Saul showed an unwillingness to trust God. This sounds odd at first. Why would anyone not trust God?
• If we think of our own experience, then we can understand. It could be pride (we think we know best), freedom (I like to do what I like), pleasure (I want some fun), or fear (sacrifices are involved)…
• Faith in God needs to be cultivated. Trust don’t come overnight. And it starts with the posture of your heart – Are we willing to trust God?
I find Saul and his son Jonathan exhibiting two different postures towards God.
• Saul is self-centred and fearful of many things; he’s looking at himself.
• Jonathan is willing to look to God. He may not be sure of all the answers, but he is willing to learn to trust God.
We saw that last week. Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost with his armour-bearer.
• Saul was at Micmash and he at Gibeah, and they were facing the same problem.
• But Saul chose to sit under a pomegranate tree and do nothing, while Jonathan decided to trust God and do what he can.
How do we know that Jonathan is not just being presumptuous?
• In his conversation with his armour-bearer, we see the words “THE LORD” being mentioned again and again.
• 1 Sam 14:6 Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. PERHAPS THE LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder THE LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
• When they reached the valley, 1 Sam 14:8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that THE LORD given them into our hands.” (It’s like Gideon’s fleece test…)
• The Philistines called them to come over, so Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, “Climb up after me; THE LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.” (14:12b)
He did not say I AM RIGHT! It’s the LORD who will help us win this war.
• We cannot be certain of any of these attempts, but this one thing Jonathan was sure, God is present and He is willing to help them.
• There are many things we are not certain in life, but are we WILLING to trust Him. What is the attitude of our heart towards God?
Indeed, God responded to Jonathan’s faith in Him. 14:15 “Then panic struck the whole army — those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties — and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.”
Saul heard the news, got to the place and saw the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.
• 14:23 concludes saying, “So on that day the Lord saved Israel.”
• God acted in response to the faith of someone who is willing to TRUST Him.
Saul showed little willingness to trust God, despite his past experiences with God.
• Not that he doesn’t know God and had no experience of God’s acts in his life.
• So far in his dialogues, we see no mention of God’s role in his life. In fact, he is more concerned about himself.
[Read 1 Sam 14:24-35]
At the height of the war, Saul issued a command - 14:24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the troops tasted food.
• It was a foolish decision, even Jonathan acknowledged that it was bad.
• How can you fight a war with your troops not eating? Why did he do it? He wanted victory badly! “I want to avenge myself on my enemies!”
It’s not so much for God or even for Israel, but for himself.
• We see this attitude again in 1 Sam 15 when they fought the Amalekites and won. Saul “set up a monument in his own honour.” (15:12)
At the end of the day, the troops were so hungry they butchered the plunder and ate them, without draining the blood (which is against the Law of Moses).
• SOMEONE had to tell Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against God by eating meat with blood” (14:33).
• Saul quickly builds an altar - not out of devotion to God - but to get the job done. The altar is a quick fix.
• You can almost sense the tone in the author’s words - this was the first time Saul built an altar to the Lord (the first time he really “honour” God).
Let’s read on. Saul was determined to win the war:
1 Sam 14:36-37 “Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive."
"Do whatever seems best to you," they replied.
But the priest said, "Let us inquire of God here."
37So Saul asked God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?" But God did not answer him that day.
Saul was about to do whatever seems best to him, until the priest says, LET’S PRAY.
• So Saul obliged. He wasn’t really seeking God. It was more like, “Let’s get this over with and then we can get on with the fight.”
• No wonder God did not answer him. Saul was going through the motion.
It is difficult sometimes to fully understand the motivation of our heart. Are we doing something for SELF or for GOD? For my own honour or for God’s glory? Is this something God wants, or something I want?
• Learn from David (since God says he has a heart that is after My own heart).
• David was quick to repent when he realised his sin. He prays in Ps 139:23-24 “23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
That’s the posture of his heart. That’s the heart God delights in.
• We don’t always do the right thing, but we must be humble and quick to repent.
Saul has already decided what he wanted to do. He sought God to rubber-stamp his actions. God was silent. Rightly so, because Saul wasn’t prepared to listen to Him.
• Saul interpreted that silent as something being amiss in his army. He called for the leaders and asked WHO broke my command and brought about this curse.
• They casted lots and found out it was Jonathan.
1 Sam 14:43-45 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done."
So Jonathan told him, "I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now must I die?"
44 Saul said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan."
45 But the men said to Saul, "Should Jonathan die-he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help." So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
What an irony. Saul was prepared to kill his son Jonathan for disobeying his command (and ate honey), yet thought nothing of his own disobedience to God.
• Saul was so self-absorbed and bent on doing his own will and getting his own way that he was blinded to his own flaws.
• He needs someone to tell him, something is not right. He needs someone to counsel him, “Let us inquire of God here.” (14:36) He needs someone to warn him, “Should Jonathan die – he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel?” (14:45)
That is why ONE important thing we need to do to understand God’s will is to seek Godly counsel.
• We are the mirrors for each other. We help one another see the flaws we cannot see and then clean them up.
• The true measure of a man is not found in what he does, but in the kind of person that he has become.
A crisis reveals that. It is a test. A test of our faith in God. For Saul, Jonathan and for us.
• A crisis exposes the posture of our heart. Can we trust Him? Are we willing to seek Him and obey Him? Or are we going to trust ourselves and do things our way.
One thing I’ve learnt over these few years as a leader is the great need of spending time to hear God and understand His ways.
In the past, this need seems less critical because you’re asking God about your life, your career, your choices. It’s all just about you.
But now that you lead a church and oversee a community, and with a position that comes with authority and power to decide things, it is different.
Suddenly people are interested to tell you what they think, what you should do; they give unsolicited suggestions.
When you are a lay-Christian, no one bothers about you. But now that you are at the top, you have the power to decide things and so they like to give me a piece of their mind.
It’s easy for them to say, because at the end of the day, the onus of the decision still lies with me.
With more voices and lobbying groups telling me what is best, I find myself having to find the ONE GOOD THING to do. I find myself being pushed back to God and asking Him, “So what’s that ONE THING You want me to do.”
The answer can only come from God, and it’s not easy, but it is the right way.
Are you willing to seek God with all our heart, without a personal agenda?
• Tough times show what we are made of.
I entitled this message AN UNWILLING HEART because I saw that in Saul.
• Not that he does not know God. Not that he has no experience of God’s presence and power. He has chosen to put his trust somewhere else.
What about us?
Are you willing to trust Jesus as your Saviour and Lord? Seek Him to forgive you of your sin? Following Him as a good disciple of Jesus?
