Spare Change July 2016
The Saul in All of Us
Our 2:42 group has been going through 1 Samuel for the past few weeks. We are studying King Saul now, who is a very tragic figure in Israel’s story. He often gets looked down upon while King David is exalted. The reality is, there is a Saul in all of us. We all struggle the same way that he did. What was his struggle? It was one of faithlessness and pride that led him astray.
Saul was just a humble farm boy from a humble tribe in Israel. Granted, he was a very handsome and tall young man, but other than that he was quite ordinary-- that is, until God chose him to be the first king of Israel. This is indeed a very tall order; this meant he was to unite the twelve tribes that, up until now, had mostly governed themselves except for some oversight by the various judges. This was an intimidating task to say the least, Saul was naturally scared and even hid during his coronation.
Fast forward a few years and in 1 Samuel 13 and we find an impatient Saul that is too faithless to wait for Samuel. Before a battle Samuel would usually offer a sacrifice to God. The purpose was to help turn the hearts of the people back to God, to depend on Him for the victory. It had been interpreted by Saul that the ritual would automatically ensure God’s favor. This was a false assumption, but this thinking drove him to offer the sacrifice himself when Samuel was delayed. This act alone caused him to lose his future in the monarchy. God said He would remove the line of Saul and raise up another king in his place.
We might think that what Saul did was not that big of a deal; however, as we study more of the Bible we understand that God is very particular with the way in which we are to worship, specifically with things that are sacred or holy, like making this offering. The anger of God was understandable, but was the punishment just?
To fully understand that, we need to understand Saul’s reaction when confronted by Samuel. Saul made excuse after excuse-- blaming Samuel, the people, even insinuating that it was God’s fault. Saul did everything, but the right thing--repent. You see David had his sins, and boy, were they big ones, but David repented. He sought forgiveness from God and was restored. Saul never truly repented and for the rest of his kingship he was angry, prideful, and faithless.
This is where we are all similar to King Saul. What is the first thing we do when sin is revealed? Are we truly sorrowful? Do we run back to God asking for forgiveness? Or do we shift the blame and make excuses? We have to be honest about our sinful condition-- we can’t rationalize it, we can’t bargain with God, or make it someone’s fault. We need to accept that we are sinful and we need a savior. We need to repent of our sin and trust Jesus to save us. Christians especially need to practice on-going repentance. As we work out our faith God will reveal sin in our heart and in that moment we have a choice. The way of Saul or the way of David; defensive or repentant. I pray we let our guard down and come to God with bowed heads and open hands seeking His forgiveness and help.
“Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.” J. I. Packer
