The Reasons for the failure of King Saul

The Reasons for the failure of king Saul


A Good Start
Saul, Israel’s first King, the King of the people’s choosing. In all of Israel there was not a more perfect Icon for the Nation to be found. “from the shoulders and up he was higher than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:1-2). He started well, He was the son of a might man of valor, he was called out by God, anointed with oil, and befriended by Gods spokesmen. He was equipped by God for the task at hand. The Spirit of the lord came upon him mightily and he was changed into a new man [ 1 Samuel 10:6] and God changed his heart [ V.9]. He began to deliver the children of Israel from the dominion of the Philistines in Chapter 11.
Something Went Wrong
But he went wrong, seriously wrong It’s important that we see where he went wrong. A clear word was delivered to him by “Lord of hosts” from the mouth of Samuel the prophet his friend, (1 Samuel 15:2-9).

“Thus says the Lord of Host, 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. ‘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.’” Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley. And Saul said to the Akenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I 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. So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you got to Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 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.

“Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. And 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 the Gilgal.” And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” [The noise of His failure] And Saul said, “They have brought them fro mthe Amalekites, for the people [The First scape Goat] spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

The Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, Speak!”


He did not take the Word of the Lord Seriously

A clear word was delivered to him by the Lord of Hosts from the mouth of Samuel the Prophet. But (v:9) Saul and the people spared Agag and the best …and were not willing to destroy.

If someone wants something badly enough for themselves he will often twist the truth or our right lie to get it. God told Saul to totally destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3). Saul disobeyed God; “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.” (1 Samuel 15:9) Saul evidently saved the best for himself and exploited gods will to benefit himself and he convinced himself that taking for himself Israel’s enemies valuable plunder and destroying all that he did not want and was worthless somehow was obeying Gods command. Its amazing how sin deludes us into thinking that by rationalizing our own behavior, God’s will is being done! But the dilution is ours not Gods He sees perfectly clear into the hearts of man and he remembers every word he has said to us. The desire for worldly gain pushes mans fingers into his ears as God speaks his perfect will and unless we remove the flesh from our ears we do not hear the Lord. As a matter of fact we even fool ourselves into thinking that because we can see Gods speaking we are listening to his will but as Saul found out that when our ears are plugged you can only hear yourself better.

He loved the world so much he failed to take the necessary steps to cut himself off from it.
Saul in his rebellion against God spared Agag because he made a value judgment. He destroyed “everything despised and worthless.” He surveyed the situation and decided what to keep and what to destroy. It is ironic that the verse Quoted at the beginning of this paper I stated that God has chosen things that are despised by the world to participate in His glorious purpose. The things Saul ooved are those things hated by God.

The things of the world are all under Gods judgment. Saul wanted to spare the “good” ones. This shows that nothing less than death can remedy our sin problem and make us right with God. Jesus embraced death on the cross to bring eternal life to those who deserved eternal damnation. Death on the cross was a cure (Galatians 3:13) and exposed the one so sentenced to ridicule and shame. When Jesus endured death on a cross as a common criminal (thought He was sinless and innocent) He insured all people would not become His disciples for the wrong reasons. Embracing the cross will not mean honor, prestige, and accolades from the world. Paul told what happened to him and the other apostles because of the message of the cross: “we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now” (1 Corinthians 4:13b) We live in a society that puts gold and silver on crosses and wears them as ornaments around their necks. This is not the executioner’s device of the fist century.

The Cross symbolizes that everything in my old life, not just the despised and worthless things must die. The “good things” that Saul decided to spare from the worldly enemies of God turned out to be his cause of death. Christianity is not a self-betterment religion. It is a way of life that is symbolized by death to the world and everything it stands for. It is embracing the crucified and resurrected Messiah and willingly confessing Him before a cocking world. Jesus said “For whoever is ashamed of Me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38 NASB page 1632) The context of this teaching of His approaching death on the cross (Mark 8:31) AND THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE FOLLWING IN THE PATHS OF HIS SUFFERING. In a day when so-called “Christianity” is paraded before us as a religion of money, power prestige, privilege, and worldly accolades, it is no wonder that Jesus’ statement in Mark 8:38 makes little sense to many people. Why would anyone be ashamed of something that promises to make us rich and famous?

However, the temptation to be ashamed becomes clear when the claims of the cross are considered: “ And He summoned the multitudes with His disciples, and said to them, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and he gospel’s shall save it.” ( Mark 8:34,35 NASB page 1632) This type of a statement is not meant to maximize the number of “seekers”. It is quite clear that one must pick up and carry the executioner’s device. The reason one would do this in the first century, was because he had been condemned to Death. His life in the world was effectively over. He has “lost” his life in this world the Christian, this means that we have died to everything for the sake of Christ.

This means that Christ is our Lord and everything belongs to Him. This is the very relationship rejected. He decided what stayed and what went. Saul loved the “good things of the world. Converted true disciples of Jesus have died to this world and come alive to God through the Cross. There is in congruity in Christians falling all over each other trying to gain the power prestige, money, and accolades of the world. Sadly, the great irony of the 80’s and 90’s is that some who have done the “best” at this are considered the greatest leaders. Like the ancient Israelites, we have wanted so to be like the pagans that we end up with “leaders” who emulate the pagans. Far to often we have Saul’s rather than Paul’s for leaders.



He Lusted for the Glory of Man
(1 Samual 15:11) He turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands.” … and set up a monument for himself.

God had previously predicted his abusive behavior, had revealed that the peoples demand for a king was in fact a request of God, and had told Samuel to listen to them anyway. The appointment of Saul was a judgment of God upon a carnal minded people who wanted to be like the world.

When carnal minded people want to be like the world, God may give them what they want as judgment upon themselves. Saul ended up behaving just as the Lord had predicted. 1-Samuel 15 tells the story of Saul’s rebellion and God’s rejections of him. Even after being repeatedly warned and called to repentance, Saul’s attitude never changed: Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:12b). When faced with his sin he still longed for the glory of man: 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” (1 Samuel 15:30a). Notice that he said to Samuel, “the Lord your God,” not my God. Saul was satisfied with second hand knowledge of God and was filled with the motives of the world. He wanted the accolades of man but refused to submit to the revealed will of God. He could not bring himself to destroy Agag the King of the Amalekites because he was too much like him. Ironically, it was an Amalekite that would kill Saul in the end (2 Samuel 1:6-16). The Flesh we fail to kill will surely kill us in the end.

Saul stands as an illustration of what happens when god’s people start longing for the things of the world. Eventually they want all the power, prestige and status the world has to offer. They tire of the scandal of the cross, and hate being considered lesser people by the unregenerate who looked down on their lowly status. Popularity, glory and honor in the eyes of other is not a worthy goal for God’s people. Jesus said “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15b NASB page 1689)

Saul epitomized the kind of person the carnally minded would look for in a king. In a sense, once could say that God “shoes” Saul, but only to make him an object lesion to a rebellious people who did not want God to be their king. They wanted a king so they could be like the other nations, like the pagans, like the world. Since the people wanted a king in order to be like the world , God gave them a king that was like the world, an abusive, self-centered, egomaniac who nevertheless looked like the national Icon on world news today. A choice and handsome lad and there was none like him in all the land. But he was a rotten cake with choice frosting on top of it.

Perhaps God allows “Saul’s” to exist in leadership today for the same reason Saul was king in the Old Testament to separate those who truly will follow the Lord and those who profess to be God’s people but love the world. The carnally minded will flock to those who follow in Saul’s footsteps.


He covered His sins with Lies instead of the Mercy Seat of Jesus.
(v: 13) He lied to himself and to Samuel and he tried to cover his sin (v:15) He tried to blame the others.

God Spoke to Samuel, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. (1 Samuel 15:11). However, Saul did not even understand what the problem was. When confronted by Samuel, he claimed obedience, blamed the people, and rationalized his behavior.

Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? “ (v:13) It was the sound of Saul’s failure to obey Gods word. When we do not seek God and love His word we lose sight of his convicting power. David also sinned against God, but when he was confronted, with his sin his heartfelt repentance was recorded forever in Psalm 51. This stands in stark contrast to Saul’s response.

Samuel goes on to reminded Saul of something he had apparently forgotten: “and Samuel said, Is it not true, thought 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, and the Lord sent you on a mission … (1 Samuel 15:17-18a). The Lord had made him king when he was small in his own eyes but now he was great in his own eyes and God rejected him. Samuels’s words to Saul are often repeated and familiar: “Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. Fro rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king,” (1 Samuel 22,23 NASB page 472). To twist and manipulate the word of God and rationalize rebelling against it, is as blatantly sinful as pagan idol worship. Yet many today feel justified as Saul in doing so. Perhaps because we fail to see that the biggest Idol in the room is typically ourselves.



A Man After God’s Heart

Saul was rejected by god; but that is not the end of the story. “ But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:14 NASB page 467) David was chosen by God. Through suffering sorrow, rejection, tragedy, failure, David loved God and became the one through whom the linage of Messiah would come.

The Psalms of David testify of many difficulties David encountered, but every one of them emanated a note of hope. God has chosen the weak thing of the world to shame the strong. The Messiah came as a suffering servant (Isaiah 53). Philippians 2:3-11 tells us of His selfless attitude that we should emulate. If we are to be His witnesses in these last days, we must embrace the cross and die to the world. We must reject the way of Saul.

Conclusion

Even the “good” things that I thought I had to offer the Lord are but filthy rags in His sight. I need to die to my old life and ask Him to make me a new creature in Christ. The radical call to discipleship seems to me to be biblical and from God. Sadly, I have failed many times to live up to this truth, but it provides a baseline for getting back on track. It is sad how often pride and selfish motives have delayed what God is seeking to do in my life. Salvation is a free gift but there is a great cost to discipleship. As God so loved the world that he gave his own life that we might be saved. Discipleship is a rendering of that saved life into the loving hands in which it has been commended. It is a willing surrender to the one who has purchased us with a great price. It is to deliver possession of this life to his will and his will alone. A love offering is no sacrifice yet it always calls us to be second and in that there is great joy.


Where has today’s church gone wrong? How are we to be changed from self-centered sinners to cross-embracing disciples when all we hear is how great we are and how popular and wealthy we can become now that we have Christ? There is a whole generation that has been fed a worldly version of Christianity that is likely to turn out more Saul’s than anything else. Salvation is the free gift of God but there is a very dear price to pay for true discipleship. It will cost you your life but in return you get an eternity.


Cites:

“SAUL.” LoveToKnow1911 Online Encyclopedia. © 2003,2004LoveToKnow.
http://34.1911encyclopedia.org/s/SA/SAUL.htm

Nelsons New Illustrated Bible Commentary

The Making of Israel’s First King bible.org. © 2005. bible.org
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?oage-id=335