1 Samuel 8:4-6a - Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.”
1 Samuel 8:6b-9 - And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day – in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods – so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
3 lessons from the life of Saul
I. Evaluate How You Listen to God’s Word (1 Samuel 15:1-9)
A. Are you listening carefully?
1 Samuel 15:1 - Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord.”
B. Do you obey completely?
1 Samuel 15:3 - Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
1 Samuel 15:9 - But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
II. Consider your response to confrontation from God’s Word (1 Sam 15:10-24)
1 Samuel 15:12b-13 - Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal. Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”
1 Samuel 15:14 - But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
A. Are you minimizing personal responsibility?
1 Samuel 15:15 - Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
B. Are you justifying your sin or blaming others
1 Samuel 15:20-21 - Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
1 Samuel 15:24 - I feared the people and listened to their voice.
C. Are you genuinely repentant?
2 Samuel 12:12-13 - Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
III. Take Appropriate Action in the Face of God’s Consequences
A. Is there an opportunity to be obedient?
1 Samuel 15:32 - Then Samuel said bring me Agag…
B. Choose to humbly accept God’s discipline
Hebrews 12:11 - All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Can you think of time in your life when you or someone were critical of your current circumstances because you wanted something else so bad…then you got what you asked for… and you regretted everything?
- Once I was critical of the food in another country and I asked if they could make me something that I wanted, a pasta dish. I didn’t listen to the concerns of my family, and I scarfed down that pasta that had a cheese sauce that smelled a little strange. The texture was suspect. And I found myself sick for several days. I got what I requested, and it was not good.
- Or maybe there was that time you told your children to put their shoes on…convinced that they knew better, they did not listen to your logic. They begged and pleaded with you “Only when our feet are free from those cobbled leathered chains can we truly play!”
- Then they scamper away…only to see them cry in misery as the black asphalt melts the flesh off their feet in the summer sun.
- As you look at them with great regret…”See, you got what you asked for…you should have listened!”
How much more serious is this lesson if we do not listen to the word of God.
When we are critical of God, God might give us what we ask for…And God gives us what we ask for, to teach us and test us that we need to listen and obey carefully to his word.
Turn in your bibles to 1 Samuel 15. That’s on page 212.
This summer for the past 11 weeks, we have been walking through our series on Handling Criticism. Today we finish our series.
Today is A Case Study on Criticism so that we can assess ourselves and what we have been learning and look at how we are called to apply these lessons we have been learning from God’s word.
For today’s case study, we are going to look at the first king of Israel, King Saul, the king the people asked for, and what we can learn about criticism and listening to the word of God.
What’s the background that helps us understand Saul and situate him in God’s story.
Throughout our series we have seen the heart of the people of Israel be critical to God and his leaders…
- God brought them out of Egypt and led them through a desert and they were critical of God’s leadership and distrusted God believing that he would lead them to die in the desert.
- God gave them a leader to lead them and they were critical of Moses.
- God gave them food and they were critical of the manna and wanted meat.
- So, God gave them quail meat and lots of it.
- Then they were critical of God, when they get to the land to see that the enemies, he is giving them are so big…they do what is right in their own eyes and do not carefully listen and obey God’s word.
- This critical spirit of the people continues even to the first king Saul…
1 Sam 8:4-6a Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.”
Why do you think that their statement to Samuel was displeasing to him – He is dealing with those who are being critical of leaders, just as Moses was when Miriam and Aaron grumbled against him – God certainly set them straight then, so we will need to see what God does now with their critical spirit that rejects God.
1 Sam 8:6b-9 And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
Just like the past generations, the people will not listen to the Lord. They reject God as king over them. They want to listen to a different authority.
God warns the people…listen up…do you know the king you are asking for…you ask for a king like all the other nations and he will take. Hide your children…hide your wives!
- He will take your sons as soldiers for himself.
- He will take your daughters as servants for himself.
- He will take your fields and flocks an make you servants to himself.
This King is unlike our awesome and holy Triune God. Instead of taking…
- God gave and preserved the generations of children of Israel, like sand on the shore and stars in the sky.
- God gave himself, and revealed himself personally guiding and providing for them
- God gave them his perfect words through the Law.
- God gave the people a land filled with milk and honey
- God gave them victory after victory…and fought their battles.
Even though God warns the people of choosing a different authority to listen to in their life…did the people listen to God’s word!
1 Samuel 8:19 – Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us…” So, God gives the people the king that they asked for…King Saul
Saul means “asked for” – And because the people did not want to listen to the Lord, God says to Samuel “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.”
Let’s pray.
[Father…may we be like Samuel who heard your voice and said “Here am I…Speak Lord, your servant is listening…and Holy Spirit renew our mind and our hearts to be more like our Savior Jesus. Jesus, you listened perfectly to the voice of the Father. Jesus, you spoke only the Father’s word and obeyed the Father’s will. Speak Lord. Your church is listening]
1 Samuel 15
Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” [Notice God is punishing in this time and place and using Saul as instrument]
4 Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. 6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” [This regretting…forms the summary of what God thinks of Saul as king…he is not the right king for his people, we will see this brought up in verse 35].
And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. 12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.” 13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” [In other words…Are you hearing what I am hearing?]
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!” [Will Saul, be a servant who listens carefully to the word of God that is going to be critical of Saul’s actions?]
17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’
19 Why then did you not obey [listen] the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey [heard] the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22 Samuel said,
“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying [listening] to the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey/[listen] is better than sacrifice,
And to heed/ [listen attentively] than the fat of rams.
23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, (that made you king in first place)
He has also rejected you from being king.”
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29 Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
This is the Word of the Lord.
This morning as we look at A Case Study on Criticism
3 lessons from the life of Saul.
The first lesson that God wants Saul and us to consider is…
I. Evaluate how you listen to God’s Word (1 Sam 15:1-9)
Are you listening carefully?
1 Sam 15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord.
Think about Saul’s actions in response to God’s Command – did he listen carefully?
Did he carry out the command which God gave him? This is the main point.
God carries out his own word through Samuel who listens and obeys, but Saul does not.
Not listening carefully to God’s word to be sure that Saul obeys it, has been a pattern.
This isn’t the first time. In 1 Samuel 13 he does not listen and disobeys the word of the Lord by not waiting for Samuel to sacrifice before the battle with the Philistines.
Saul is a powerful contrast to Samuel.
When Samuel was just a boy in 1 Sam 3 says that he was ministering to the Lord before Eli the Priest, and there was little expectation for the Lord to speak to them – it says “word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.” Yet one night Samuel hears his name called and immediately responds – “Here I am.” Eli had heard nothing. Samuel hears his name again…”Here I am.” And he goes to Eli. Eli recognizes the call is from the Lord and tells him how to respond next time – “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel learned to listen carefully – and the Word says that Samuel grew and the Lord was with him…because he listened carefully.
What about us? – God speaks to us through his word…Are we listening carefully?
This fall each of us are going to choose what authorities we are going to listen to and act on.
- Whose words will matter most to you this fall?
- Are you seeking to listen to God’s word? You are seeking out to know what he desires and how he wants you to serve and obey him.
- College students – will you give priority to listening to and responding to his word in the gathered church
- Consider how you are reading and listening to the whole counsel of God’s word. There is a reason that God gave us his word so that over 75% of your Bible is the OT. God believes that we need to be instructed about him, his character, his nature, his promises, and plans so that we are faithful to obey him. If you are not interested in knowing more add listening to his words.
- FCI Plug
What about your prayers? Do they reveal the heart of a person who is listening to God and seeking to obey him?
For Israel, to ask and request for a king like all the other nations, revealed their hearts were not listening carefully and attentively to obey the Word of God, because all over the Mosaic Law was the reminder that God is their king, he is their Lord, he will be the one to fight their battles…and they need to trust him and obey him and it will go well with them.
What are you requesting from God?
Do your prayers show you are listening carefully to God’s word?
Next,
Do you obey completely?
How did Saul do? First, we look at the command…
1 Sam 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
And then we assess what was done
1 Sam 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Are we surprised that Saul chose partial obedience? Saul is the choice of a people who have demonstrated a critical heart towards God and rebellious disobedience.
The heart of Saul, and by comparison, the heart of man has demonstrated disobedience towards God from the beginning of time because we are deceived to believe that we know better than God. We choose to listen to others and follow them or listen to ourselves and do what seems right in our own opinion.
- Eve was deceived and she listened to the voice of the serpent, the devil instead of listening to the voice of God.
- Adam was deceived and he listened to the voice of his wife instead of listening to the voice of God.
“One of the common refrains from our culture is when you share the word of God, is they do not actually listen, but say “that’s your belief….but I think….but I feel.”
Saul says he listens to God – but partial obedience is not obedience in God’s eyes. Saul is guilty.
Obedience to the Lord requires God to work in us as we live by faith in him. We are motivated by the right desire to glorify God. We have the right thoughts because we are listening to God’s commands. We obey God’s commands because we love him, and we obey at the right time and in the right way as God instructs.
If God is our Lord and authority, we don’t get to pick what we want to obey and disregard what God commands us.
Parents can relate to this lesson with the tasks that we ask of our children.
As a parent – When we tell our children to “go and clean their room” it begins with an understanding by the parent that as a parent, I have the authority delegated by God to give that command and I expect that it will be completed.
So, what happens when our child remains in front of the TV – I will do it later…or if they get up right away, they are back in 2 minutes to report their room is clean…really…when I say clean and you say clean, are these the same things? Does my obedience reveal I have listened carefully to understand what is required of me.
To partially obey is to say that God’s Word only has limited authority in my life and to believe that statement is to deny the truth about God and who he is…and distort my relationship with him as one of his creatures.
God did not delegate the decisions about king Agag and the livestock to Saul. He commanded they be utterly destroyed, thus in his partial obedience to God, Saul demonstrated his complete disobedience to God. By showing through his actions who he believed was in authority.
What measure do you use for obedience? Is it how God defines what is right and wrong? Partial obedience does not meet the righteous requirement of God.
Whether or not we are seeking to listen to God’s word carefully is shown not only by our obedience, but also in the times when we choose to disobey how do we respond when confronted.
II. Consider your response to confrontation from God’s Word (1 Sam 15:10-24)
There are two very different responses to being confronted by God’s Word in our passage.
Then the Word of the Lord came to Samuel to show the disobedience in Israel.
Samuel’s response…he was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. Samuel who has listened carefully and is seeking to obey the Word of the Lord was broken-hearted that Saul had been disobedient, and he responded immediately again – he rose early and was obedient to go to Saul and confront his sin as God’s word commanded.
So, you have Samuel distressed and crying out to God in prayer…
When looking for Saul, Samuel gets word….
1 Sam 15:12b-13 “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.” Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”
God says look! God hates disobedience so much…Saul puts himself up on the pedestal…The king from the smallest tribe of the least of the people who was found cowering in fear in the baggage when he became king.
God raised up Saul to show God’s might and why God is Most high by giving Saul victory
Now Saul is wanting the praise! He wants to be remembered instead of God’s glory.
The irony…Gilgal is where God commanded the people to set up the stones as a monument to God’s faithfulness to save his people and a reminder of the Gilgal that was a monument to God's deliverance and reminder of the shame that was rolled away from Israel for not "listening to the voice of the Lord." It’s the place where God confirmed Saul as king.
What a contrast from Samuel distressed and in prayer, with Saul’s pride...making a monument to himself to get the praise….
The pride of Saul who the first thing out of his mouth to Samuel is so positive – “I have carried out the command of the Lord” – Mission accomplished – Hooray Me!
But Samuel already knew the problem…what’s that I hear?
[Insert bleating sheep sound if possible]
1 Sam 15:14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
When God’s word is critical of our actions are you listening to receive the feedback and learn?
Sometimes, this word will be communicated through a brother or sister in Christ who is confronting us.
We can be a lot like Saul at times can’t we…when confronted with a specific area we need to grow, and we want to justify our behavior by directing attention to what we have done from our view that is good.
Did you do x?” I did…. [list of things]
Like Saul - “I have carried out the command of the Lord…
But did you do x like I asked?
No. I didn’t.
When confronted by God’s word…
Are you minimizing personal responsibility?
Notice, Saul does not start with “I sinned.” We don’t see those words until v.24.
1 Sam 15:15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Saul wants to remove his personal responsibility and agency from the equation.
It is really not that bad, because the rest we utterly destroyed and I wasn’t the only one there, so the responsibility belongs to them.
Then Saul is confronted further by the Word of God directly. The probing questions of Samuel are not enough to prick Saul’s conscience to repent and listen.
God reminds Saul of his responsibility…his lowly beginnings when he was afraid…from the smallest tribe of the people of Benjamin…but now God anointed Saul as King over Israel…you are responsible to follow the Lord and lead the people in obedience to the Law! And is it not true that God commanded you to utterly destroy the Amalekites?
Far from minimizing God’s responsibility, God sees Saul’s heart and what was actually true rather than the narrative that Saul has spun to absolve himself.
Look at verse … 19 (You singular did not listen…your responsible for not obeying God’s word…You (singular) “rushed” “swooped upon” the spoil.
Like a predatory bird like a vulture hungry for a meal pounces on prey to gorge itself. We see this word used back in 1 Samuel 14:32 how the people “rushed greedily” upon the animals, killed them on the ground, and just devoured the meat even with the blood in it on the ground. Keep in mind all these people have been fighting with their life on the line they are tired and famished.
When we do not listen to God’s word, it reveals like Saul there is something we desire more…We are looking for pleasure covetously…greedily.
- Whatever we are swooping upon as a better pleasure and joy than obeying our Lord.
- We might be tempted with all sorts of “spoil” this fall.
- This fall you might be tempted to “swoop upon” a romantic relationship even when the person does not love Christ and is not seeking to obey the Lord.
- Because you want to be accepted and loved so badly
- Because you want to be comfortable and secure financially
- Because you want to be recognized and praised.
Are you listening to God’s word believing he is your treasure and exceeding joy?
When Samuel confronts Saul for rushing on the spoil. Saul still does not listen, instead he tries to justify himself and shift the focus to the people.
Are you justifying your sin or blaming others
1 Sam 15:20-21 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
Saul started his excuses by trying to deflect and said
Look what I have done – I may have spared Agag, but I destroyed everything else. In effect, Saul is saying Partial obedience is enough
- I may have blown up in anger at my spouse this morning on the way here – but I am still here am I not? I am at church! Not like those people who don’t come to church.
- Yes, I looked at pornography on the computer, but that guy married a non-Christian!
- So I stole my employers time by not working hard while I was at work, but those people there shop lifted from the Walmart self-checkout!
- We are each tempted to sin against God and justify what we are doing as “for God”
- “I will sin against God and cohabitate/marry a non-Christian, so that I can win them to Jesus.”
Even though we may say we are sinning “for God” for his “good purposes” we must remember that ALL SIN is against God.
When God cuts through all the excuses and what does God say is better. Look at verses22-23
“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying [listening] to the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey/[listen] is better than sacrifice,
And to heed/ [listen attentively] than the fat of rams.
- To obey and listen is better.
- when all the other excuses were not working with Samuel and God tells Saul God has rejected him as king for rejecting his word.
Saul finally says, “I sinned” and we get further details for why God hates Saul’s disobedience so much.
1 Sam 15:24 I feared the people and listened to their voice.
When Saul was anointed as King he was fearful to be made king, and found hiding in the baggage. We see his continued fear of people. He will later be afraid to fight God’s enemies.
Saul fears the people more than he fears the Lord. When you fear people, you believe their voice is the one you should listen to. What they want and think drives you instead of the word of the Lord?
[Possible application if time permits]
Are you genuinely repentant?
The consequence for Saul is that God tears the kingdom away from him. There was no forgiveness here, no grace extended in this case for these consequences
But Saul said – I have sinned…he said it in v 24 when he said “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words.” And then again in verse 30, “I have sinned.”
But is Saul repentant does he really want to return to the Lord and listen to God.
Observe Saul’s next statements that follow his admission of sin
He asks Samuel to accompany him back to be honored before the elders and the people of Israel. Saul seems to still care a lot about his reputation…and leading people to think nothing has changed and that the kingdom will not be torn away from him and given to David.
Do you want to see a repentant King when confronted?
Let’s look at King David – in response to the prophet Nathan calling him out for his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband to cover up David’s sin
2 Sam 12:12-13 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
He does not ask for it to be brushed under the rug because he is the king and he does not blame Bathsheba…Genuine repentance takes ownership for your actions including the sinful ones, including the ones that make you look bad in front of others and neither provides excuses or blames others.
The last proof of Saul’s failure to repent was that he did not seek to address the problem right before him. Agag still lived.
We see our final lesson from Saul’s kingship – when we are confronted with God’s Word and we are truly repentant, will we…
III. Take Appropriate Action in the face of God’s Consequences
When God’s word is critical of our actions, and we are confronted with our sin, there is an immediate opportunity to be obedient and show a heart that is turning towards God and listening instead of turning away.
Is there an opportunity to be obedient?
Saul had the opportunity, but Samuel obeyed and made things right…
1 Sam 15:32 Then Samuel said bring me Agag…
Samuel completed God’s command that they be destroyed.
When you face the consequences of your sinful action –
Choose to humbly accept God’s discipline.
Saul did not listen and obey, and the kingdom was torn from him, and the Spirit of the Lord eventually departs from him.
If you continue reading 1 Samuel, you find that Saul’s remaining time as king was filled with anxiety, bitterness, and hate. There was no peace for the king.
We must choose to receive the discipline of the Lord
Heb 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Knowing that his purpose is for our redemption and for our good.
The story of Saul ends with Samuel grieving over Saul which reflects the Lord’s grief and regret over Saul. God is not going to revoke his decree about Saul and the kingdom, the kingdom will be given to another king. Saul is not God’s Chosen king. He was the king the people chose for themselves in their sinful rebellion.
This turns our attention to the decree that God has made for another chosen King. We need a king of God’s own choosing, a chosen King that we would have never asked for.
A king who is unlike the kings of the kingdoms of men judged based on outward appearances, but instead a king who will listen to the word of God and obey it completely from the heart.
A king who would not take from the offering that belonged to the Lord, but instead a king who would perfectly obey God and give his life as an offering to God for our sins.
This chosen king whom we all have rejected in our sin and none of us asked for…is the Lord Jesus the Christ. He is God’s chosen king to save us from our sins.
God says…
Hebrews 10:5-7 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
7 “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”
Jesus is the Promised Servant of the Lord who said speak Father your servant is listening, He came to do the Father’s will.
Jesus perfectly obeyed the will of the Father and offered his life as sacrifice once for all to satisfy the just anger of God for the sins we have committed and give forgiveness to those who will listen to Him. Turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Listen to the Word of God today.
Jesus the Good Shepherd says…
“His sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John 10:3-4
- Call the Christian
“He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” John 8:47
- Call to the non-Christian
Saul did not listen to his King and he is a warning and example for us all who are tempted to be critical of God and neglect listening to word of God.
PRAY
- Listening to God’s Word
- Listening Carefully
- Obeying Completely
- Not to minimize
- Not to justify/blame
- Seek Genuine Repentance
- Turning to God for our Hope
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