(9) В¶ And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
In this verse it is said, that God gave him another heart. And Samuel had foretold him in the 6th verse, that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him to prompt him to prophecy, and he should be turned into another man. And no doubt this change was wrought upon him. He had from this time another heart as to his dispositions, for no longer seeking asses he is now seeking a kingdom. And instead of being employed in his father's service, he is now another man in prosecuting his own grandeur. But I beg the Reader to remark with me, that these changes are from what are called the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, not his special work on the heart. Saul may be, and Saul is among the prophets; but Saul is not renewed in the spirit of his mind for all that. Reader! do not fail to make this observation as you go, it will not only help you to make a right conclusion of this man's history, but many a man's history; and what is yet more interesting than every other, of your own. There is not a word of the regeneration of the mind of Saul in what is here said. He was turned into another man, from a poor man to a rich one, and from a peasant to a prince. And the Lord made him another heart to prefer a court to the country. But the new creature which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, is totally different from all this. It is a new heart, not a new form; a work of grace, not of nature. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17.