In Front | Workbook: Reading Paul in the Time of Saul

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Before we move on, let’s linger for a moment on a passage from 1 Corinthians mentioned earlier. Paul quotes an Old Testament passage from Isaiah 29:14 while contrasting the power of this world with the power of God:

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

1 Corinthians 1:19 (NRSV)

If the author of Samuel could have quoted Paul in the story of Saul, he might have chosen a later passage in this same chapter, which was as timely in Samuel as it was for the Early Church:

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NRSV)

Connect Paul’s message to the Corinthians with Saul and the monarchy that Israel demanded. How might you paraphrase the passage above in a personal message to Saul—especially knowing that he may very well have been expressing some expected and even false humility as a person considered powerful by human standards?

1 and 2 Samuel: The Rise of Kingship

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In Front | Workbook: Reading Paul in the Time of Saul

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