As I have been reading my Bible recently the plan I am using has had me in the Old Testament. Currently I am in 1 Samuel and have read about how Samuel was born as an answer to prayer. Of how he served Eli and eventually replaced him. Then how God used him when the people wanted a king after having rejected God. Then how God gave them Saul as king.
When you read the Scriptures about how this occurred and what it would mean, you are able to sense how God works. It was never God’s plan for his people to have a king. He was to fulfill that role yet the people turned from him. They wanted to be like all the other people around them and have a king.
They received what they wanted and it came at great cost. Not only to them individually but also to Saul. Saul could not be what he needed to be as a king. He failed although outwardly it would appear he was a successful leader. As you read about Saul, you find that he would not follow God’s directions. He defeated the Amalikites but he spared Agag and allowed the people to retain the best of the spoils.
We read how God responded to Saul’s failure to lead in 1 Samuel 15:10-11 NLT
”Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.“
When Samuel goes to confront Saul some of the most telling words in Scripture are seen in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 NLT
…”What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”“
You probably know the story well that God then chose David and that he would eventually replace Saul as king. David would have his issues and failures. 1 Samuel 13:14 NLT Samuel tells Saul what the Lord says-
”But now your kingdom must end, …
He then declares through Samuel to Saul-
.. for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”“
We have all failed in some way in our relationship with the Lord. We have done things or are even now doing things that cause the Lord to work in a way in our life that He may not have wanted for us. That was true of Saul and certainly of David. Can and does God work in our lives regardless of what we have done or are doing? Yes, and He is doing so in order to make us what He desires us to be. That will then glorify Him. The Saul’s and David’s of Scripture and of life are to encourage us to seek to do the will of God each day. So that our life will be a testament of God’s faithfulness and love for us.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
