Opening illustration: An Oriental king once summoned into his presence his three sons and set before them three sealed urns - one of gold, the other of amber, and the third of clay. The king bade his eldest son to choose among these three urns that which appeared to him to contain the greatest treasures. The eldest son chose the vessel of gold, on which was written the word "Empire." He opened it and found it full of blood. The second chose the vase of amber, whereon was written the word "Glory"; and when he opened it he found it full of the ashes of men who had made a great name in the world. The third son chose the vessel of clay and on the bottom of this vessel was inscribed the name of God. The wise men at the king’s court voted that the third vessel weighed the most, because a single letter of the name of God weighed more than all the rest of the universe.
Introduction: As a nation we have a Judaic-Christian background and foundation, Biblically the church and state was never segregated. It was never God’s intension but man’s divisive doing. It was God and His prophet that ran the nation of Israel. Even though Israel had rejected Yahweh as their King as stated in 1 Samuel 8:6 and wanted to lead lives just like other pagan nations, God did not leave them but helped them to choose their earthly king. In this passage the life of King Saul could be summed up in a modern cliché: It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish. Saul started out very well only to see his subsequent disobedient actions derail what could have been a stellar, God-honoring rule over the nation of Israel. How could someone so close to God at the start spiral out of control and out of favor with God? To understand how things in Saul’s life got so mixed up, we need to know something about the man himself. Who was King Saul, and what should we learn from his life? Saul’s disobedience to God paved the road for his own rejection and God choosing David above him because he was repentant and obedient to God’s commands.
Proverbs 29: 2 tells us that “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” We are at that stage where we need to understand God’s heart and walk likewise otherwise face the same consequences which Israel had to undergo and still does.
1. How does God CHOOSE a king?
(a) Man after God’s own heart (v. 14a)
• First, his repentance. This we naturally look for after his fall with Bathsheba, and the attendant conspiracy against her husband’s life. Immersed for a time in guilty indulgence, David seems to have been in that common state which sensuality produces, literally unaware of the extent of his crime. Suddenly, and in the midst of this fancied security, the Prophet Nathan stood before him, and, by a parable almost, unequalled for its truth and tenderness, recalled the king to his senses. Now, if any one of you wishes to express his own repentance, or to test its reality, let him use such language as this, and try how far his feelings accord with it. If you can repent in this spirit, you know indeed what repentance is.
• Now, with regard to David’s unwavering faith in God, I may say at once that it was the ruling principle of his life. Everything he deliberately undertook was in simple reliance upon Divine support. Faith with David really was "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen:" it supported him through all the vicissitudes of a strangely chequered life, and spread a halo of hope around his departing spirit. After making allowance for the minute record of his human failings — a publicity which most men happily escape — and for the partial revelations which visited the times in which he lived, we find no character in Scripture so full, perhaps, of unwavering faith in the goodness and promises of God as David!
• Why David was the favorite of God rather than any of us, is, therefore, very clear: we partake in the condemning sinfulness of his fallen nature; but we do not join him in penitence, in humility, and in faith. Our repentance is commonly mere shame and worldly discomfiture; no real change of mind, and therefore requiring to be repented of, our trust we give to the world and its trifles rather than to God. In business we are lively, earnest, and active; but in prayer we are cold and doubting. As to this matter there is but one rule — "Be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect," and for this every one of you must strive. The standard for all men is the highest possible. This is what David continued to pursue.
• Just as David took care and was protective of his own sheep by putting his life on the line for them (killed a bear and lion for their protection), he would surely take care and protect God’s people.
(b) Observes/Adheres to God’s Commands (v. 14b)
Because David meditated on God’s laws and applied them to his life, he reaped the blessings of God. This in turn caused him to respect and love God’s Commandments. Even though David made some mistakes, his overall direction in life was to obey and serve God.
Look at David, who later became king of Israel. Did he begin to obey God at an early age? The Psalm of David in 71: 17 says, “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works.” How did he feel about the Law of God? David in Psalm 119: 97 says, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Why did he feel that way? vs. 98-100 tells us that “You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.”
These passages testify to the fact that David was obedient to God’s commands during the early part of his life but as he aged out, he began to be distant from God.
2. How does God REJECT a king?
(a) People Pleaser/Not a God Pleaser (vs. 8 & 11)
Apparently Saul started out well but now he had to be put under a test to see his worth and allegiance to God or man! These verses tell us that Saul was looking for public affirmation, he wanted to be on the same page with them rather than bringing them on the same page with God. He desired to please all his countrymen and not offend anyone by his actions or speech. He was afraid of losing the people but did not fear losing his sincerity and faithfulness toward God. He was seeking cheap human popularity in lieu of being a God pleaser. One cannot be a servant of two masters. He lost God to be on his side. At the end, all this backfired on him and almost destroyed the nation of Israel.
(b) Impatient [absence of FOS] (vs. 8 & 12)
As a matter-of-fact, Saul became so confident; he decided being a King wasn’t so hard after all. He didn’t need God nor the prophet Samuel who was appointed over him. After each battle, Saul was supposed to wait for the prophet Samuel to come and offer sacrifices to the LORD. But Saul disobeyed God, and offered the sacrifice himself. Apparently he stepped into the shoes and realm of the prophet. The prophet Samuel arrived just as Saul was putting the finishing touches on the sacrifice. Saul manages to make it through six days and most of the seventh. But when that seventh day begins to draw to an end, Saul is at his wit’s end. I can just imagine what is going through his mind. “Where in the world is Samuel, and what is he doing? Does he not know how much danger we are in? Does he not grasp the urgency of the situation and the need to act quickly? I’m going to give him 30 more minutes, and then I’m going to have to go on without him.”
Saul, though patriotic enough in his own way, was more ambitious of gaining the glory of a triumph to himself than ascribing it to God. He did not understand his proper position as king of Israel; and although aware of the restrictions under which he held the sovereignty, he wished to rule as an autocrat, who possessed absolute power both in civil and sacred things. This occasion was his first trial. Samuel waited till the last day of the seven, in order to put the constitutional character of the king to the test; and, as Saul, in his impatient and passionate haste knowingly transgressed (1 Samuel 13: 12) by invading the priest’s office and thus showing his unfitness for his high office (as he showed nothing of the faith of Gideon and other Hebrew generals), he incurred a threat of the rejection which his subsequent waywardness confirmed.
©Disobedience to God’s Commands (v. 13)
Obedience is more important to God than sacrifice. Sometimes you won’t see the reason to obey God. But you should anyway. Saul’s actions showed he didn’t value the things God values; he accepted the anointing by God, but then ruled for his own reasons. It matters not whether the thing commanded is greater or less, it is disobedience to the command that is the sin, and is resented: this might seem a small thing, since to offer the sacrifice was not criminal; but doing it before the time, a little before it should have been done, not waiting long enough for the prophet; yet it being against the command of God, or in neglect of it, it was sinful, and severely chastised; and the rather, that it might be an example to all succeeding kings how they offended, or broke the least of God’s commandments; and this being the first king of Israel, he was made an example of to the rest.
Samuel is not impressed as his direct and stern words show. Saul’s actions were foolish - because they were willful disobedience to Samuel’s clear and direct orders. They were likewise foolish because they accomplished the exact opposite of what Saul thought. Saul must certainly have thought that waiting for Samuel (and the instructions he would give) was foolish. He was wrong. Saul’s disobedience will cost him his dynasty. Though his reign will not immediately be terminated, his sons will never sit on his throne. Had Saul but obeyed the command of God, his kingdom would have endured forever. Now, his kingdom will die with him. God has already sought out and chosen a man whose heart is in tune with His to be Saul’s replacement. All of this is the direct result of Saul’s disobedience.
Legalism? Jesus instructed His disciples to “teach them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28: 20). How many of Christ’s commands do you take seriously today?
God’s commands serve as a test of our faith and obedience. Even emergencies are not excuses for disobedience to God’s commands, but a test of our faith and obedience.
(d) Pride, Arrogance and Self-Seeking (vs. 11, 12 & 15)
It’s about Saul … who … because of his pride … arrogance … refusal to listen and submit to God
... ended his life as a blubbering wreck of a man … with no hope. Actually, there are two areas of pride shown here. The first is impatience, a trap that a lot of us fall into when waiting for God’s best to unfold. For example, you have probably had at least a glimpse of God’s plan for your life. You need to make sure that you don’t become impatient while waiting for it to come to pass. Secondly, we must not let humanistic thinking talk us out of the direction God gives us. When you do that, you essentially say, "I know what You said, Lord, but I think I have a better idea." If that isn’t pride, then I don’t know what is!
Don’t "help" God by trying to emulate someone you really respect rather than becoming who God intends you to be. Doing so is evidence of attempting to elevate your status ahead of God’s timing or to assume an anointing that simply doesn’t belong to you.
What was Saul’s most heinous sin? I don’t think that it was actually assuming the role of prophet and the offering of the sacrifice. I believe that was an outgrowth of his sin. Saul’s sin was pride. And even though he was "caught" red handed with the blood of the animal sacrifice still on his hands, Saul did not repent of the sin of pride. He was an unrepentant, unbroken man. His arrogance toward God and Samuel was evident through his actions.
We also witness Saul being self-seeking as he desires his own fame amongst his countrymen and at the same time wants to keep doing his own thing. How was God tolerating all this fruit of evil?
Samuel’s parting here is quite different from that described in 1 Samuel 15: 24-31. Here, Saul does not appear to be shaken by Samuel’s words, and certainly he is not repentant. If Saul were a teenager in today’s culture, his response to Samuel’s rebuke would be, “Whatever.”
This incident is not the “beginning of the end” for king Saul; it is the end.
Application: Our nation is destined for the next elections to be held in two days. You saw how God chose the next king of Israel even though they had rejected Him and God had His own reasons for rejecting the present king (Saul). Living in a democracy we decide the next ruler. How you choose will be determined on November 6th but the consequences will follow after it. The fate of a nation whether to remain standing or be almost ruined like Israel, depends upon our choice. May God give you the wisdom and understanding to make a godly choice.
