Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Saul The King Who Refused to Bow │ Msg 714

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Saul The King Who Refused to Bow │ Msg 714 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: The study of people is a fascinating study. I'm engaged
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  Speaker 1: in it pretty much every day of my life, and
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  Speaker 1: so are many of you. I'm intrigued with the fact
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  Speaker 1: that no two lives are ever identical. Every story is different. However,
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  Speaker 1: I have observed that lives seem to fall into categories.
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  Speaker 1: Lifestyles seem to be similar, much more so than the
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  Speaker 1: individual details of the pilgrimages of life. Let me explain.
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  Speaker 1: Some lives, it seems to me, fit the word picture
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  Speaker 1: of an oval speedway, sort of like the Indianapolis 500.
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  Speaker 1: They seem to be moving along at a very rapid clip.
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  Speaker 1: They're active. They're involved in many things. They seldom stop
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  Speaker 1: except briefly to gas up. to eat, to sleep, and
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  Speaker 1: they're back on the track again. But what is interesting
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  Speaker 1: in studying those lives is that they accomplish very little.
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  Speaker 1: They're quite involved in activities, but when the final tale
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  Speaker 1: is told, very little was accomplished, though they might have
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  Speaker 1: lived many years. And then there's another word picture that
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  Speaker 1: describes lives, and I think it's like a meteor in
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  Speaker 1: the sky. Perhaps the protégés of our lives are like that.
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  Speaker 1: Right from the beginning they seem to hit the world
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  Speaker 1: with a flash or with a splash and they're on
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  Speaker 1: their way to a life of well-known, famous, even a
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  Speaker 1: life of publicity as they are engaged in a number
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  Speaker 1: of different things. And yet their lives, though short-lived, seem
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  Speaker 1: to sort of phase out. And we never know much
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  Speaker 1: of what happened to them in their later years. And
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  Speaker 1: then there are lives, on the contrary, that are like
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  Speaker 1: deep and quiet rivers. These are the lives of people
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  Speaker 1: who are faithful and consistent and giving and supportive. And
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  Speaker 1: it seems as though it's their delight in life to
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  Speaker 1: help other people reach their destinations. You perhaps had a
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  Speaker 1: parent like that. I certainly did. Or maybe you have
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  Speaker 1: a friend like that. They will never make the headlines.
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  Speaker 1: They will never be known by the folks around the world.
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  Speaker 1: But like a deep, quiet river, they're moving like a
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  Speaker 1: solid current toward a destination. And their lives are supporting
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  Speaker 1: others as they get them to help them reach their
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  Speaker 1: final purposes for living. And then without going on and
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  Speaker 1: on with this, let me give you one more. And
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  Speaker 1: that's a life that is lived like a rooftop, like
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  Speaker 1: a tent top. They're out of the starting blocks rather
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  Speaker 1: early in the Christian life, if we might use that
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  Speaker 1: term now. These are early Christians who are on their
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  Speaker 1: way to living a fulfilled and delighted life. God's blessed them.
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  Speaker 1: God has gifted them. They have capabilities. They have what
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  Speaker 1: it takes, we would say. and they move rather rapidly
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  Speaker 1: into leadership circles and before you know it they are
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  Speaker 1: well on their way to making a significant contribution and
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  Speaker 1: then right at the peak something happens and they turn
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  Speaker 1: on a pivot and the latter part of their lives
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  Speaker 1: is altogether different from the former part of their lives.
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  Speaker 1: They have great promise at the beginning and yet they
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  Speaker 1: conclude in disgrace and sometimes surrounding a scandal, a failure,
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  Speaker 1: or as Paul calls it, a shipwreck. The Bible includes
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  Speaker 1: stories of all these different kinds of people, those who
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  Speaker 1: are on the racetrack, accomplishing very little but moving fast,
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  Speaker 1: those who are meteoric in style, And they are off
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  Speaker 1: and running only to fizzle out before they've hardly reached
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  Speaker 1: middle age. And then there are, through the scriptures, those deep,
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  Speaker 1: quiet rivers. Lives that continue to minister to others selflessly
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  Speaker 1: as they help others reach their destinations. But I am
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  Speaker 1: intrigued with how many times I come to the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: and find a life that is like a rooftop. A
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  Speaker 1: life that begins well but ends poorly. Such a life
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  Speaker 1: was Saul, the king who refused to bow. What an interesting,
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  Speaker 1: interesting study. He teaches me, if nothing else, that life
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  Speaker 1: cannot be determined until it has run its full course.
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  Speaker 1: We who are so quick to give opinions about certain
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  Speaker 1: individuals and seldom willing to wait until the final tally
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  Speaker 1: is told can learn a lesson from this. You really
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  Speaker 1: don't know a life in full until it has lived
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  Speaker 1: itself out. To borrow from a woodsman's proverb of the
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  Speaker 1: 19th century, a tree is best measured when it's down.
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  Speaker 1: And now that the life of Saul has fallen, we
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  Speaker 1: are able to examine it in all aspects of its
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  Speaker 1: disappointment as well as its splendor. I think maybe the
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  Speaker 1: reason the scripture includes so many rooftop-type lives is to
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  Speaker 1: give us the message it can happen to anyone. That's
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  Speaker 1: why I often say to graduates when I have the
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  Speaker 1: privilege of bringing a commencement message, don't show me your
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  Speaker 1: honors today. Come back in 20 years and show me
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  Speaker 1: your life. Don't tell me how well you graduated from
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  Speaker 1: this school in four or five or maybe six years
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  Speaker 1: of time. Come back in 30, 40 years. And let's
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  Speaker 1: talk about what you have made of your life. And
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  Speaker 1: then I will applaud. J. Sidlow Baxter in his book,
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  Speaker 1: Mark These Men, describes Saul this way. Saul said, The
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  Speaker 1: first king of Israel is one of the most striking
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  Speaker 1: and tragic figures in the Old Testament. In some ways
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  Speaker 1: he is very big and in others very little. In
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  Speaker 1: some ways he is commandingly handsome, in others decidedly ugly.
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  Speaker 1: All in one he is a giant and a dwarf,
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  Speaker 1: a hero and a renegade, a king and a slave,
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  Speaker 1: a prophet and a reprobate, a man God anointed and
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  Speaker 1: a man Satan possessed. He began so promisingly, yet deteriorated
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  Speaker 1: so dismally and ended so ignominiously as to make the
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  Speaker 1: downgrade process which ruined him monumental forever afterward to all
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  Speaker 1: who would read Mark and learn. To jump ahead in
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  Speaker 1: his life, let me show you the epitaph that would fit.
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  Speaker 1: And these words come from his own lips. First Samuel 26, 21.
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  Speaker 1: Just to jump ahead, we will do that first to
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  Speaker 1: give you a picture of how he would describe himself
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  Speaker 1: toward the end of his days. 1 Samuel 26, 21,
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  Speaker 1: Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for
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  Speaker 1: I will not harm you again because my life was
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  Speaker 1: precious in your sight this day. Behold, look at the epitaph.
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  Speaker 1: I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.
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  Speaker 1: Those five words would fit the tombstone of Saul. I
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  Speaker 1: have played the fool. As we get underway in this
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  Speaker 1: interesting story from the Old Testament, let me immediately say
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  Speaker 1: that I never quite know why God leads me to
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  Speaker 1: speak on some subject at one time and another subject
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  Speaker 1: at another. I have no sky writing. I hear no voices.
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  Speaker 1: I see nothing visible or I hear nothing audible. And
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  Speaker 1: yet I always sense that there is a special reason
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  Speaker 1: he directs me to speak on a subject or on
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  Speaker 1: a life or on a truth, because I think he
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  Speaker 1: fits truths to certain ears. And for all I know,
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  Speaker 1: someone right now hearing this message is at the pivot
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  Speaker 1: point on the rooftop of your life. You are just
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  Speaker 1: about to make a decision that will turn everything and
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  Speaker 1: maybe this life as it is portrayed in Scripture will
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  Speaker 1: be sufficient to stop you and to help you see
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  Speaker 1: what could become the ruination of the rest of your days.
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  Speaker 1: Go back from 1 Samuel 26 to 1 Samuel chapter 8,
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  Speaker 1: will you? 1 Samuel 8 will sort of set the stage,
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  Speaker 1: do a brief study of Hebrew living before Saul became
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  Speaker 1: the king. The nation, by the way, had never had
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  Speaker 1: a king at this particular juncture. They were Not a monarchy,
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  Speaker 1: they were what theologians call a theocracy. The nation looked
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  Speaker 1: to God for his leadership. Oh, he spoke through people.
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  Speaker 1: Prophets and priests and judges. In fact, Samuel seems to
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  Speaker 1: be the last man in transition before the nation demanded
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  Speaker 1: a king. God had always been their king. And they
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  Speaker 1: were unlike all other nations in that they could claim
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  Speaker 1: their leader was the invisible creator, Yahweh. Their God. That
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  Speaker 1: made them unlike all other peoples. But they wearied of that.
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  Speaker 1: 1 Samuel 8 tells us why. Verse 1. It came
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  Speaker 1: about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons
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  Speaker 1: judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel.
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  Speaker 1: the name of his second, Abijah. They were judging in Beersheba.
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  Speaker 1: His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but
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  Speaker 1: turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.
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  Speaker 1: Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came
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  Speaker 1: to Samuel at Ramah, and they said to him, Behold,
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  Speaker 1: you have grown old. and your sons do not walk
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  Speaker 1: in your ways. Now, appoint a king for us to
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  Speaker 1: judge us like all the nations. Well, there you have it.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the three reasons they wanted a king. First,
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  Speaker 1: Samuel was old and no longer able to keep pace
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  Speaker 1: with the demands of the nation. Second, his sons had
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  Speaker 1: disqualified themselves. They were men who had lost the respect
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  Speaker 1: of the people. By the way, isn't it interesting how
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  Speaker 1: often we find in life as well as in scripture,
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  Speaker 1: great people of God whose families do not walk in
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  Speaker 1: the way of the Lord. And Samuel is like Eli.
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  Speaker 1: You would have thought Samuel would have learned the lesson
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  Speaker 1: from his childhood when God awoke him at night and
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  Speaker 1: told him of Eli's boys. But It didn't change the
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  Speaker 1: way Samuel raised his family. And these boys are now reprobates.
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  Speaker 1: They have forfeited the right to lead. And so the
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  Speaker 1: people are saying, not only are you old, Samuel, but
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  Speaker 1: your sons are disqualified. And thirdly, we want to be
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  Speaker 1: like all the nations. Their request was displeasing to Samuel.
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  Speaker 1: We're told that in verse 6. It was displeasing in
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  Speaker 1: the sight of Samuel when they said, give us a
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  Speaker 1: king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And the Lord said to Samuel, listen to the voice
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  Speaker 1: of the people in regard to all that they say
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  Speaker 1: to you, for they have not rejected you, but they
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  Speaker 1: have rejected me from being king over them. Like all
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  Speaker 1: the deeds which they have done since the day that
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  Speaker 1: I brought them up from Egypt, even to this day,
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  Speaker 1: in that they have forsaken me and served other gods,
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  Speaker 1: so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen
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  Speaker 1: to their voice. However, you shall solemnly warn them and
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  Speaker 1: tell them of the procedure of the king who will
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  Speaker 1: reign over them. So Samuel spoke all the words of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord to the people who had asked of him
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  Speaker 1: a king. And he said, this will be the procedure
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  Speaker 1: of the king who will reign over you. Now watch
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  Speaker 1: how he warns them. You want a king? Let me
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  Speaker 1: tell you what he will be like. He will take
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  Speaker 1: your sons and place them for himself in his chariots
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  Speaker 1: and among his horsemen. and they will run before his chariots.
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  Speaker 1: So they will be involved in a mandatory military service.
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  Speaker 1: He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and fifties
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  Speaker 1: and some to do his plowing and to reap his
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  Speaker 1: harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment
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  Speaker 1: for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for
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  Speaker 1: perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best
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  Speaker 1: of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves
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  Speaker 1: and give them to his servants. Verse 15. He will
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  Speaker 1: take a tenth. He's already into taxes by now. He
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  Speaker 1: will take a tenth of your seed and of your
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  Speaker 1: vineyards to give to his officers and to his servants.
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  Speaker 1: He will also take your male servants and your female
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  Speaker 1: servants and your best young men and your donkeys and
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  Speaker 1: use them for his work. 17. He will take a
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  Speaker 1: tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his servants.
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  Speaker 1: Did you notice how many times he will take? Verse 11,
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  Speaker 1: he will take your sons. Verse 12, he will appoint
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  Speaker 1: for himself commanders from your sons. Notice he will appoint
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  Speaker 1: them for himself. He will take your daughters, verse 13.
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  Speaker 1: He will take the best of your fields, 14. He
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  Speaker 1: will take a tenth of your seed, 15. He will
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  Speaker 1: take your male servants, 17. He will take a tenth
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  Speaker 1: of your flocks. He will take, he will take. The
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  Speaker 1: king will be known as a taker, not a giver.
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  Speaker 1: And it will become a kingdom that revolves around him,
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  Speaker 1: not around you. You'll learn a lesson, Israel, that you've
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  Speaker 1: never known before. You will discover what it's like. to
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  Speaker 1: have a man reign over you and you will regret
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  Speaker 1: the day you did it. But we'll do it. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: verse 18, you will cry out in that day because
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  Speaker 1: your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the
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  Speaker 1: Lord will not answer you in that day. Nevertheless, verse 19,
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  Speaker 1: does this sound like one of your teenagers? The people
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  Speaker 1: refused to listen to the voice Samuel. They said, no,
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  Speaker 1: but there shall be a king over us and we'll
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  Speaker 1: be like all the other nations. By the way, any
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  Speaker 1: time you make a decision to be like someone else,
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  Speaker 1: you lose. You lose your distinctive. You lose your security.
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  Speaker 1: You lose your direction, your identity, your God-given purpose. God
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  Speaker 1: never made any one of us to be mirror images
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  Speaker 1: of anyone else. He has created for His own distinct,
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  Speaker 1: unique messengers. One of the most freeing days of my
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  Speaker 1: life came when I decided to stop being like anybody
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  Speaker 1: else and stop being intimidated because I was not like
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  Speaker 1: someone else and become who I am. Good and bad,
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  Speaker 1: strength and weakness, but to be authentic. They want to
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  Speaker 1: be like all the other nations. They're tired of having
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  Speaker 1: the nations mock them and talk about their God whom
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  Speaker 1: they cannot see and serving a monarch who cannot be worshipped.
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  Speaker 1: There can't be a crown on his head and there
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  Speaker 1: can't be a scepter in his hand or a throne
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  Speaker 1: beneath his seat. They want to be like all the
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  Speaker 1: other nations. You will regret it. And also you will
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  Speaker 1: notice there are times the Lord will let us go
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  Speaker 1: right on and do our will, knowing we will be hurt.
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  Speaker 1: But that's the only way we will learn the lessons.
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  Speaker 1: You'll find out. Now, chapter 9, we meet the king,
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  Speaker 1: the king elect. He doesn't know it yet. He's on
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  Speaker 1: his way up the rooftop, okay? We're on the upswing
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  Speaker 1: of his life. And what a great first impression. Verse 1,
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  Speaker 1: there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son
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  Speaker 1: of Bekarath, the son of Apphia, the son of a Benjamite,
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  Speaker 1: a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose
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  Speaker 1: name was Saul. This is the first mention of this
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  Speaker 1: man that we're studying. His name is Saul, a choice.
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  Speaker 1: A choice, that term suggests in the prime of manhood, virile, young, strong,
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  Speaker 1: and also it says, and handsome man. Tov is the word.
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  Speaker 1: It means good, good looking, a specimen of masculinity. He is...
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  Speaker 1: In fact, there was not a more handsome person than
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  Speaker 1: he among the sons of Israel. And to make matters
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  Speaker 1: even more impressive, from his shoulders and up, he was
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  Speaker 1: taller than any of the people. He was tall. He
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  Speaker 1: was dark. He was handsome. Nothing wrong with that. It
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  Speaker 1: isn't fair, in my opinion, but nothing wrong with it.
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  Speaker 1: Here is this handsome leader. By the way, I heard
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  Speaker 1: a statement many years ago from a good friend of
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  Speaker 1: mine who referred to an excellent young preacher. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: my only fear for him is that he is cursed
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  Speaker 1: with good looks. There's a lot of wisdom in that.
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  Speaker 1: He is not only capable in the pulpit, he is
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  Speaker 1: extremely handsome. That's Saul. When you first looked at him,
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  Speaker 1: you got your impression of him, wow, what a man.
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  Speaker 1: Most people I know would like to be taller. There's
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  Speaker 1: something about height that gives you a sense of commanding presence.
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  Speaker 1: How many people have said to me when they, for
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  Speaker 1: some reason, want to come look at me, at what
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  Speaker 1: I look like, they'll say, we expected you to be taller.
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  Speaker 1: And I say, what you see is what you get.
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  Speaker 1: This is me. And Saul, they would never have said that.
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  Speaker 1: There is this mystique about looks, about image, about style.
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  Speaker 1: People want to see. They want to see size. They
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  Speaker 1: want to see mannerisms. And Saul ranked high in every
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  Speaker 1: one of those. On top of that, he was genuinely modest. 921,
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  Speaker 1: after Samuel has addressed these things, Saul answered and said,
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  Speaker 1: when he hears of being the king, he said, am
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  Speaker 1: I not a Benjamite? of the smallest of the tribes
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, my family, the least of all the families
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  Speaker 1: of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then do you speak
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  Speaker 1: to me in this way? I'm not your man. He's
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  Speaker 1: genuinely modest. 10.1, look across the page. Samuel took the
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  Speaker 1: flask of oil and poured it on his head, kissed
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  Speaker 1: him and said, Has not the Lord anointed you a
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  Speaker 1: ruler over his inheritance? If we were to take the time,
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  Speaker 1: which we will not, we could find in these chapters
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  Speaker 1: that he was a man of discretion. He was interested
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  Speaker 1: in waiting on God. He's a man of generous spirit.
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  Speaker 1: He is one who spoke for God. He is energized
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  Speaker 1: and inspired of God. Look at verse 6 of this
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  Speaker 1: 10th chapter. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon
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  Speaker 1: you mightily, Saul, and you will prophesy with them and
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  Speaker 1: be changed into another man. God's hand is on your life.
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  Speaker 1: It shall be when these signs come to you, do
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  Speaker 1: for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you.
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  Speaker 1: Can you imagine being told that by Samuel? In a
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  Speaker 1: day when the visible presence of God rested and it
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  Speaker 1: became a miraculous series of events? God's hand is on
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  Speaker 1: your life. What a prediction. Now, all this leads Samuel
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  Speaker 1: to present the new king to the nation. You're going
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  Speaker 1: to smile when I read something to you. Go back
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  Speaker 1: to chapter 9, verse 16. About this time tomorrow, I
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  Speaker 1: will send you a man from the land of Benjamin.
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  Speaker 1: You shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.
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  Speaker 1: He shall deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines,
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  Speaker 1: for I have regarded my people because their cry has
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  Speaker 1: come to me. Now, 10, 17. Look at that next. Thereafter,
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  Speaker 1: Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah.
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  Speaker 1: And he said to the sons of Israel, Thus says
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, the God of Israel. I brought Israel up
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  Speaker 1: from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of
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  Speaker 1: the Egyptians, from the power of all the kingdoms that
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  Speaker 1: were oppressing you. But today, you rejected your God, who
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  Speaker 1: delivers you from all your calamities and all your distresses.
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  Speaker 1: Yet you have said no, but set a king over us. Now, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by
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  Speaker 1: your clans. Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot. And
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: and the Matrite family was taken, and Saul the son
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: he could not be found. This is the day of
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: his coronation. They can't find him. And they inquired further
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: of the Lord, Has the man come here yet? And
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: the Lord said, Behold, he is hiding himself. by the baggage,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: wherever that was. He is so modest, he is so
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: genuinely timid, he's shy, that he feels uncomfortable standing before
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: all the people. So they ran and took him from there.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: And when he stood among the people, he was taller
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: the Samuel said to all the people, you see him
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: whom the Lord has chosen. Surely there's no one like
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: him among all the people. So the people shouted and said,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Words that have been said hundreds of times through the centuries.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Long live the king. That's our man. And here stands
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: tall but modest Saul. A disaster getting ready to happen.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: But you would never guess that. He comes by the
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: 13th chapter to the peak of the roof. He has
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the people's vote. He has won the victories. He has
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: fought the Philistines. He has shown himself a warrior and
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the people are ecstatic over the fact that they have
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a man they can call their king. They're still impressed
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: with him. They've looked on the outward appearance and public
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: opinion runs high, probably 85 to 90% or more, not 100%.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: But alas, with such men, there is the immense possibility
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of a fall where he becomes a victim of himself, pride, impatience,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: stubborn rebellion, jealousy, and if you can believe it, by
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: the time he comes to the end of his life,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: he dies a suicide. His life becomes like sewage that
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: pours into a harbor at night. from beneath the water.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: You don't see it. You can't even for a period
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: of time smell it. But slowly and ever so surely
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: it pollutes the water so that it's unsafe for anyone
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: to enter or for the fish to live. His life
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: becomes like that. Let me show you the tragic erosion
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: of his character. and the balance of my time with
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: you here. There are three brief yet powerfully damaging scenes
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: set forth in Scripture. We've reached the turning point of
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the roof. The peak of his life has been reached.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Over a period of years, he has won the people's approval.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: He has set up an army. He has become a
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: victor in battle. But something happens at the height of
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: his career and he starts his way down the other side.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Chapter 13 tells us of an irreverent act of presumption.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: and he reigned 42 years over Israel. He chose for
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: himself all these people, and they are numbered, and some
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: of them are named for us. Jonathan, verse 3, smote
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the garrison of the Philistines. Jonathan is his son, by
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: the way. Verse 4, all Israel heard the news that
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines. The people
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: were summoned to Saul at Gilgal, and they are numbered
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: for us here. Verse 7, some of the Hebrews crossed
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead, but
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: the people followed him trembling. They're at a very threatening
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: point in the battle. He waited seven days according to
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: the appointed time set by Samuel. You can reference that
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: in chapter 10 verse 8 where earlier Samuel told him
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: when he came to this place to wait and he
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: would come and would meet with him and would sacrifice
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: on the altar as the priest was qualified to do.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Saul is king, remember, not priest. Kings had no right
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: to sacrifice offerings. But Samuel, we read in verse 8,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: did not come to Gilgal. And the people were scattering
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: from him. So Saul said, bring to me the burnt
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: offering and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. Wait,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: he has no right to do that. But you understand,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: when you come to this place in your life, when
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: you're on the downside of pride and arrogance and conceit,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: You care little about roles and realms of responsibility. You're
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in charge of everything. He says, bring the sacrifice to me.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Bring the altar to me. Bring the burnt offering and
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offerings. Verse 10,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: it came about as soon as he finished offering the
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: burnt offering. Behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: meet him and to greet him. Now, you would expect,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: I would expect that he would be embarrassed. There would
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: be a sense of uneasiness and maybe shame appropriately because
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: he had hurried ahead and impatiently offered this offering. But
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: we read that Saul went out to meet him and
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: to greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done?
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Saul said, because I saw that the people were scattering
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: from me and that you did not come within the
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: appointed days and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. Therefore,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: I said, now the Philistines will come down against me
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: at Gilgal and I have not asked the favor of
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: the Lord. So I forced myself and I offered the
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: burnt offerings. Notice how he puts it. I mean, I
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: just couldn't help myself. I looked down and my hands
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: were doing it. I mean, it just kind of happened.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: I had to make myself do it. Fat chance. That's
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: not the way it works. This is deliberate disobedience. And
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Samuel calls his hand on it. Verse 13. He said,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: you've acted foolishly. I spoke rather recently on the subject
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: of confrontation. Some of you may remember. And in that message,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I talked about the importance of having someone who looks
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: out for our character more than our comfort. Remember my
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: sharing that quotation? Samuel is a friend like that. You've
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: done the wrong thing. You may be king, but you're
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: not priest. You've gone too far, man. You've played the fool.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: You haven't kept the commandment of the Lord your God.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: which he commanded you. For now the Lord would have
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: established your kingdom over Israel forever, but it will not
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: any longer endure, or it won't for much more time endure.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: The Lord has sought out for himself a replacement, a
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: man after his own heart. You might wonder where the
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: phrase comes from, David, a man after God's own heart
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: comes from that statement right there. And the Lord is
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: already on the move to find a replacement. Let me
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: tell every one of us something that is easy, easy
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: to forget. There isn't a person on this earth who
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: is irreplaceable. There isn't a person so powerful that they
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: can't be removed in a split second and another individual
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: step in. No one is permanently in a role of responsibility.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Those of us who are in places such as this
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: need the admonition from 1 Samuel 13 that when it's
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: better to wait, we should wait. Even in threatening times.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: If we are unsure, the game plan is to wait,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: to remain silent, to let God move. I heard a
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: man say many years ago who was in a church
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: that was under a time of stress, it's better to
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: do something, even if it's wrong, than to do nothing.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: That is stupid counsel. It is never better to do wrong. Never.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Even if you're king. If Samuel hasn't come, if the
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: offering needs to be offered, there's a reason for the delay.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Sit tight, Saul. Wait. Wait. But to go back to
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: my illustration, when you're on the rooftop and you've peeked out,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: and now you're threatened with what people are thinking about you,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: and you're caught up in your image and your self-willed ways,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: you diminish the importance of obeying God. And you do
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: whatever you can to keep yourself intact in the eyes
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: of others. In this initial act, I find Saul took
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: his circumstances seriously, but he didn't take God seriously. That
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: is the Achilles heel of Saul's life. He never took
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: God seriously. That was the turning point of his life.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: He didn't take God seriously. He took his circumstances seriously,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: but not God. In chapter 14, we have a second
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: act where the erosion continues. And it is an irresponsible,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: unwise decision he makes that almost cost the life of
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: his son, Jonathan, if you can believe it. Let me
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: give you a quick analysis of what has happened. Jonathan,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: through a sneak attack, is the one responsible for victory
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: over the Philistines. And while the troops are surrounding Saul,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: they find themselves confused and unsure about what to do next.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Jonathan leads this ambush and he stands against enemy lines
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: and through a series of events, a little too detailed
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: to get into, God gives them the victory. However, in
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: the meantime, Saul is panicked. Chapter 14, verse 24. Because
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: his men are pressing on him. And if you've ever
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: been in battle, you know how confusing that can be.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: The men of Israel were hard pressed on that day.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: For Saul had put the people under oath saying, Cursed
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: be the man who eats food before evening and until
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: I have avenged myself on my enemies. So none of
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the people tasted food. And all the people of the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: land entered the forest and there was honey on the ground.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: When the people entered the forest, behold, there was a
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: flow of honey, but no man put his hand to
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: his mouth for the people feared the oath. Now, the
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: question comes, why would he make such a rash vow?
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Nobody knows. When you are on the downside of the
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: rooftop of your life, you make statements and vows that
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: are foolish, irresponsible, and sometimes even dangerous, as this was.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: And these men need food to continue fighting. Now, verse 27,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Jonathan was in another place of battle. He hadn't heard
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: when his father put the people under oath. Therefore, he
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: put out the end of the staff that was in
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Of course,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: he got a little energy. One of the people answered
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: and said, Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Cursed be the man who eats food today. The people
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: were weary. Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. Ah,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: sometimes the confrontation comes from one of your own grown kids.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: See now how my eyes have brightened because I tasted
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: a little of this honey? How much more if only
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: their enemies, which they found. For now the slaughter among
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: the Philistines has not been great. In other words, what
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: a vow for my dad to make. Why would he
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: say such a thing? Look, I'm an example. If we
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: were cursed, God would kill me. But I'm strengthened. But
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: would you believe it over in verse 43? Saul said
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: to Jonathan, tell me what you have done. And Jonathan
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: told him and said, I indeed tasted a little honey
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: with the end of the staff that was in my hand.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Here I am. I must die. And Saul said, may
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: God do this to me and more also. For you
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: shall surely die, Jonathan. I take it that he was
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: reaching for his sword. He's going to take the life
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: of his boy. Rather than retract and say, Jonathan, I
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: can't do that. You're a living example of how foolish
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: my orders were. I made the wrong statement. Before God,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: I repent. I apologize. You know who saved Jonathan's life?
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: The people. Next verse. The people said to the king,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: must Jonathan die? who has brought about this great deliverance
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: in Israel. He's the man that led the ambush. Far
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: from it, as the Lord lives. Look at them. They're
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: challenging the king's words. There shall not one hair of
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: his head fall to the ground, for he has worked
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, and
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: he did not die. Let your eyes study that for
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: a moment and try to imagine how blind this leader
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: has become So determined is he to get his way
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: that he's willing to take the life or have someone
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: take the life of his son rather than retract a
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: stupid decision. Point number two, Saul took himself seriously, but
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: not God. I mean, after all, he had said it
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: and he was not about to go back on his word.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Let's all learn a lesson from Saul's negative example. Sometime
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: the wisest thing you can do is simply face the
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: music and say, what I decided earlier was unwise, wasn't right,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: wasn't cool, wasn't best. And I publicly declare the fact
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: that I was mistaken. And I've learned through this my
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: own imperfection. And I beg your forgiveness. I repent of that.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: how much they would have rallied around it. But you
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: know what's happened now? The people are seeing through the
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: cracks of his life. There is nothing quite like the
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: loss of a respect in a spiritual leader's life when
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: that begins to happen. It's only a matter of time.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: The people are saying, Saul, that wasn't... right, and we
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: stand with Jonathan and not with you. So he's forced
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: to retract. He's at least forced to back away. Chapter
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: 15 is the final straw. He has one more chance,
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: it seems. Here we see the true colors of Saul's character.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: By now he's drifted so far that he's able to
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: do one thing and to talk another. Look at verse 2.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: for what he did to Israel, how he set himself
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: against him on the way while he was coming up
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: from Egypt. Now go, these are the words from Samuel
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: to Saul, according to verse 1. Go and strike Amalek
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: and utterly destroy all that he has and don't spare him.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: and put to death both man and woman, child and infant,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: ox and sheep, camel and donkey. Now I want to
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: ask you something. Is that clear? If you had heard
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: those words in Hebrew, as a Hebrew, from your commander,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: the man who anointed you as king, who spoke for God,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: would you have understood what God was saying? First of all,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: it's God that's saying this, not Samuel. Thus says the Lord.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: to punish Amalek, I'm going to strike the king and
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: all of the people and all of the animals. Make
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: no mistake, the Lord has given the assignment. It's crystal clear.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: So Saul goes. You anticipate, don't you? Verse 7, Saul
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as you go to Shur,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: which is east of Egypt. And he captured Agag. You
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: hear the brakes? All of a sudden, My mind says, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Captured?
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Did I read captured in the original orders? I read
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: put to death. Destroy. Utterly destroy. Strike. Do not spare.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: But he captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: And utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the sword. But Saul... And the people spared a gag
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: and not only the king, they spared the best of
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: that was good. And we're not willing to destroy them utterly,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: but notice that they were not willing to destroy them,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: but everything despised and worthless. They utterly destroyed who gave
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: them the right to discriminate one section or group from another.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: They were to leave only corpses on the land in
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: obedience to God. Mystery or not, agree with it or not,
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: that is obedience. God says do it this way. That
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: is exactly what they should have done. But they didn't.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: So here's Saul sitting in the tent, smoking the peace
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: pipe with Agag, the king, and rapping about the best
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: sheep that they've kept out there. Verse 10, the word
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I regret I
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: have made Saul king for he's turned back from following
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: me and has not carried out my commands. By now,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Samuel's about headed. Wouldn't you think? He was distressed. The
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: word means angry. He cried out to the Lord all
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: night and he rose early in the morning to meet Saul.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: And it was told Samuel saying Saul came to Carmel
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: and he sent up a monument for himself and then
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal. Interesting, isn't it?
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: Set up a monument for himself. Samuel came to Saul
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: I've carried out the command of the Lord. Wait a minute.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: Where are we? Is this Zenith or Jupiter? What part
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: of the world are you in, Saul? He said, I've
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: carried out the command of the Lord. Samuel's just been
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: told by God he hasn't. And Agag is standing there.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Look at Samuel's answer. What then is the bleeding of
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: the sheep in my ears? The sheep all over the place.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: What then, if you've carried out the command, who are
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: these living four-footed creatures running all around here? And who
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: are the, what's with the oxen, which I hear? Watch
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: Saul backpedal. It is a very interesting study. He greets
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Saul rather than bows in shame and regret. Verse 13.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: He lies about his actions. Verse 13 and 14. And
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: now he rationalizes around it. Look at what he says.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites, for
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the people spared the best of the sheep and the
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. But the
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: rest we've utterly destroyed. Look at all those carcasses. But
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: these we've kept as offerings to God. I checked my
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: dictionary for the word rationalize and found this definition. To
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: provide plausible but untrue reasons for conduct. Here's another one.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: To attribute one's actions to rational and creditable motives without
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: the analysis of true unconscious motives. Let me give that
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: to you again. To attribute one's actions to rational and
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: creditable motives without Analysis of true unconscious motives. He had
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: convinced himself that because they were going to be offerings
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: to God, it was okay to leave them alive, to
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: keep them alive. But Samuel, I'm sure Saul thought, think
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: of the sacrifice, this marvelous animal sacrifice that will come
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: before the nostrils of God. Then Samuel said to Saul, wait,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: which could be rendered, shut your mouth. Let me tell
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: you what the Lord said to me last night. And
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: now I'm sure Saul's mouth's open and says, speak. You
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: know what, folks? I really believe Saul thought he was
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: doing right. That's a tragedy of it. honestly believe he
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: is so blind to his disobedience that he really, in
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: his mind, had talked himself into doing it this way
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: rather than that. You can do that. He says, speak.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: I'm ready to hear. Samuel said, is it not true,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: though you were little in your own eyes, you were
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  Speaker 1: made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the
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  Speaker 1: Lord anointed you king over Israel. I'm sure Saul said,
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  Speaker 1: that's right. That's the way it all began. The Lord
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  Speaker 1: sent you on a mission and said, go and utterly
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  Speaker 1: destroy the sinners. Fight against them until they are exterminated. Well, yes,
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  Speaker 1: I recall. Why then did you not obey the voice
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did
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  Speaker 1: what was evil in the sight of the Lord? I
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  Speaker 1: call that direct confrontation. And Saul said to Samuel, I
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  Speaker 1: did obey the voice of the Lord. We're talking major
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  Speaker 1: blind spot. And I went out on a mission on
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: which the Lord sent me. And I brought back Agag,
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  Speaker 1: the king, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people,
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  Speaker 1: these people, he's passing the buck, took some of the
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  Speaker 1: spoil and sheep and oxen, choicest of the things devoted
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  Speaker 1: to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God. Can't
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  Speaker 1: you get that straight, Samuel? I mean, look at what
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  Speaker 1: we're going to do with these sheep. We've saved them
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  Speaker 1: for the altar of God. That is how rationalism works.
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  Speaker 1: Rationalization works. You so talk yourself into another game plan.
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  Speaker 1: You convince yourself it's God's will. I want you to
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: hear the words of Samuel. Samuel. Samuel said, has the
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  Speaker 1: Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as
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  Speaker 1: in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey
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  Speaker 1: is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat
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  Speaker 1: of rams. Look at this, folks. For rebellion is as
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  Speaker 1: the sin of divination. Insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.
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  Speaker 1: The next time you're tempted to laugh about your children's rebellion,
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  Speaker 1: go back to this verse. The next time you're willing
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  Speaker 1: to just sort of smile and say, that's another little
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: temper tantrum. They do it all the time. Go back
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  Speaker 1: to that verse. Because you have rejected the word of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, he has rejected you from being king. He
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  Speaker 1: goes further down the tubes. He lands on David and
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  Speaker 1: out of envy and jealousy tries to murder him on
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  Speaker 1: more than one occasion. And by the end of his life,
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  Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, when life reached its lowest ebb,
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  Speaker 1: he dies. A tragic suicide. A man who was once tall, handsome, modest, giving, generous,
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  Speaker 1: a warrior, and a fine leader. Turns against everything that
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  Speaker 1: he was to represent. There's a great hymn we love
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  Speaker 1: to sing. And can it be? It starts. I'm tempted
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  Speaker 1: to ask at this point, how can it be? With Saul.
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  Speaker 1: How can it be? He took the people seriously, but
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: he didn't take God seriously. He took himself seriously. He
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: didn't take God seriously. He took his circumstances seriously. He
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: never took God seriously. That's what happened. Four reminders that
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  Speaker 1: live on beyond the story of King Saul. Let me
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  Speaker 1: give them to you, just sort of one, two, three, four.
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  Speaker 1: To assume that you will end strong because you have
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  Speaker 1: begun strong is foolish. To assume that you will end
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  Speaker 1: strong because you have begun strong is foolish. You want
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: to talk to me about your ministry? Come back when
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: you're 70, 75 years old. Let's talk about your ministry.
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  Speaker 1: You want to tell me how God's hand has been
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: on your life? Talk to me when you're old and great.
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  Speaker 1: Talk to me about it when you're spending your years
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: in the retirement home. Tell me about it when you
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: have finished with the flash and the years are past.
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: Let's talk then about God's hand on your life. It's
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: foolish to think that because you began strong, you will
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: automatically end strong. You know what message I have for
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  Speaker 1: you in that? Keep short accounts. Keep short accounts. Second,
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  Speaker 1: To presume into inappropriate areas because circumstances are uncomfortable is dangerous.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: To presume into inappropriate areas because circumstances are uncomfortable is dangerous.
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  Speaker 1: My message to all of us at this point is
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: watch and pray. Watch and pray. Here's a third, and
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: I get it from what happened between him and his son.
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  Speaker 1: To jeopardize the well-being of another because you're unwilling to
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  Speaker 1: alter an unwise decision is unfair. To jeopardize the well-being
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  Speaker 1: of another because you're unwilling to alter an unwise decision
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  Speaker 1: is unfair. Admit and change. Be humble enough to admit
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  Speaker 1: it was a wrong decision. You realize the outcome of
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: it would be dangerous or would hurt the well-being of another.
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  Speaker 1: Back off of that decision. And finally, to rationalize your
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: disobedience because you wanted your way is rebellion. Face the truth.
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  Speaker 1: To rationalize your disobedience because you wanted Your way is rebellion.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Face the truth. The most dangerous part of all of it,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: I have found, is that it can happen today just
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: as readily as it happened in that day. Not one
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: of us is beyond this kind of thing occurring. It's
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: very possible that God has brought you to a place
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: of responsibility and leadership, and if He has, I'm grateful
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: and I praise His name. He's still using individuals, young, middle-aged,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: and old alike. I just want to caution all of
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: us that in being used for Him, there is a
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: process of trial that continually comes our way, where pride
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  Speaker 1: has a chance to act in place of modesty and humility,
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: where we can, as I've often said, start believing our
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: own stuff rather than realizing we have this as a
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: very sacred trust. Let's hold it loosely. Let's be quick
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: to admit when we are wrong. Let's be careful to
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: listen when God directs Let's be disciplined enough to do
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: just what he says. And let's try to protect one
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: another in the process, lest our disobedience flow over into
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: the hurting of another life. And the greater the leader,
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: the more lives are hurt by rebellion and disobedience. Would
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: you bow for a few moments of quiet reflection, please?
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  Speaker 1: It may be that you have come from a past
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: that has been marked by a brokenness and strife. It
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: may be that what you have made of your life
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: really is a first class mess. But unlike Saul, you
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: have come to realize that and you've turned the corner,
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: you've come back to God. And it is the Father's
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: desire to use you as he once planned to use
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: you now that you have turned around and seen the
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: error of your ways. Father, I pray that you will
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: speak in a direct way to one or two folks
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: who needed to hear these words of warning in this message.
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you for speaking to me and for the quiet
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: reassurance that you and I have had this week of
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: going back over the very things that I've learned from
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: Saul's life. May it never be said of me, may
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: it never be said of us, that we have played
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: the fool. Rivet these things to our hearts, our Father,
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: as many sit on the verge of a future that
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: is both great and God-honoring. May we humbly walk with
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  Speaker 1: you through it. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Saul, the King Who Refused to Bow,
• 56:22
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 1990, 1992, 2006, 2012, and 2024, and
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R.
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 56:25
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.