Early
in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul
has gone to
The man who started out giving all glory to God is now
setting up monuments in his own honor. The story continues where Saul tries to
lie to Samuel, then rationalize his decision, then repent but it is too late.
God has moved on and now will seek a man after His own heart; David. Saul's
kingdom could have been great and vast. His success could have been legendary.
Instead, he would spend the rest of his days afraid of David and aware that he
and his lineage would not rule
It did not have to be so. It also did not start with the
blatant disobedience with the Amalekites and the building of a monument to
himself for it. Changes this radical take some time to develop. This kind of
falling away is a gradual process and the Bible gives us a story in between the
choosing of Saul and his disobedience with the Amalekites to highlight the
transition. This story occurs in 13th chapter of 1Samuel and from
these we draw our key verses. Saul had a confrontation with the Philistines.
The Philistines outnumbered
Saul replied, "When I saw the men were scattering..." verse 11 The first mistake we can make is we can start to rely upon ourselves, instead of on God. Remember, God sees things differently than us. God knows better than us. The Bible specifically warns us about failing to acknowledge God and relying upon ourselves:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6
Saul had begun to lean on his own understanding by acknowledging the men scattering and acted upon that instead of relying on his faith and acknowledging God. The term "make your paths straight" actually refers to God making your path known. Saul had started to panic when he saw the men scattering. He then began to lean on his own understanding, failing to acknowledge God and sure enough, he ended up not knowing what path to take what to do.
We need to be careful about falling into this pattern where we start to rely upon ourselves, our surroundings or what we see and perceive. Remember, God is bigger than your circumstances. When you see your support (the men) scattering in your life and the enemy starts to set panic in your heart; that is when we need to rely upon our faith in God even more. God is love beloved and the Bible reminds us:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1John 4:18
Panic is not of the Lord. It is born out of trusting what you see rather than what you believe. It is in giving your circumstances more power than your God.
"...and that you did not come at the set time..." Verse 11 The second mistake we can make is that we start blaming other people or even God Himself for our faults. Once we start down the path of disobedience we can then get into the blame game. Remember the initial act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden saw Adam blame Eve and Eve blame the serpent. Man has been blaming everyone else ever since. Remember now, Saul has been asked by Samuel, "What have you done?" His response after failing to acknowledge God is to blame someone else for his mistake. In doing so however, he was also blaming God, since Samuel was the Prophet of God.
We too can get into this habit of blaming others or even blaming God. Remember, God is not out to destroy you. In fact the Bible tells us the opposite:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
