Saul's Stumbles

The story of King Saul in the Bible is fascinating and terrible. It is fascinating in much the same way a television soap opera is. The story is filled with beautiful people who have lots of advantages. But it is terrible in that those beautiful people keep making mistakes. Saul's mistakes cost him is family, his throne and his life.

You need to know, first of all, that Saul was the first King of Israel. The people had clamored for a king, and God finally obliged them with Saul. King Saul's reign was initially marked with success, growth and faithfulness to God. But ultimately, paranoia, power and distraction caused Saul to lose sight of the God who put him on the throne to begin with. There are at least eight mistakes that Saul made.

• Saul made an unlawful sacrifice (1 Samuel 13.9-10). Saul grew impatient waiting for Samuel, who was the priest, to arrive to make a sacrifice. It is an instance of Saul believing himself above God's established leadership in the priesthood.
• Saul did not kill the Amalekite King, Agag (1 Samuel 15.9). Although God had given explicit orders to destroy the people and possessions of Amalek completely, Saul did not. This is a certain sign of disobedience to the law of God.
• Saul made a rash order for his people (1 Samuel 14.24ff). The story is long and a little complicated, but the basics are this; Saul ordered his people to fast until they gained victory over the Philistines. Jonathan, his beloved son, was not aware of the command and ate. In this instance, Saul showed a lack of reason and a self-will that was unacceptable to God.
• Saul made a monument to himself (1 Samuel 15.12). Saul was so full of himself that he did what so many other kings before and after have done. He began to believe that he was invincible. As such he built himself a monument so that he would be remembered. This is anathema to the God of the humble.
• Saul opened himself to various kinds of spirits (1 Samuel 16.14). It may be a natural consequence of disobedience and self-exaltation, but when a person rejects God, he opens himself up to other powers. Saul became oppressed (maybe possessed?) by demons.
• Saul lost his faith in God (1 Samuel 17.11). In the story of David and Goliath we often focus on the faith of the young boy. David believed that God had called him and would deliver himself and all Israel from the giant. The contrast that is often overlooked is that Saul, the King, the chosen one of God, was filled with fear. 2 Timothy 1.7 reminds us that fear cannot come from God.
• Saul became jealous of David (1 Samuel 18.7-9). Rather than celebrate the fact that God was working in David's life, Saul chose to be jealous and bitter. How sad for him that he could not enjoy and be blessed by God's obvious blessing on another.
• Saul was left by the Lord (1 Samuel 18.12). One of the saddest thoughts of any life is that God could leave. Saul had been disobedient for too long, he had neglected his faith too many times. The blessing of God was gone forever.

The problem for most of us is that we can see ourselves in the mistakes that Saul made. Maybe we have decided that the way God wants us to worship doesn't 'feel' good to us. Perhaps we have been disobedient, or have thought too highly of ourselves. It could be that we are jealous of the work of God in the life of another. Whatever the situation, it is time that we wake up and return to God. Do not become the next in a long line of spiritual "Sauls."