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1 Samuel 10:20-21. "Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot; finally he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found."

 

So Saul, the first king of Israel, appears to have been chosen by lot. It seems utterly random, and not much better than a watery tart throwing a sword at him, but that is only if we forget who is actually directing it. Samuel had gone to God every step of the way as Israel demanded a king (despite being advised to the contrary by God Himself). So now God is telling Samuel exactly how to choose that king, at least for the benefit of the people.

 

In fact, God had already instructed Samuel to anoint Saul king (1 Samuel 9:16-17), and Samuel had done so (1 Samuel 10:1), so this lot pulling is really all for show. (It makes me wonder how much of what we see is really all for show for our benefit!) As part of this "show", God  said to the people through Samuel "But you have this day rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said, ‘No! but set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands" (1 Samuel 10:19). The people were to see and understand that God was directing the outcome of the lot pulling, until it came down to His chosen king, Saul.

 

Nothing is really random (one of the limits of computer science is that true randomness cannot be achieved, as anyone who has relied on "shuffle all" for a long playlist can attest!). There is order to everything, and God is directing all to His purposes. So when things seem to be coincidental, random, even chaotic, we can be certain that God knows exactly what is going on and that He's using everything to advance His plan, although sometimes that means allowing us to experience some well deserved chaos. In fact, the chaos and randomness are really all for show, God has everything already worked out, He just wants us to see and understand that, and our eyes are often opened to it better when we watch Him bring order out of chaos.