Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 10:16

"And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not." — 1 Samuel 10:16 (ASV)

He told him not. It has been ingeniously suggested that this reply was prompted by characteristic Israelite caution—the fear of prematurely betraying an important secret. It is, however, far better to assume that Samuel had given the young Saul to understand that the revelation concerning his future, and the great state change involved in it, was, initially, for him alone. No other man was yet to share that great secret with him.

In His own good time, God would signify His sovereign will and pleasure to Israel. Until then, Saul was strictly to keep his own counsel in this important matter. Sharing the secret with anyone would have immediately opened the door to secret intrigues and party plotting; one like Abner, especially, would not have been slow in devising schemes to accomplish such a great end as placing the crown of Israel on the head of one of his own family.

The modesty and humility, as well as the wisdom, of Saul in these early days of his greatness are remarkable. The “changed heart” was indeed an acknowledged fact in his case. Wordsworth quotes here that, “in like manner, Samson, in the early days of his humility, did not tell his parents of the lion. So Saul of Tarsus did not speak of his visions and revelations of the Lord until he was constrained to do so by his enemies.” (See 2 Corinthians 12:1).