In 1 Samuel 10 we read the odd story of Saul being anointed king. Saul was in the land of Zuph, looking for his father’s donkeys. Having gone to the city where Samuel was, to enquire about the donkeys, Samuel anoints Saul and gives him a prophecy about both his father’s donkeys and the events that Saul would experience for the rest of the day.
The prophecy is very specific, “Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine… After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim … as soon as you come to the city … Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.”
God seems to have influenced Saul, “When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.” Samuel’s strange and highly specific prophecy comes to pass, and Saul prophesied to the extent that “it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”” God also affected the hearts of those who travelled with Saul, “Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.”
This touching of Saul’s heart wasn’t a permanent thing; he later reverts to his own ways. But it shows to us the power of God’s word, that it can affect our hearts as well. Let’s listen to His word, as Saul listened to Samuel, and be influenced for good.