Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

While most of the people were ready to make Saul their king,
there was a large group that was opposed. For a king to be chosen
from Benjamin, the smallest tribe of Israel--and to neglect both
Judah and Ephraim, the largest and most powerful--was an insult
that they could not accept. Those who had been most urgent in their
demand for a king were the ones who refused to accept the man God
had appointed.
Saul returned to Gibeah, leaving Samuel to administer the
government as before. He made no attempt to use force to claim the
throne, and he quietly continued with his farm duties, leaving it
entirely to God to establish his authority.
Soon after, the Ammonites invaded the territory east of Jordan
and threatened the city of Jabesh Gilead. The inhabitants tried to
secure peace by offering to pay tribute money to the Ammonites.
The cruel king would not agree except on condition that he put out
the right eye of everyone.
Messengers were sent at once to seek help from the tribes west
of Jordan. Saul, returning at night from the field, heard the loud wail
that told of some great calamity. When he learned the shocking
story, all his inactive powers were awakened. "The Spirit of God
came upon Saul. ... So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in
pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the
hands of messengers, saying, 'Whoever does not go out with Saul
and Samuel to battle, so shall it be done to his oxen.'"
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