Sermon 37: 1 Samuel 11:1-5

1. And Nahash the Ammonite went up and began to fight against Jabesh of Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you. 2. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them: On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out the right eye of every one of you, and lay it as a reproach upon all Israel. 3. And the elders of Jabesh said to him: Grant us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and if there is no one to defend us, we will come out to you. 4. So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, and all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5. And behold, Saul was coming, following the oxen out of the field, and said: What ails the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

In the election of Saul we saw that God had given the people some hope of obtaining mercy and liberation from the subjection and tyranny of enemies. Now is recited the contrary: that at the very beginning the opposite seemed to happen, when the Ammonites conspired against the Israelites who dwelt across the Jordan, with Nahash as leader, and assailed them in war. Now the Gadites, the Manassites, and part of the Reubenites inhabited that trans-Jordan region. Therefore those three tribes... ...tribes, far separated from their brothers by the Jordan flowing between, were reduced to the greatest straits, because help was not so ready on account of the river that separated them from the others. And the Ammonites seem to have seized the occasion of this war from that confusion of the people, hoping that they would more easily accomplish the matter while the Israelites were divided among themselves, and would subdue the Gileadites; just as we know that those who desire to do harm always promise themselves the contrary of what usually happens. And indeed affairs in the people seemed so constituted that the confusion would be more lasting. For we saw that Saul was not designated king by the consent of all, and that everything was full of murmuring and sedition, whereas hitherto in the time of Samuel they had cherished the highest concord among themselves, and lived as one mind, and the prophet had won so much authority among them that all spontaneously obeyed him. But when he had abdicated from the administration of affairs, that reverence had ceased.

But God wished by the very thing to testify that he had not promised his help to his people in vain, but he took methods most foreign to human sense. And thus God from every age has worked in wondrous ways, so that, about to display his goodness and power towards his own, he has used evil which he turned into good and into the salvation of his own. And surely if we were never afflicted with any troubles, if we were not assailed by any enemies, we would not think that we ever needed God's help; and we would be carried away by prosperous and favorable affairs, and not acknowledge his grace and beneficence toward us as is fitting. But when we come into such straits that our salvation seems desperate, and suddenly God stretches out his arm to rescue us from them, then his help becomes manifest, and we confess even unwillingly that it would have been all over with us without his aid.

God therefore allowed this war to be stirred up by the Ammonites, who had previously been conquered by the Amorites. Now that region of Gilead had fallen by lot to the Israelites after the defeat of King Sihon. Therefore the Ammonites renew an old controversy, which seemed to have been long ago laid to rest. For when Scripture relates that that land had been possessed by the Ammonites, it mentions it as already long-past history, but the Israelites had also possessed it for a long time. Therefore when the Ammonites attack the Gileadites about to fight in battle, they have indeed a specious but not a just title for recovering possessions. But God always wills that the enemies of his church first provoke them, and thus be guilty, and so he may have just occasion to take punishment of them. For unless the faithful were unjustly oppressed, they could neither flee to God nor implore his help. If they themselves had unjustly provoked the wicked, and avenged their own injuries, they would have no just occasion of complaining, and they would deservedly pay the penalty.

But if those zealous of peace abstained from all injuries, and yet, provoked by enemies and reduced to the greatest straits, fled to the divine sanctuary and help, and besought him to have pity on them, they will indeed experience his help. For it is proper to God to bring help to the afflicted, and to lift up the helpless, the needy, and the weak, and to suppress all violence, injustice, and iniquity. Since Sacred Scripture declares this to be God's proper office, it also opens a door for us to invoke him boldly and with confidence, and to expose to him the troubles and injuries we suffer undeservedly. Hence let us learn that those greatly err who complain of injuries inflicted on them, when enemies provoked by them profess that they are vindicating injuries done to them, and recovering their own things. For if, as I said before, we are the authors of war, we render ourselves unworthy of God's help. Just as on the contrary, if conscience dictates that we are not the authors of controversies, but enemies unprovoked by us are making attack on us, then we ought to be certain of God's help, that it will be present at the opportune time, if we invoke him.

Next follows that the inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead were ready to surrender, if they were treated on equitable conditions and their lives promised them safe, and to pay tribute as subjects. Indeed I confess, when we are brought into danger, we ought to yield from our right, and overcome malice with goodness, as we are often admonished in the holy Scriptures; and accordingly it is the highest virtue, if some come to terms with the enemy even on unequal conditions and to their own loss, and not to pursue injuries pertinaciously until we are fully satisfied. For we know that in the holy Scriptures the Lord commands us to overcome evil by patience, and to conquer malice by goodness; and many examples of this command are also set before us to imitate. Thus although Hezekiah could on good and just grounds have testified that he was not the author or cause of the war by which the Assyrians were harassing him, yet, having despoiled the temple at Jerusalem of its ornaments, and having stripped off gold and silver, he placated the enemies, and filling their avarice he sought peace and bought it, that thereafter the people might be allowed to worship God in peace and venerate him with the temple still standing.

But as far as concerns the inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead, surely this voluntary surrender is not to be praised in them. For when they thought of making surrender, they spontaneously exposed their region to profanation and pollution. For of necessity, with the idolaters dominating in it, the worship of God had to be polluted and adulterated. Therefore the fact that they spontaneously subjected themselves to slavery and promised to pay tribute came from immense fear, which betrayed their unbelief. For God had assigned that city to them by lot, and they held it in his name as clients... ...and therefore they ought to have given honor to God as Lord. But at the first threat of enemies they were ready to surrender the city to them, and to betray to enemies what they had received from God. Therefore they sinned grievously, not only yielding their hereditary right but also betraying the city which they had received from God to be faithfully guarded. For God had consecrated that city to himself, in which he should be especially worshiped and adored. The fear, therefore, of the inhabitants of Jabesh was in part the wages of their unbelief, because in those straits they had not fled to God. For why did they not first call God into their aid with ardent prayers, which alone was the safest sanctuary and protection? Since they were in his clientage and fought under his auspices. Then, why did they not send to their brothers, who would bring assistance, which they owed by mutual obligation? For God had divided that land by lot to the ten tribes on this condition, that they should mutually help each other and foster concord among themselves as members of one body. Therefore when the inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead so quickly think of making a surrender, and do not flee to prayers, it is most certain that that cowardice was most similar to treason, and besides, they sufficiently testified by that act that they neither rested in God nor placed faith in his promises, nor expected help and defense from him.

Therefore let us learn from this that we cannot be too easy in yielding when our right alone is at stake, since the prophet admonishes us to seek peace and pursue it, even though it seems to flee from us. And the shedding of human blood, and similar things which necessarily follow wars, is to be avoided as much as possible and with all our strength, and accordingly we must yield even of our right. Yet we must know that faith must also be placed in God, so that when necessity demands it, we ought to be of strong and present mind, so that whenever the unbelievers unjustly attack us in arms, and their cruelty cannot be satisfied except by injury to God's honor, we should not allow even the slightest thing to be detracted from divine right; but rather pour out our lives a thousand times over, if it were necessary, for his defense, certainly persuaded that God will be present as defender and champion, and will have pity on us when we have been cruelly vexed by enemies against right and equity. Meanwhile let us patiently know to wait for divine help, so that we are neither broken at the first attack or threats of enemies, nor, despairing of mind, undergo any unfair condition. For we ought to allow God to perfect his work in his own time, and beware lest by our rashness we delay or impede his grace.

And so much for these things; now follows: That Nahash leader of the Ammonites would not admit any conditions of surrender unless the right eye were torn out of every inhabitant of Jabesh of Gilead.

Which was a harder condition for them than if he had laid waste the city with sword and flame. For if there is any choice in such matters, the condition would be far more tolerable if all were destroyed to extermination than that they should suffer such great ignominy and dishonor, namely, to have one eye dug out of each citizen. Nahash therefore was acting with them as if he refused every condition, unless they entrusted themselves to his power, or rather to his cruelty. For did not this insolent condition sufficiently indicate that he would not grant them their lives safe, except afflicted with perpetual ignominy and disgrace, which would result in the contempt and contumely of all the Israelites, and his name would be blasphemed, as if he had not defended his people, and had not at the opportune time helped with his aid? Finally it appears that this impious and blasphemous man had declared war on God rather than on men. For it was written in the divine law, that the Ammonites should never be admitted into the assembly of the faithful, because they had tried with all their strength to prevent the passage of the children of Israel, and had attempted to make void God's promises, which they had long ago received concerning the possession of the land of Canaan. Since therefore they had professedly opposed themselves to overthrowing divine truth among the Israelites, and had conspired against God's church without cause, God had ordered them to be banished forever, and had branded them with this mark, that they should be considered unworthy that the people receive any of the graces with which God adorned his people.

Nahash therefore attacks the people of the Israelites with force and arms; but on what pretext of right? Namely, he seeks back by war the region lost by his ancestors. But since by gouging out the eyes of the inhabitants of Jabesh he meditates branding the Israelites with a perpetual mark of ignominy, there is no doubt that he sought to attack the very majesty of God himself, to trample his power under foot, and zealously to make true religion an object of mockery. Therefore it was necessary for God, the just vindicator of his glory, with arm extended to crush such great arrogance of the man. And thus God lets wicked and shameful men go beyond their bounds, that they may cast themselves headlong into the highest confusion and ignominy. There is no doubt then that God willed Nahash to be carried to such a peak of arrogance and petulance that he might exercise his judgment more severely upon him. For if he had agreed about the conditions of peace with the inhabitants of Jabesh, certainly the neighboring cities would have been terrified, and accordingly would have come immediately into his power, and the people would have had to be oppressed by hard servitude. And in this way the two and a half tribes would have lost the portion of land assigned them by the Lord, if he had assailed them with clemency and easiness, that is, with fraud and cunning. For he could have advanced more by flatteries than by cruelty. But because God had decreed to destroy him utterly, therefore he willed him to be carried to such great arrogance. Therefore let us learn, when enemies arrogantly puff themselves up... ...and breathing nothing but blood, to lift our minds up to God, knowing that they are impelled by God so that they may bring their iniquity to maturity: that when they have come to the height, they may be cast down with greater violence, and given headlong to extreme destruction. Yes, we should marvel here at the secret providence of God, who allows the wicked thus to be blinded, that, driven by the spirit of fury, they themselves slip into the snares of their own destruction. Indeed I confess that the devil acts in them and incites them to these crimes, but yet we must be persuaded that all these things are ruled and administered by the most certain, though to us incomprehensible, judgment of the divine majesty. Therefore when we see wicked and shameful men so puffed up that they threaten nothing but threats, and seem about to lay all things waste with sword and flame, let us know that they are impelled and incited by the devil, but as it were as administrators of the divine judgments, since he is bound by God so that he can advance nothing without his permission. Hence those phrases in the Sacred Scriptures: God makes the enemies drunk, strikes them with the spirit of dizziness, gives them the cup of fury to drink, which they drain to the dregs, so that, like madmen, they rashly attack anything and everything, and assault anyone.

We therefore, not ignorant of these things, let us learn to invoke God with all the more constancy and confidence, the more we see enemies raging and breaking, like wild beasts, all enclosures and bars; and let us know that the time of their confusion and destruction is the nearer the more they boil with fury. And this is worthy of diligent observation. For when the unbelievers spew forth their rage, we are commonly so smitten that it seems all over with us, and we are seized with such great despair that we have no taste of the divine promises and admit no consolation, namely because we cherish in ourselves an inborn vice. But on the contrary, we must know that when the wicked rage in this manner, divine vengeance is not far off, which will restrain them even unwilling; or, with Solomon as witness, when he says that he who builds his house high is nearest to his ruin. By which simile and metaphorical speech he shows that those who enlarge the courts and porticoes of their houses, that they may equal them to royal residences, and puff themselves up wondrously like frogs, do as if they were tearing down their own houses by undermining them.

Let us fix these things deeply in our minds, and learn from the example of Hezekiah that raging and ferocious enemies are impelled by God himself, that they may cast themselves headlong into destruction, and the more they hasten. For we see that Hezekiah, when Rab-shakeh had injured the divine majesty with so many insults and reproaches, took occasion from there to invoke God with greater confidence: You, O Lord, have stirred up all these insults against us. Therefore come, whenever we see the immense ferocity of enemies increased, let us know that it comes into the sight of God, and that all the injuries and contumelies and indeed every kind of cruelty are recorded as if in his journals, and a sentence is being prepared against them while they hold their triumphs; and that greater confusion is hanging over them the greater the license and cruelty with which they raged against us.

But the splendid admonitions in Sacred Scripture about preserving patience in adversities are to be put to use, that we may possess our souls through patience and silence, until the time of our deliverance appointed by the Lord arrives. In this therefore we must look, and being certainly persuaded that God has not forgotten us, and cannot bear unavenged the rage of enemies and immensity joined with the highest disgrace of his own, let us invoke him without ceasing, and patiently wait until, covered by his shield, he sets us in liberty. For it must be fulfilled what Sacred Scripture teaches, that God humbles the eyes of the proud, and casts down the lofty and proud, and gives them headlong into the highest confusion. So much for these things.

Next follows that the inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead asked for a truce of seven days, while they should send messengers to all the borders of Israel, to seek help from their brothers; and that those things were granted them by Nahash as they had asked. Hence appears the providence of God, who possesses the hearts of wicked men in such a way that he inclines them whithersoever he wills, like the divisions of waters, as Solomon speaks in Proverbs. For we previously saw Nahash raging in wonderful ways: and although the inhabitants of Jabesh were ready to surrender themselves to him, he was breathing nothing but blood, without clemency, without any mercy. But now we see him allowing these inhabitants that they may send messengers into all the borders of Israel to ask help from their brothers. Which two things at first sight are very contrary to each other, so that we must necessarily acknowledge God's hand to have worked here. For it is certain that if this man had proceeded as impetuously as he had begun, those pressed by siege, with camp pitched at the walls, and worn out by hunger, would either have been compelled to lay violent hands on themselves, or spontaneously to deliver themselves into the power of the bloody enemy like cattle to be slaughtered. Therefore he seemed about to easily reduce them into his power; but yet he allows them to send messengers to their brothers seeking aid; therefore we easily gather from such great variety that God bent his mind, so that he spontaneously granted what he would never otherwise have done.

From here a most useful doctrine must be drawn out by us, namely that although God for a time loosens the reins to our enemies, so that they rage like wild beasts and breathe nothing but slaughter and blood, yet in a moment he can change their minds. By way of example, let us consider what the sacred records testify about the Egyptians. For who impelled them to grant gold and silver vessels to the Israelites who asked, whom previously they had wished torn to pieces... ...and despoiled of fortunes and substance? And yet to the Israelites asking whatever most precious vessels, they deny nothing, but vie with one another in handing over what they were demanding. From where such a great and sudden change, that those who before were preparing their teeth like wolves to tear them, now offer wool like lambs? Surely God changed their minds. The same is the reason for this fact about Nahash. For how did it happen that he who before breathed nothing but threats, thirsted for blood, and admitted no condition of peace, even though those who had won so many and such notable victories over their enemies were spontaneously surrendering themselves and submitting to slavery, provided only that he promise their lives safe, now nevertheless gives them power to seek help by sending messengers into all the borders of Israel? How, I ask you, did it happen that he who before had bound those inhabitants by such hard and unjust conditions, and had refused to accept the most equitable and convenient ones for himself, now grants them what is never customarily allowed in wars? For he gave them the power to seek help everywhere; what does this seem to be other than to release the prey from his hands? Behold how God, for our instruction, declared that he can change the minds of our enemies in a moment, although they boil with savage rage; and indeed bend them to his will, so that we may have them easy.

Moreover, there is no doubt that this impious enemy of God and his Church, blinded by arrogance and avarice, so easily gave them power to seek help in the borders of the Israelites everywhere. For if, as I said before, he had with reason and judgment served his own conveniences and had regard for his own utility, when he saw the people had thrown down their courage and the city was disturbed, and accordingly was already in his power, only to lead his camp against it, what was driving him to give those inhabitants power to seek help from their brothers? Indeed, as I said before, we must confess he was led by God's providence; but yet considering Nahash himself we see him carried away by excessive desire, by which he promised himself everything. And it is likely he persuaded himself that the auxiliary soldiers, if any were sent by the Israelites, would be most easily and without any trouble crushed by him, and thus it would happen that thereafter the others would lose heart, and all their courage would collapse, when fame would spread among the other tribes the news of the slaughtered and routed people. And accordingly all the remaining tribes on this side of the Jordan would, as if matters were lost and ruined, throw down their courage, and at the rout of those inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead would fear the same fate for themselves.

Thus it happened that the inhabitants of Jabesh easily obtained from a savage enemy breathing nothing but blood what by no right of war could they have dared to promise themselves. And indeed we see God so loose the reins to the desire of our enemies that yet by their own counsels they bring on themselves evil and confusion. For if they preserved measure, they could indeed subsist; but because they glory in their own strength and prudence, and gape at all things, it happens that they fall short of their hope, while they are rashly carried here and there. Hence the cause of their destruction, the more horrendous and stupendous the greater their wrath and ferocity of mind. We therefore, beholding the wrath and insatiable and implacable avarice of our enemies, let us patiently wait until God himself extends his hand. For their rage and savage fury will drive them headlong as if doubly drunk, and like madmen will throw them into any precipices, from which they can never emerge: provided we give place to divine goodness and flee to it in all straits.

Next follows that those citizens of Jabesh of Gilead sent messengers to Saul in Gibeah, for we heard above that he was tarrying there. Nor is it likely they sent messengers there only to seek aid, but everywhere into the entire region of the Israelites. But this place Gibeah is mentioned by name because Saul tarried there, and the auxiliary forces set out from there. Therefore the messengers sent came to the tribe of Benjamin into that village Gibeah, in which Saul, recently designated king but not without the intercession of many, was tarrying. And surely no royal authority appeared in him then; for he was continuing in his former manner of life, leading a rustic life as a herdsman, which does not correspond to royal dignity. Thus we see Saul, although elected and designated king by God, and brought home with great escort, nevertheless remaining in his former life condition, for God wished to put him into possession of his office as if by degrees, since God had already before established the dignity of royal power as was needful, when he had wondrously brought him forth, hidden among the baggage, so that anyone could easily judge that Saul had been chosen by God's will and designated king. But truly he felt that the time had not yet come when he should take dominion, and be borne up to the royal throne, and the honor due to him raised to such dignity should be rendered to him.

Which things truly make for Saul's greater praise. For, I beseech you, how many today do you see simulating modesty under an honest appearance while they aspire to some rank, not, I say, of royal or first power, but even of the lowest dignity, who, when some even very slight breeze for obtaining it has blown, immediately enter upon a manner of life worthy of a prince, and surrounded by many attendants assume honors and pomp, and act in all things magnificently as do princes? Finally we see the greatest part of men labor under this disease of folly, that if by God to some honors... [The opening lines of column 1 are heavily garbled by OCR — apparently continuing the discussion of how men, when called to honors, abandon humility and adopt great pomp, contrasted with Saul who returned to his agricultural duties. The substance:] [unclear, OCR scrambled] ...even though he had not yet obtained the honors but had been raised as if by the very hand of God; since he did not yet enjoy the kingdom and had not received from a divine oracle the time when he should obtain the kingdom and rule, he tends his father's herds and flocks of oxen and cows as before, like one fond of the rustic life. Therefore this is a notable passage, worthy of full attention, that we conduct ourselves modestly, abstemiously and moderately however God has governed us; and if he wills us to obtain the highest honors among men, we should nonetheless show forth modesty, nor ever allow ourselves to be blinded by the magnitude of honors; and if he wills us to remain in mid-course, and not to advance further, let us be contained within the limits set, nor desire anything beyond his will. So much for Saul's modesty.

Nonetheless Scripture next records that he discharged the office of king and good leader. For although he seemed of abject condition, namely a vile herdsman, yet with authority he gave an edict, with severe threats added, after he had cut a yoke of oxen into pieces limb by limb, and sent them throughout the entire territory of Israel, that all should appear armed about to go forth after Saul and after Samuel; and that whoever did otherwise should be treated, themselves and their herds, in the same way as those oxen divided by him. Behold Saul, in words indeed by no means magnificent, yet by deeds and fortitude notable, and famous with authority befitting royal dignity. Which is worthy of observation. For nearly today the fortitude and magnanimity of princes is placed in words alone and in the appearance only of virtue; who, like painted images, draw the wretched populace into admiration of themselves: notable for great pomp and splendid display, by which all wretched men are deceived. By these displays and appearance alone the populace is imposed upon, and by these princes win authority for themselves. But virtue must be sought elsewhere, fortitude elsewhere, and elsewhere finally the strength of the divine Spirit and whatever pertains to the dignity of so great an office.

On the contrary, Saul, while ruling his father's herds, nonetheless bears great courage within and reveals the presence of God, and openly opens up that God's decree concerning him was not vain, when suddenly the Spirit of God rushes upon him and suggests useful counsel. Now he had not previously failed to receive that portion of the Spirit which was required to sustain so great a province, as we saw above; but when he received as it were new strength, God wished it thus testified, that we have need of divine help and aid in individual deeds, by which we are governed and clothed with new strength of spirit. Saul had prophesied for a time, and the gift of prophesying was a temporary faculty, by which God willed to ennoble him and make him famous among the Israelites as if with insignia and emblems by which he might excel among them. The Spirit of God also after he was elected multiplied his grace and gifts to him, and changed him, as had been promised, into a new man. Therefore now it seems superfluous to give him the Spirit again. But to those who diligently investigate all things, this must be gathered and fixed in our minds: that we, although enriched with God's gifts, namely wisdom, knowledge, prudence, fortitude, and similar virtues, nevertheless are not sufficient unless he confirms and increases the same gifts in us at every moment, whenever necessity demands. For it can indeed happen, and frequently does, that one who relies on the best principles, and has most certain testimonies that he is called by God to great matters, nevertheless sticks fast in matters of small moment, unless he is helped by present divine aid.

Therefore this must be diligently observed: it is not enough that God begin his work in us, but he must also perfect it; and our every care and solicitude ought to be in this, that we flee to him. Therefore let the most prudent and most clear-sighted acknowledge that they can in a moment be blinded by God. Let the most strong and magnanimous acknowledge that their strength is also weakened and prostrated, unless when necessity demands he confirms and increases his gifts and grace in them. And thus it must be held: not only in the general course of our whole life is God's providence and special care for us to be acknowledged, but also in individual deeds, so that we may owe ourselves wholly to him. So much for the fruit and use which we ought to draw from these words by which it is said that the Spirit of God again rushed upon Saul.

And accordingly let magistrates also learn from this, if they will perform their office as is fitting, that if today they have received the Spirit of God, tomorrow they should ask the same to be given them; for otherwise they are about to do nothing rightly without him as guide. Hence too let preachers of the divine word recognize that they sustain too difficult a burden, unless God himself supply strength to bear it: and that some powers of mind and dexterity do not suffice unless God himself perfect his work in them as he has begun. The same can be said of individual private men, who will never administer anything well or happily, even if a wife with two or three children alone is to be governed, unless they are governed by God's power. Indeed, this also is true: even if someone be alone, he is not fit to govern himself but stumbles every moment and seriously offends, unless he is sustained by divine power. Finally, let us all learn from this so to commend ourselves to God and acknowledge his gifts in us, that we depend on him alone...

...and refer whatever we have received to him alone, and know that he is mightily working in us. Now then come, etc.

1. Nahash the Ammonite went up and attacked Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash: 'Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.' 2. Nahash the Ammonite answered them: 'On this condition I will make a treaty with you — that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you, and bring disgrace on all Israel.' 3. The elders of Jabesh said to him: 'Give us seven days to send messengers throughout all the territory of Israel. If no one is there to save us, we will come out to you.' 4. The messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and announced these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people wept aloud. 5. Just then Saul was coming in from the field behind his oxen. He asked: 'What is wrong with the people? Why are they weeping?' They told him what the men of Jabesh had said.

In Saul's election we saw God giving the people a reason to hope for mercy and deliverance from the oppression and tyranny of their enemies. Now the opposite seems to happen almost immediately: the Ammonites, led by Nahash, conspired against the Israelites living east of the Jordan and attacked them. The Gadites, the Manassites, and part of the Reubenites occupied that region beyond the Jordan. These three tribes, separated from their fellow Israelites by the Jordan River, were placed in desperate circumstances — help from the other tribes was not easily available because of the barrier the river created. The Ammonites seem to have seized the occasion of this attack from the disorder among the Israelites, expecting they could more easily subdue the Gileadites while Israel was divided — as those who intend harm always convince themselves that circumstances are more favorable than they actually are. Indeed, the situation among the people seemed likely to remain in confusion for a long time. Saul had not been designated king by the unanimous consent of all — there was widespread murmuring and unrest. Previously, under Samuel's leadership, the people had maintained the strongest unity of spirit, living as one, and the prophet had held such great authority that all willingly obeyed him. But when Samuel stepped back from governing, that reverence had dissipated.

But God used this very situation to show that He had not promised His help to His people in vain — though He did so through means entirely contrary to human expectation. From every age, God has worked in wondrous ways: when about to display His goodness and power toward His own, He has used evil and turned it into good and into the salvation of His people. Surely, if we were never troubled, never assailed by enemies, we would never feel our need for God's help. We would be carried along by prosperity and favorable circumstances, never acknowledging His grace and kindness toward us as we should. But when we are brought to such extremity that our salvation seems hopeless — and God suddenly reaches out His arm to rescue us — then His help becomes unmistakably visible, and we confess even against our will that without it we would have been utterly lost.

God therefore allowed this war to be stirred up by the Ammonites, who had themselves previously been defeated by the Amorites. The region of Gilead had fallen by lot to the Israelites after their defeat of King Sihon. The Ammonites were therefore reviving an old dispute that had long seemed settled. Scripture records that the land had once been held by the Ammonites, but the Israelites had possessed it for a long time as well. So when the Ammonites attacked the Gileadites and prepared for battle, they had a plausible but not a just claim for recovering what they said was theirs. But God always wills that the enemies of His church be the ones to provoke the attack first — so they bear the guilt, and He has just cause to punish them. For unless the faithful are unjustly oppressed, they cannot flee to God and implore His help. If they had been the ones to provoke the wicked unjustly and had taken their own revenge, they would have had no just grounds for complaint — and would deservedly bear the consequences.

But when those who are devoted to peace refrain from all provocations — and yet, harassed by enemies and brought to the worst straits, they flee to God's sanctuary and beg Him to have pity on them — they will indeed experience His help. It is God's very nature to bring help to the afflicted, to lift up the helpless, the needy, and the weak, and to crush all violence, injustice, and wickedness. Since Scripture declares this to be God's own proper work, it also opens the door for us to call on Him boldly and with confidence, and to lay before Him the troubles and injuries we suffer without deserving them. From this let us learn that those greatly err who complain of injuries inflicted on them, when the enemies they provoked claim they are only defending their own rights and recovering what belongs to them. For as I said, if we are the authors of the conflict, we render ourselves unworthy of God's help. On the other hand, if our conscience tells us that we did not start the quarrel — that enemies unprovoked by us are making attack — then we ought to be certain that God's help will be at hand at the right time, if we call on Him.

The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead were ready to surrender if they received equitable terms — their lives protected, with tribute to be paid as subjects. I grant that when we are placed in danger, we ought to yield our rights and overcome malice with goodness, as we are often taught in Scripture. It is genuinely virtuous to come to terms with an enemy even on unequal and costly conditions rather than stubbornly pressing for full satisfaction of every injury. For God commands us in Scripture to overcome evil through patience and to conquer malice with goodness, and He sets before us many examples of this for us to follow. So though Hezekiah could justly have demonstrated that he was not the cause of the war by which the Assyrians were harassing him, he stripped the Jerusalem temple of its ornaments — removing gold and silver — to appease the enemies, satisfying their greed in order to buy peace and allow the people to continue worshipping God with the temple still standing.

As for the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, however, this willing surrender cannot be praised. By thinking of capitulating, they voluntarily exposed their region to desecration and corruption — for once idolaters dominated the area, the worship of God would inevitably be polluted and perverted. Their readiness to subject themselves to slavery and promise tribute came from great fear, which in turn exposed their unbelief. God had assigned that city to them by lot, and they held it in His name as His tenants — they were therefore obligated to honor God as Lord of it. But at the first threat from enemies, they were ready to surrender the city and hand over to their enemies what they had received from God. They sinned seriously: not only yielding their inherited right, but betraying the city God had entrusted to their faithful keeping. God had consecrated that city to Himself — it was a place where He was to be especially worshipped and honored. The fear of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was therefore in part the wages of their unbelief — in their desperate moment, they had not fled to God. Why did they not first call on God with earnest prayer — which was their safest and surest refuge? They were under His protection and fought under His banner. Then, why did they not send to their fellow Israelites for help — help those brothers were bound by mutual obligation to give? God had divided the land by lot among the tribes on the condition that they would help one another and maintain unity as members of one body. The people of Jabesh-gilead's rush to surrender — their failure to turn to prayer first — amounted to something very close to treason. By that act they showed sufficiently that they neither rested in God, nor trusted His promises, nor expected help and protection from Him.

Let us therefore learn from this that we can be too quick to yield when what is at stake is our own personal right — the prophet urges us to seek peace and pursue it, even when it seems to flee from us. The shedding of human blood and all the evils that inevitably accompany war must be avoided as much as possible and with all our strength — and so we must yield even when we are in the right. Yet we must also understand that faith in God demands that when the moment calls for it, we be steadfast and resolute. When unbelievers unjustly attack us and their cruelty can only be satisfied by dishonoring God, we must not allow even the slightest thing to be taken from what belongs to God — but instead be willing to pour out our lives a thousand times over if necessary in His defense. We can be fully persuaded that God will be present as our defender and champion, and will have pity on us when enemies cruelly violate all right and equity against us. Meanwhile let us patiently wait for God's help — neither breaking at the first attack or threat from enemies, nor, in despair, accepting any unjust condition. We must allow God to complete His work in His own time, and take care that our own rashness does not delay or hinder His grace.

That is enough about those matters. Next we read that Nahash, the leader of the Ammonites, would accept no terms of surrender unless the right eye of every inhabitant of Jabesh-gilead was gouged out.

This was a harsher condition than if he had simply put the city to the sword and burned it to the ground. If there is any choice in such matters, it would be far more bearable to be completely destroyed than to suffer such immense disgrace — to have one eye torn out of every citizen. Nahash was effectively telling them he would accept no terms unless they placed themselves entirely in his power — or rather, in his cruelty. Did this arrogant condition not make sufficiently clear that he would not let them live unless they lived under permanent humiliation and shame — a disgrace that would spread contempt and insult to all Israel, as though God had not defended His people or come to their aid at the right time? In the end it is evident that this impious and blasphemous man had declared war on God rather than on men. It was written in the divine law that the Ammonites were never to be admitted into the assembly of the faithful — because they had done everything in their power to block the passage of the Israelites, and had tried to make void the promises of God concerning the possession of the land of Canaan. Since they had deliberately set themselves against overthrowing divine truth among the Israelites, and had conspired without cause against God's church, God had ordered them to be permanently excluded — branding them as unworthy to receive any of the graces with which He distinguished His people.

Nahash attacked the Israelites by force of arms — but on what legitimate basis? His claim was that he was recovering by war the territory his ancestors had lost. But by planning to gouge out the right eye of every inhabitant of Jabesh-gilead, he aimed to brand all Israel with a permanent mark of shame — and in doing so, he was clearly attacking the very majesty of God, trampling His power underfoot, and scheming to make true religion an object of mockery. God, as the righteous defender of His own glory, therefore had to stretch out His arm and crush such enormous arrogance. This is how God works: He allows wicked and shameless men to go beyond all bounds so that they plunge themselves headlong into total confusion and disgrace. There is no doubt that God willed Nahash to be driven to the peak of arrogance and insolence precisely so He could exercise His judgment on him all the more severely. If Nahash had agreed to reasonable peace terms with the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, the surrounding cities would have been terrified into submission, and the people would have fallen under harsh servitude. In that way, the two and a half tribes would have lost the portion of land the Lord had assigned them — because Nahash could have made more progress through flattery and cunning than through cruelty. But because God had decreed to destroy Nahash utterly, He allowed him to be carried to the height of arrogance. Let us therefore learn that when enemies swell with pride, breathing nothing but violence, we should lift our minds to God — knowing that they are being driven forward by God Himself so that their wickedness may fully ripen. When they have reached their peak, they will be cast down with all the greater force and plunged into complete destruction. We should marvel at God's secret providence, which allows the wicked to be blinded in this way: driven by a spirit of fury, they fall into the very snares they have set for their own destruction. I freely acknowledge that the devil acts in them and incites them to these crimes. But we must be fully convinced that all these things are governed and directed by the certain — though to us incomprehensible — judgment of the divine majesty. So when we see wicked and shameless men so puffed up that they do nothing but threaten, appearing ready to lay everything waste with sword and fire, let us recognize that they are driven and incited by the devil — but as instruments of divine judgment. For the devil is bound by God and can accomplish nothing without His permission. This is why Scripture uses phrases like: God makes the enemies drunk, strikes them with confusion, gives them a cup of fury to drain to the dregs — so that, like madmen, they rashly attack everything and assault everyone without restraint.

Knowing this, let us learn to call on God with all the more steadiness and confidence — the more we see enemies raging and breaking through every barrier like wild beasts. And let us understand that the nearer they come to the boiling point of fury, the nearer their confusion and destruction. This is a point worth careful attention. When unbelievers pour out their rage, we are often so overwhelmed that it seems all is lost. We fall into such despair that we can no longer taste God's promises or receive any comfort — because we naturally carry within us that inborn weakness. But we must think the opposite: when the wicked rage in this way, divine judgment is not far off — it will restrain them even against their will. Solomon illustrates this when he says that whoever builds his house highest is closest to its ruin. By this comparison he shows that those who enlarge their courts and porticoes to match royal palaces, and puff themselves up like frogs, are effectively tearing down their own houses from underneath.

Let us fix this deeply in our minds. The example of Hezekiah teaches us that raging, ferocious enemies are driven by God Himself so that they may plunge headlong into their own destruction — and the faster they rush, the sooner they arrive. We see that when Rab-shakeh heaped insult after insult on the divine majesty, Hezekiah took that very outrage as a reason to call on God with greater confidence: 'You, O Lord, have heard all these insults directed against us.' So whenever we see the ferocity of our enemies growing, let us recognize that it all comes before God's eyes — that every injury, every insult, every act of cruelty is being recorded as if in His register, while a sentence is being prepared against them even as they hold their celebrations. The greater the license and cruelty with which they have raged against us, the greater the ruin hanging over them.

But we must also make use of the rich admonitions Scripture gives us about maintaining patience in adversity — so that we hold our souls in patience and quiet until the time of deliverance the Lord has appointed arrives. To this end we must look to God, fully persuaded that He has not forgotten us and cannot leave unavenged the rage of enemies who have heaped on His own people such immense disgrace. Let us call on Him without ceasing and wait patiently until, covered by His shield, He sets us free. For what Scripture teaches must surely come to pass: God humbles the eyes of the proud, casts down the lofty and arrogant, and plunges them into utter confusion. So much for these things.

Next we read that the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead asked Nahash for a seven-day truce to send messengers throughout all of Israel and seek help from their brothers — and that Nahash granted this. Here we see God's providence at work. Solomon tells us in Proverbs that God holds the hearts of kings in His hand and turns them wherever He wills, like the flow of water. We saw Nahash raging with extraordinary ferocity just moments before: though the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead were ready to surrender, he would accept nothing but to blind every one of them — there was no mercy in him, no clemency at all. And yet now we see him allowing them to send messengers throughout all of Israel to ask their brothers for help. These two things are so completely opposite that we must acknowledge God's hand was at work. For if Nahash had pressed forward as ruthlessly as he had begun — with his camp pitched at their walls and the people worn down by siege and hunger — they would have been forced either to take their own lives or to deliver themselves like cattle into the hands of a bloodthirsty enemy. He was on the verge of reducing them to his power with ease. Yet he gave them permission to call for help. Such a dramatic reversal can only be explained by God bending Nahash's mind, so that he freely granted what he would otherwise never have considered.

This gives us an extremely useful lesson: even when God for a time gives our enemies free rein to rage like wild beasts and breathe nothing but slaughter, He can change their minds in an instant. Consider what the biblical record tells us about the Egyptians. Who moved them to hand over gold and silver vessels to the Israelites who asked — the very people the Egyptians had previously wanted stripped of everything and torn apart? Yet when the Israelites asked for their most precious valuables, the Egyptians refused nothing and competed with one another to give what was demanded. How could such a sudden, total change occur — that people who had been sharpening their teeth like wolves to tear them apart now offered their goods like lambs? God changed their minds. The same explanation applies to Nahash. How did it happen that a man who had moments earlier breathed nothing but threats, thirsted for blood, and refused every condition of peace — even when his enemies were surrendering and begging only for their lives — now gave those very enemies permission to send messengers throughout all Israel to seek help? How did it happen that the man who had bound them by such harsh and unjust terms, and who had refused even the most reasonable and favorable conditions for himself, now granted them what is almost never permitted in war — the freedom to call for reinforcements from everywhere? In granting this, he was essentially releasing his prey. God did this for our instruction: to show us that He can change the minds of our enemies in a moment, no matter how savagely they rage, and bend them to do our bidding.

There is no doubt that this impious enemy of God and His church granted permission so easily because he was blinded by arrogance and greed. If Nahash had been thinking clearly and acting in his own best interest, he would have recognized that the city was already in his grasp — the people's courage had collapsed and the city was in turmoil, requiring only that he advance his army. What reason did he have to let them call for help? As I said, we must acknowledge that God's providence was directing him — but looking at Nahash himself, we see a man swept along by overwhelming desire, convinced that everything would go his way. He most likely told himself that any troops the Israelites might send would be crushed without difficulty, and that the news of their defeat would spread throughout the other tribes, breaking their spirit completely. All the remaining tribes west of the Jordan would, he imagined, lose heart at the rout of Jabesh-gilead and dread the same fate for themselves.

And so the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead obtained from a savage, bloodthirsty enemy something they had no right to expect from any ordinary rule of war. We see how God loosens the reins to the desires of our enemies in such a way that their own schemes bring ruin down on themselves. If they showed any restraint, they might succeed. But because they glory in their own strength and judgment and reach for everything, they fall short of their hopes — scattered by their own recklessness. The more violent their rage and ferocity of mind, the more horrifying and catastrophic their eventual destruction. Seeing the wrath and the insatiable, relentless greed of our enemies, let us wait patiently for God to extend His hand. Their rage and savage fury will drive them headlong like men doubly drunk — like madmen, they will throw themselves over cliffs from which they can never recover. All this will happen, provided we step back and flee to God's goodness in every difficulty.

Next we read that the citizens of Jabesh-gilead sent messengers to Saul in Gibeah — we heard above that he was staying there. It is likely they sent messengers not only to Gibeah but throughout the entire Israelite territory. Gibeah is specifically named because Saul was there, and that is where the relief force eventually assembled. The messengers arrived at that village in the territory of Benjamin where Saul — recently designated king, though not without considerable opposition — was staying. At that point there was nothing royal about his appearance. He had returned to his former way of life, working as a herdsman, which hardly fits the image of a king. So we see that Saul, though elected and designated king by God and escorted home with great honor, remained in his former way of life. God intended to bring him into possession of his office gradually. He had already established the dignity of the royal office when He brought Saul out from among the baggage in a way that left no doubt he was chosen by God's will. But Saul sensed that the time had not yet come for him to take up his rule, ascend the throne, and receive the honor due to his office.

This actually adds to Saul's credit. How many people today simulate modesty while aspiring to some position of rank — not even a royal position, but even a minor dignity — who, the moment any small opportunity arises, immediately begin living like a prince, surrounding themselves with attendants, assuming pomp and grandeur, and conducting themselves with every magnificence? Most people suffer from this disease: the moment God raises them to any honor, they abandon humility and adopt all the trappings of importance. Saul, by contrast, though raised by God's own hand to the highest position in the land, returned to tending his father's herds and flocks of oxen and cattle just as before — because the time appointed for him to receive the kingdom had not yet arrived. This passage therefore deserves our full attention. It teaches us to conduct ourselves modestly and with restraint in whatever station God has placed us. If He wills us to hold the highest honors among people, we must still show modesty and never let the magnitude of those honors blind us. If He wills us to remain in our present position and not advance further, we must stay within those limits and not desire more than He has given. So much for Saul's modesty.

Yet Scripture next records that Saul did discharge the duties of a king and good leader. Although he appeared to be in the most humble condition — nothing more than a common herdsman — he issued a commanding decree with stern threats attached. He cut a yoke of oxen limb from limb and sent the pieces throughout all Israel with the message that every man must come armed to follow Saul and Samuel, and that whoever failed to do so would have the same done to his property and his livestock. Here is Saul: not magnificent in words, but remarkable in deeds and courage, and impressive with an authority fitting royal dignity. This is worth noting. Today the courage and greatness of rulers is almost entirely a matter of words and the appearance of virtue. Like painted images, such rulers draw the admiring masses to themselves through spectacular pomp and display — and by this show alone they win authority for themselves, while the wretched people are deceived. But true virtue must be sought elsewhere, genuine courage elsewhere, and the real strength of God's Spirit elsewhere — wherever the true qualities of so great an office actually reside.

Saul, meanwhile, while tending his father's herds, carried great courage within him and revealed God's presence — making clear that God's decree concerning him was not empty, when suddenly the Spirit of God rushed upon him and brought him wise counsel. He had not previously lacked the measure of the Spirit needed to bear such a great responsibility, as we saw above. But when he received what amounted to new strength, God intended this to teach us that we need divine help and fresh strength of spirit for each individual task we face. Saul had prophesied for a time — that gift of prophecy was a temporary endowment by which God intended to distinguish him among the Israelites as a mark of his calling. After his election, God's Spirit also multiplied His grace and gifts to Saul and changed him into a new man, as had been promised. It might therefore seem unnecessary to give him the Spirit yet again. But those who look carefully will grasp what we must fix firmly in our minds: even when we have been enriched with God's gifts — wisdom, knowledge, prudence, courage, and similar virtues — we are not sufficient on our own unless He confirms and renews those same gifts in us at every moment, whenever the need arises. It frequently happens that someone who operates on the soundest principles, and has the most certain assurance of being called by God to great things, nonetheless gets stuck in a minor matter unless God's present help reaches him.

This must be carefully observed: it is not enough for God to begin His work in us — He must also complete it. Our constant concern should be to flee to Him. Therefore even the most prudent and clear-sighted must acknowledge that God can blind them in an instant. Even the strongest and most courageous must acknowledge that their strength too can be weakened and brought low, unless God confirms and renews His gifts and grace in them whenever the need arises. This must be held firmly: we are to acknowledge God's providence and His special care for us not only in the general course of our whole life, but in each individual deed — so that we owe ourselves wholly to Him. So much for the lesson we ought to draw from the words recording that the Spirit of God again rushed upon Saul.

Magistrates especially must learn from this that if they will perform their office as they should, they must ask God each day for the same Spirit they received the day before — for without His guidance they will accomplish nothing rightly. Preachers of God's word must likewise recognize that they carry a burden too heavy to bear unless God Himself supplies the strength. Natural ability and skill are not enough — God must complete in them what He has begun. The same applies to every private person. No one will manage even a small household — a wife and two or three children — well or happily unless God governs them. Indeed, this is also true: a person living entirely alone is not fit to govern himself. Without God's sustaining power, he will stumble at every turn and fall into serious fault. Let us all therefore learn to commit ourselves to God and acknowledge His gifts in us, so that we depend on Him alone...

...and refer everything we have received to Him alone, knowing that He is powerfully at work in us. Now then come, etc.