Saul Grieved God

Read 1 Samuel 15-16
 
1 Samuel 15:11 “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. 
 
YOU may notice we sometimes refer you to the same scripture reading on successive days. The reason is to have you focus on the different elements of the passage. For example, the previous lesson was about Samuel’s commitment to God’s commands. This lesson from chapter 15 is about Saul’s unfaithfulness to God’s commands. God’s story is about real people interacting with each other and with God. Some live in faith. Others do not. If we watch and listen to the story, we know the difference.
    Saul’s faith story defines a weak-minded, fearful man. Samuel anoints him privately and spends time with Saul to counsel and encourage him to his new life. The Holy Spirit empowers Saul to prophesy. But then Saul is described as very reluctant to the call. He fails to tell his uncle of these momentous events and even hides when it was time to anoint him before Israel’s tribes. We find him plowing a field when his people need him. The Spirit, then, awakens him spiritually, empowering him to passionate, strategic leadership to defeat the Ammonites. There is also one victory over the Philistines. But then things change. Saul’s story moves to disobedience when he neglects Samuel’s instructions to wait at Gilgal.
    From there, Saul’s rule begins a steady downward spiral. He only partially obeys God in his victory over the Amalekites. Then he cowers in fear under a tree, unwilling to attack the Philistines. His son Jonathan does what his father should have done.
    Saul is not the man, he is not the king God called him to be. His story reflects too much of mankind’s unfaithful response to God. When the LORD says, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king.” he reveals, I think, a sadness for mankind’s lost opportunity to joyfully carry God’s image each day of our lives. Such a pronouncement is God’s final word on Saul’s future. It is the same judgment as Genesis 6:6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. This was God’s notice to heaven of his unrelenting judgment against sin. Thankfully, God chose Noah to come out of the flood to carry forward the covenant of salvation to Abraham. Graciously, our LORD chose David to come out of Saul’s disobedient reign to move the covenant forward to Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
    Samuel lived to consistently say to God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Saul lived, it seems, to say, “Speak, Lord, and I’ll decide what I want to do.”  
    We can learn from Saul as we learned from Samson. Listen to the LORD. Hear his voice. Obey him faithfully. Please God, not man.
 
Psalms 111:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.