A Rejected King
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Why was Saul Rejected?
Intro- Samuel’s Farewell Speech
Saul preparing for battle with the Philistines.
Background
Amalekites opposed Jews as they left Egypt (Exodus 17:8-16
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
200 year promise fulfilled.
Ample time for repentance.
Nineveh as example
So why was Saul rejected?
Misunderstood Himself
Misunderstood Himself
Self-Esteem, Not God Esteem
And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
This is the crux of all of Samuel’s issues as the king. He has low self esteem. When he first met Samuel and was spoken to favorably he said this: 1 Samuel 9:21
Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”
Saul seemed convinced that he was a nobody. Even though by outward appearances, he certainly was more of a somebody than most people.
He came from a wealthy family.
He was tall.
He was handsome.
What we can learn from this is that:
It is not about who you think you are, but who God says that you are.
We must understand who we are, but more than that, we must understand who God says we are.
The dangers of Self esteem
Too high
Why would God send me to hell?
Too low
How could God love me?
Too easy to fluctuate.
too function normally, we would have to lie to ourselves.
It is dependent on others opinions of us. We constantly seek validation.
We should seek to have God-Esteem. Who does God say we are?
Sinner.
Thoroughly seen and examined.
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
Loved.
Ransomed.
Child of God.
Perfectly saved.
More concerned about peoples opinion of him rather than God’s commands.
He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
Saul’s insecurity about who he was, led to him being a poor leader. Instead of leading people to do what he knew was right (because he was told by God!) he bent to their will.
In starting his rebuke of Saul, samuel said this 1 Samuel 15:17
And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
This was to remind Saul that God has placed him into this position of power. We have discussed how this should change his perception of himself.
More than that, it should change his interaction with those around him. A person with low self-esteem will be looking for validation, often from those around them.
Samuel is reminding Saul that his validation comes from the Lord and he is accountable to Him.
While godly counsel is helpful, we should not let people distract us from what God calls us to do.
Much of what we are called to do will cause friction with people that we meet in the world.
We must stand firm on God’s truth, and not conform to what the world may say.
We must call sin what it is.
We must live differently.
We must share the Gospel, showing people their sin, and calling them to repentance.
Jesus knew that we would face these difficulties.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
We should expect that if we faithfully follow, there will be pushback or even persecution.
When this happens, we cannot bow to the persecution, but instead must stand firm in what we know God has called us to do.
We must value God’s calling over people’s opinions.
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
Misunderstood God
Misunderstood God
Ritual Not Right Relationship
I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
Saul’s understanding of sacrifice is way off. He treats it as a transactional thing.
I want success, I will sacrifice to the Lord.
This reminds me of how the elders brought the Ark of the Covenant out before the battle. They brought it as a weapon. Saul is treating the Lord in a similar way.
Notice that Saul admits that he had not sought the favor of the Lord.
Saul had not approached the Lord in regards to this upcoming battle.
He could have (and should have) sought him in prayer. He could have (and should have) asked if he should perform the sacrifice, or wait.
Rather than go to the Lord, he looked to force the Lord to come to him.
Later, Saul thought that the Lord desired sacrifice over obedience.
God surely didn’t want the best of their animals to be destroyed did he? We can at least sacrifice them!
God desires a right relationship with him and a right heart with pure motives over sacrifice.
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
When a kid crashes a car, “I am just glad you are alright.”
David understood this
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
God does not desire that we do things the right way, he desires right relationship. Right relationship leads to doing things the right way.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The works do not save, but the result of the saving is works.
Psalm 51 David exclaimed there would be offerings in celebration once right relationship was restored.
God does not desire that we do things the right way, he desires right relationship. Right relationship leads to doing things the right way.
We see this attitude today still.
People equate doing good things with earning God’s favor.
People equate church attendance with seeking the favor of God.
They equate giving monetarily to the church to seeking favor with God.
I said preacher maybe you didn't see me
Throw an extra twenty in the plate
That's one for everything I did last night
And one to get me through today
Here's a ten to help you remember
Next time you got the good Lord's ear
Say I'm comin' but there ain't no hurry
I'm havin' fun down here
Don't you know that
Everybody want to go to heaven
Get their wings and fly around
Everybody want to go to heaven
But nobody want go now
An egregious misunderstanding of who God is and how we relate to him.
God desires a relationship with us. This relationship changes and transforms us. It leads to our obedience. It leads to good works out of celebration and not obligation.
Knowing better than the Lord
And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Saul was given very clear instructions.
He followed them, but only to his own pleasure.
His sin is the same as the sin in the garden.
Did God really say?
Did God really say to devote everything to destruction? That sure would be a shame to see all of those good things go to waste.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Disobedience is like witchcraft and assuming the Lord’s role is idolatry.
When God calls us to do something, he expects obedience.
Aliza and the scissors and the dog. And then the next day she had scissors again. “But I wasn’t cutting the dog’s hair!”
It is not up to us to find loopholes in his commands. It is not up to us to find the boundary of what is “technically” obedience. We must simply obey.
If we don’t want to be like Saul we should:
Consider how God views us, rather than how we view ourselves.
We should regard what he says over what others say.
We must remember that he wants us in right relationship with him, not simply performing rituals.
We must remember he calls us to be obedient, and not to interpret our way out of obedience.