Hear the Whisper Wednesday: King Saul

From the smallest tribe, the first king of Israel was anointed: King Saul.

В Saul answered, «But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?Why do you say such a thing to me?» (1 Samuel 9:21)

Samuelof the Lord»(1 Samuel 15:1).The Lord’s commandВ to King Saul was clear: «utterly destroy the Amalekites».

DISOBEDIENT

HereВ was Saul’s chance to obey the Lord.He was chosenВ by God from the least (smallest tribe of Israel) to be the most powerful man of Israel.В  His power came from the Lord.

Saul allowed pride to inhibit obedience В Saul spared AgagВ and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; SELF-CENTERED

Saul tookВ matters into his own hands.He decided whom he thought should be killed.В He made his own categories: worthy & unworthy.В The worthy he spared, the unworthy he utterly destroyed.God had one category: utterly destroy it all.В After Saul disobeyed the Lord, Samuel received another word from the Lord:

word.

Saul’s self-centeredness and pride led to disobedience and a removal of God’s blessing from his kingship.В  You would think Saul would be humbled by the Lord’s regret.Unfortunately, Saul was oblivious.When Samuel finallyВ caughtВ up with Saul to give him the Lord’s message, he discovered that Saul had even built himself a monument!

AVOIDED BLAME {LIES} Samuel And Samuel responded by questioningВ Saul on why he heard sounds ofВ sheep and oxen.IfВ Saul had obeyed the Lord, then there would be no animals.Saul then transfers the responsibility on others continues to think only about himself:

your

Samuel didn’t allow Saul to avoid blame.He called him out: «the Lord anointed you your «Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the voice of the LORD?

Saul mistakenly thought that he could impress God with sacrifice.That rituals are what God desires.We do that don’t we?We think «works» & «disciplines» will obtainВ God’s blessing.We learn from SamuelВ that God is interested in us listening to His voice.To obeying Him.To humbling ourselves and serving God wh*leheartedly.

«For 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 15:23)

PEOPLE PLEASING

Saul finally admitted that he sinned (vs 24).He admitted that he «feared people and heard their voice». He was not listening to God’s voice but to the voices of those around us.В 

BUT immediately after admitting that he put people’s opinion above God’s, he asked Samuel to go before the elders and Israel and honor him.What?Didn’t he just admit he sinned?That he had cared to much what people thought?Then he wanted more honor from people?True honor only comes from the Lord.«Those who honor me, I will honor.» (1 Samuel 2:30)

Unfortunately King SaulВ was not humbled.He didВ NOT put God center in his life.The result was that God’s kingship blessingВ was removed »Samuel grieved over Saul and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel» (vs 35).

Did you hear the whisper?В  Is your pride leading to sins of: disobedience, self-centeredness, lying, people pleasing?Most importantly whose voice are you listening to?God’s or others?

В * This post is again inspired by the preaching of Abe KuruvillaВ .

Health Solutions - Stress Relief