I Samuel 10:22 Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.
Between Fear and Arrogance
We generally think of fear and arrogance as polar opposites. Here is one person who is timid, afraid, and shy, and here is another person who is bombastic and arrogant. These may be polar opposites, but the same person can be characterized by both traits. Enter Saul, the first king of Israel.
All of us think of King Saul as a man who was to some extent arrogant and belligerent. Notably, when God had ordained that David would be the next king, Saul hunted David as he would hunt an animal. Saul became a petty, jealous, arrogant man who felt entitled to his position. Yet on a couple of occasions before Saul was anointed king, he seems to be a very admirable man. His character seems so different from what we typically think of that people often work hard to explain Saul’s actions.
For instance, in I Samuel 10 when Saul was to be presented as king, he could not be found. Verse 22 explains, “Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.” Saul, who later would become king and grip that position with an iron fist, was hiding. That doesn’t seem arrogant to me.
Later, when Saul went home to Gibeah, there went with him a group of men “whose hearts God had touched.” In contrast, verse 27 tells us, “But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.” The Bible seems to indicate here that Saul was a man of great restraint. There were people who had no good thing to say about Saul, but instead of lashing out, Saul “held his peace.”
In an earlier incident, when Saul returned from seeking the donkeys of his father, he came upon his uncle who asked him, “Where did you go?” Saul replied, “We went to look for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we asked Samuel.” Then Saul’s uncle said in verse 15, “Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.” Saul answered, “He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.” He didn’t brag. He said nothing about the main headliner which was that he had been appointed to be Israel’s king.
We struggle to bridge the gap between this apparent modesty and the arrogance that would come later. I think the answer is that there is a sweet spot somewhere between fear and arrogance; it is called depending upon the Lord.
The one thing that fear and arrogance have in common is that they are both focused on self. The same person who will come to fear because he is focused on himself will come to arrogance because of the same thing. The answer to both of these is to live in dependence upon God. If we don’t think that we need God, then that is arrogance. If we think we are beyond hope and God can’t or won’t help us, then that is fear. Neither one is where God would have us live. Trust God, and give Him the credit when He gives you the help you need.