THE MAIN IDEA
The sovereign hand of God leads everything and everyone to Christ. 

GOD’s SPIRIT LEADS US TO CHRIST
In view of God’s sovereignty, God made Saul  king, and the Holy Spirit came upon him for two reasons. First, the Old Testament reveals to  us how the people of God need a righteous Prophet, Priest, and King—that is, a Messiah (Christ, in Greek). The Spirit of God was given to both Saul and to David so that they might  become like the Messiah King that Israel needed. Saul rejected the Spirt, but David received  the Spirit, because he truly was a man after God’s own heart. It is the Spirit of God in King  David that led to the coming of the true Prophet, Priest, and King—Jesus Christ—through  the line of David. Second, God made Saul king to teach Israel what an evil thing they had  done by demanding a king such as all the other nations have. By doing so, they were  basically rejecting God, as well as the very reason that God had elected Israel to be His  chosen people. God elected Israel to be holy—to be set apart for His purposes alone and for  His glory alone. And so it is with us, as well. Because everything God does is for His plan of  salvation for the world in Christ Jesus and for His glory. And when we get that and accept it through faith, the Spirit of God in us will lead us straight to Christ. 

GOD’s SOVEREIGNTY LEADS US TO CHRIST
One of the most important theological  concepts we need to understand is God’s sovereignty. In the passage, we see God’s  sovereign hand at work to set into motion the events that would make David the next king  of Israel. We might think that David was transported from complete anonymity into  becoming the most important member of Saul’s court by an incredible set of random  circumstances. God’s sovereignty means that there are no such things as random  circumstances in this world. But that does not mean that God is a Great Puppet Master, and  that we are all nothing more than mere puppets in His grand puppet show. God’s  sovereignty is always leading us to divine appointments with Christ. That being the case, we  must recognize the presence of Christ in our lives, and then we must follow Him. 

OUR OBEDIENCE LEADS US TO CHRIST
Even in his young age, God called David a  man after his own heart. In our passage, we see the character of David’s heart especially in his  obedience. We see him being obedient to his father. And we see him being obedient to Saul. And we see David’s obedience after Saul turns on him. If David could be obedient to a sociopath like  Saul out of David’s fear of God, how much more so would he be obedient to God Himself? If we  can’t obey people who we can see, what makes us think we can obey our Lord Jesus whom we  can’t see? But we can certainly hear His voice through the word of God. The word of God  consistently calls upon the people of God to not only obey God but to obey people in positions of  authority—supervisors (Ephesians 6:5-8), government leaders (Romans 13:1-2), church leaders  (Hebrews 13:17), and of course God (1 Samuel 15:22). Practically, the whole point of the gift of  the Spirit and the whole point of God’s sovereign hand in our lives is not so that we might learn  how to be religious but to learn obedience! But the call to obedience isn’t for the sake of our  suffering, but for the sake of our joy (John 15:9-12). 

DISCUSSION QUESTION
Have you ever had a chance encounter that felt like it was just “meant to be?” How did you respond?