How Long Wilt Thou Mourn for Saul?
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.”
—1 Samuel 16:1, KJV
There’s something tender—and terribly human—in the image of Samuel weeping for Saul.
Samuel had watched Saul rise from obscurity to kingship.
He had anointed him with oil, prayed over him, counseled him, warned him, and hoped for him.
I imagine he had pictured years of righteous reign, a flourishing kingdom, a God-honoring rule.
Samuel had invested in Saul.
He had poured himself out.
But Saul disobeyed the Lord.
Again and again. And eventually,
God said what Samuel never wanted to hear: “I have rejected him.”
Still, Samuel mourned.
And gently, God asked him: How long?
Not unkindly. Not impatiently. But firmly.
How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?
I remember when I first read that verse with eyes swollen from tears of my own.
We had faced a situation in our family that had all the markings of promise.
It looked so right—so full of potential and hope.
We had prayed, invested, believed.
We had asked God to bless it, to use it, to make it last.
But instead, it unraveled.
I wept.
I pleaded.
I mourned what was lost and what might have been.
Like Samuel, I couldn’t understand why something so full of promise would come to nothing.
Then, in the quiet of my devotions, that verse met me like a whisper from Heaven:
How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?
God was not asking me to stop caring.
He was inviting me to start trusting.
He wasn’t condemning my broken heart.
He was reminding me that His plans had not failed—mine had.
And His were better.
Samuel didn’t know, in that moment, what would come next.
He didn’t yet see David, the shepherd-boy-king, the man after God’s own heart.
All he knew was that God had said, “Go. I have provided.”
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 KJV
Maybe you need to hear that today too.
Maybe there’s a “Saul” in your life—a relationship, a dream, a door you thought would stay open.
And perhaps God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed it to close.
You’ve wept.
You’ve mourned.
And you’ve questioned.
Let me tell you gently:
He understands. He’s not angry at your tears. He is tender toward your grief.
But He also sees the long road ahead.
The plan you cannot see.
The David you don’t yet know.
And just maybe, He’s asking you:
How long wilt thou mourn?
I didn’t let go all at once.
My heart didn’t flip like a light switch.
But slowly, with each prayer, I handed the reins back to the Lord.
I let Him untangle the knots.
I laid down the promise that was Saul, so that I would have open hands to receive David.
And now, years later, I can say this with certainty:
God knew what He was doing.
He always does.
Let me ask you: what is your Saul?
What are you clinging to, hoping God will change, while He is asking you to trust Him and move forward?
What are you mourning, that He has already marked as complete?
Let go.
Grieve, if you must—but then fill your horn with oil, and go.
God has provided something better.
Perhaps not today, or even tomorrow.
But in time.
There is a David waiting in the wings.
There is a better plan unfolding beyond your sight.
Lay Saul down.
There’s a peace coming from a plan you can’t yet see.
Biblical Womanhood
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My Saul - our produgal daughter who is about to turn 30 and has forsaken her whole family for the last three years. Thank you for sharing this, even though our knees are permanently bruised and our hearts broken, we keep looking to the Lord.
Beautifully and compassionately written! We've all been there! It took a long time, but I realized that life is simply put as just one embrace and release after another. God is steadfast!