things, obedience is demanded, but obedience which we can easily carry out, that is, if we will truly follow the Lord. This means that there is no reason that any Believer should “mourn.”

Concerning Saul, the Lord told the Prophet, “I have rejected him from reigning over Israel.”

There are untold numbers of Godly people who are spending their time and attention on something that God has already rejected. Some of you holding this small book in your hands are still trying to hold on to a Church, or even an entire Denomination, which the Lord has already rejected. Such a Church, even as Saul, may continue right on; however, if the Believer is to truly follow the Lord, he will have to look elsewhere, even as Samuel is here told to look elsewhere.

The Lord told the Prophet to quit his pity-party, and “Fill your horn with oil, and go.”

“Oil” is a Type of the Holy Spirit. We readily see here that the Holy Spirit had departed from Saul. If the Holy Spirit is no longer present, we should find out where the Holy Spirit is moving, and there situate ourselves. Nothing else matters!

The Lord had already chosen another king. He would be in the family of “Jesse the Beth-lehemite.” It was the Lord Who chose a certain member of this family, David; man had no choice in the matter.

The trouble with the modern Church is men appointing men; consequently, they wind up with Saul, whom God has rejected, rather than David, whom God has chosen.

Last of all, the Lord told Samuel, “For I have provided Me a king among his sons.” Whatever we think, God has provided! We, unfortunately, all too often look in the wrong place.

The Lord didn’t tell Samuel which one of the sons He had chosen from the family of Jesse the Bethlehemite.

The reason?

The Lord was looking for faith on the part of Samuel; to be sure, such faith was ultimately found!

~J. Swaggart Ministry