Desperate Measures

Turn to 1 Samuel 13

Intro:

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: DESPERATE TIMES CALL for DESPERATE MEASURES

TEND to GET CREATIVE DURING DESPERATION...

YOUTH GROUP CHRISTMAS PARTY JALAPENO CHALLENGE

“DON’T TOUCH EYES!”

SAM S. TOUCHES EYE

SAM W/ BREAD CONTACT...

DESPERATION BRINGS CREATIVITY…& MAKES MEMORIES...

OPENING TEXT: CONSIDER, WHAT DO YOU DO IN TIMES of ACTUAL DESPERATION?

GET CREATIVE?

FINAGLE YOUR WAY OUT?

DO YOU PLACE FAITH/TRUST in GOD?

Recap

Last Week:

SAMUEL’S FAREWELL ADDRESS

KEY FIGURE, BUT NO LONGER MAIN LEADER.

SAMUEL RECOUNTS PERSONAL FAITHFULNESS & FAITHFULNESS of GOD—INDICTING PEOPLE.

URGES, SERVE GOD W/ ALL YOUR HEART…CONSIDER ALL GOD’S DONE...

KING CAN’T SAVE IDOLATROUS PEOPLE

QUESTION NOW: WHERE’S THE HEART of GOD’S PEOPLE & KING??

🐢🐢🐢 --31 minutes left-- 🐢🐢🐢

Text

Setting (V1-2)

1 Samuel 13:1–23 (ESV)

1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.

TEXT BEGINS: FAMOUS TEXTUAL PROBLEM

SCRIPTURES RELIABLY TRANSMITTED…NO SIGNIFICANT ISSUES, DOCTRINE = CLEAR.

NUMBERS,, SOMETIMES, BUT RARELY...LESS CLEAR

MANY TRANS.— SAUL = 30 YEARS OLD.

🐢🐢🐢🐢

WE KNOW SOME TIME HAS PASSED…SAUL = ADULT W/ ADULT CHILDREN.

SAUL GETS STANDING ARMY TOGETHER, SANDWICHING PHILISTINE GARRISON

1,000 UNDER LEADERSHIP of JONATHAN

2,000 UNDER SAUL’S LEADERSHIP.

SENDS REST of ISRAEL’S MEN HOME.

(T) So the question is, now that SAUL is TAKING INITIATIVE after Samuel’s farewell address, WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT? Well the text says,

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Inciting Incident (V3-4)

3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

SAUL = PASSIVE AGAIN....WHILE WAITING JONATHAN LEADS ARMY TO VICTORY

SAUL BLOWS TRUMPET—PROCLAIMS VICTORY,, RALLYING TROOPS to GILGAL

🐢🐢🐢🐢

NOTE WHO GOT CREDIT.....

WHEN SAUL DEFEATED NAHASH— GOD GOT CREDIT.

NOW, JONATHAN DEFEATS PHILISTINES & SAUL GETS CREDIT...

(Q) WHO GETS THE CREDIT for the VICTORIES in YOUR LIFE?

HARD to TAKE BLAME...

EASY to TAKE CREDIT…

LOVE PAUL’S EXAMPLE: OUTWORKING OTHER APOSTLES…YET IT WAS GOD’S GRACE WITHIN HIM!

BELIEVERS SHOULD STRIVE to GIVE GOD GLORY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE...

TROOPS RALLY @ GILGAL…FOR ISRAEL had BECOME STENCH to PHILISTINES...

(IN CH. 10 SAMUEL TOLD SAUL to GO HERE… & FINALLY HE’S THERE).

(T) So, ISRAEL WON this GREAT VICTORY and they get a little BOASTFUL , and the Philistines get a little mad. They’ve POKED the BEAR again, so now THINGS are GETTING HEATED. No one likes defeat, and no one likes to hear of their enemies boasting, so HOW will the PHILISTINES REACT?? The text says in verse five,

🐢🐢🐢—25 minutes left-- 🐢🐢🐢

Rising Tension (v5)

5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

TEXT TODAY BEGAN: 3,000 ISRAELITES in 2 LOCATIONS...

PHILISTINES RETALIATE W/ 10X in CHARIOTS ALONE! & INNUMERABLE SOLDIERS...

(T) So, things are looking pretty rough for Israel, how will they respond? Let’s see what the text says next, verse six goes on to say,

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

First Climax (V6-7)

6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

MEN of ISRAEL = PROMPTLY HUMBLED…

LITERALLY RUNNING & HIDING! TRYING to CROSS JORDAN RIVER (EAST)

TRIALS & TROUBLES OFTEN SHOW US WHERE our CONFIDENCE LIES...

REMIND US WE’RE INSUFFICIENT...

BEGINNING of TEXT: ISRAEL’S MILITARY STRATEGY WORKED…JONATHAN WON…BUT NOW THEY’RE OUTNUMBERED!

&& THE PEOPLE ARE FEELING DESPERATE…NOT LOOKING to GOD...

(T) So, SAUL is at GILGAL WHERE SAMUEL TOLD HIM to GO, WAITING for PEOPLE to COME, and he’s now got more guys to fight, but THEY’RE ALL SCARED. And then our text says,

🐢🐢🐢...20 minutes...🐢🐢🐢

Setting (V8)

8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.

THINGS SPIRALING OUT of CONTROL....

SAUL LOST CONFIDENCE of the PEOPLE...

PEOPLE = TERRIFIED & RUNNING AWAY

ARMY in SHAMBLES...

SAUL = WAITING....&& SAMUEL ISN’T COMING!

SAUL WHO HAD 1ST-HAND EXPERIENCE W/ GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL TIMING WAS NOW STRUGGLING W/ FAITH…

(T) And SURELY this is UNDERSTANDABLE, WAITING for 7 DAYS in such DESPERATION with NO ANSWER?? We’d probably be getting nervous too, so what’s Saul going to do? The text says,

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Rising Tension (V9-12)

9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.

11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 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.”

GREAT PANIC

PEOPLE SCATTERING

SAMUEL NOT COMING...

DESPERATE TIMES...

SAUL TAKES MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS...

**KINGS WEREN’T PRIESTS…NOT TO MAKE SACRIFICES… OUT OF ORDER!

IRONY---ASKING FOR GOD’S BLESSING WHILE CONTRADICTING GOD’S WAYS!!

AT LEAST 2X SAUL WAS REMINDED HE WAS SUBJECTED to GOD’S WORD THROUGH PROPHET...

SAUL HAD to OBEY GOD’S LAW...

SAUL DISOBEYS EXPLICITLY to ATTEMPT to GAIN GOD’S FAVOR!

🐢🐢🐢🐢

WE CAN’T EXPECT GOD’S BLESSINGS IF WE WALK CONTRARY TO HIS WAYS!

RUNNING BUSINESS UNETHICALLY, DON’T PRAY & EXPECT GOD’S HELP

MARRYING UNBELIEVER/LIVING TOGETHER? DON’T EXPECT GOD’S BLESSING WHEN YOU AREN’T FOLLOWING HIS WAYS.

PRAYER ISN’T JUST a CATCH-ALL TO FIX OUR SHORTCOMINGS & SMOOTH THINGS OVER…GOD is GRACIOUS…BUT HE WON’T BE MANIPULATED.

🐢🐢🐢🐢

IMMEDIATELY, SAMUEL SHOWS UP. RIGHT ON TIME.

THE DELAY WAS A TEST!!

SAUL, WHEN YOU’RE DESPERATE, WHO WILL YOU LEAN ON?

SAUL, WHEN THINGS ARE HARD, WHERE WILL YOU TURN?

SAUL, HOW WILL YOU FOLLOW GOD WHEN THE PRESSURE’S ON??

SAUL DIDN’T TRUST GOD & GOD’S TIMING…TAKES MATTERS INTO HIS HANDS & “FORCES HIMSELF” to SIN....

REMEMBER, THINGS in ISRAEL WOULD GO WELL IF KING & PEOPLE SERVED GOD W/ WHOLE HEART...

DISOBEDIENT KING = BAD ROLE MODEL...

🐢🐢🐢🐢

SAUL GOES to SAMUEL NONCHALANTLY GREETING HIM & SAMUEL COMES W/ CRITICISM...

**VERY IMPORTANT...NOTE SAUL’S RESPONSE! HEAPS of EXCUSES & BLAME!!

ARMY WAS SCATTERING = THEIR FAULT.

SAMUEL YOU TOOK TOO LONG = YOUR FAULT.

PHILISTINES MUSTERED LARGE ARMY = THEIR FAULT.

NO HINTS of REPENTANCE…NO TAKING RESPONSIBILITY.

MILITARY VICTORY—SAUL GETS CREDIT.

SIN — SAUL TAKES NO CREDIT.

🐢🐢🐢🐢

BLAMESHIFTING = HUMAN NATURE.

SELAH’S RECENT HABIT of BLAMING ANIMALS (TURTLE & DOG) for WRECKED ROOM...

NOT SURE IF SHE’S JOKING…BUT IT’S HABIT FOR HUMANS to BLAME!

SAUL HAD to DO IT. HE COULDN’T HELP IT…HE FORCED HIMSELF… AND IT WASN’T HIS FAULT.

(T) Now we have to remember, SAUL was GENUINELY in DESPERATE STRAITS. So WILL HE GET ANY SLACK?? let’s see how SAMUEL RESPONDS..., look at verse 13.

🐢🐢🐢…13 minutes... 🐢🐢🐢

Climax (V13-14)

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

OOF! SAUL RECEIVES JUDGMENT for SIN...

SAUL’S HEART WASN’T RIGHT.

TO LEAD GOD’S PEOPLE ISN’T A MATTER of LOOKS, BUT of CHARACTER...

SAUL’S HEART HAD COMPROMISE as ANSWER for DIFFICULTY.

JUDGMENT = NO LASTING DYNASTY for KING SAUL...

🐢🐢🐢🐢

COMBINATION of SIN/COMPROMISE WITHOUT REPENTANCE DISQUALIFIED SAUL FROM LEADERSHIP.

SERMON SERIES — HEART of WORSHIP…REMINDER, GOD CARES ABOUT OUR HEARTS!!

LAST WK. SERVE GOD W/ ALL OUR HEARTS...

NOW, SAUL FAILED BECAUSE of a HEART ISSUE...

A HEART AFTER GOD MANIFESTS ITSELF in OBEDIENCE to GOD & REPENTANCE AFTER FALLING SHORT...

PROOF is IN THE PUDDING!

HEART AFTER GOD = MORE THAN LIP-SERVICE or FEELING...

SAUL FELL SHORT & WAS DISQUALIFIED FROM LEADERSHIP...

(T) And then our TEXT CONTINUES and says,

🐢🐢....8 minutes left... 🐢🐢

Falling Tension (V15)

15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.

SAMUEL DOESN’T OFFER SACRIFICE & LEAVES...

SAUL & REMNANT of ARMY LEFT WITHOUT GOD’S BLESSING, WITHOUT GOD’S DIRECTION && WITHOUT HOPE...

(T) And so SAUL, CERTAINLY SHOOK UP, is going to TRY and FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO next, look at verse 15.

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Resolution (V15b-18)

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

IN WAKE of ALL THIS…SAUL TALLIES UP FORCES....

PHILISTINES MAD...

80% of SAUL’S ORIGINAL FORCES = GONE…600 GUYS LEFT...

STILL NO REPENTANCE on SAUL’S PART…LEANING INTO NATURAL SOLUTIONS...

GOD COULD DELIVER W/ LESS THAN 600!!

BUT SAUL’S CONFIDENCE WASN’T in GOD @ THIS POINT...

&& PHILISTINES WERE SENDING OUT RAIDING BANDS to HARASS ISRAEL & DESTROY STUFF.

(T) THINGS were LOOKING WORSE and WORSE for ISRAEL, and now our TEXT is GOING to CLOSE in verses 19 through 23.

🐢🐢🐢.....6 minutes left...🐢🐢🐢

Conclusion (v19-23)

19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.”

20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.

22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

PHILISTINES FAR MORE MILITARILY EQUIPPED...

ISRAEL PAYING $$$ FOR SHARPENING FARM TOOLS!!

STORY ENDS on BLEAK NOTE....

NO DIRECTION from PROPHET

NO BLESSING from GOD...

ARMY in SHAMBLES...

KING W/ CARNAL HEART....

BUNCH of ISRAELITES WITHOUT SWORDS

PEOPLE NOT PUTTING FAITH in GOD....

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Homiletical Idea:

Desperate times do not always call for desperate measures, for there is no time so desperate that it merits disobedience to God.

TEST COMES DURING DIFFICULTY....

IT’S EASY to SERVE GOD on GOOD & EASY DAYS!

WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH…WHEN WE FALL SHORT…WHAT DO WE DO??

Gospel:

YOU MIGHT BE THINKING SAUL’S JUDGMENT = UNREASONABLE…PERHAPS SAMUEL WAS JUST GRUMPY...

BE INCREDIBLY CAREFUL NOT to DOWNPLAY SEEMINGLY SMALL AREAS of DISOBEDIENCE.

DISOBEDIENCE is STILL DISOBEDIENCE...

SAUL WASN’T AUTHORIZED to OFFER SACRIFICES… & THESE WERE HOLY THINGS THAT GOD HAD INSTITUTED...

STANDARDS & METHODS MIGHT SEEM DOGMATIC…BUT GOD MAKES THE RULES & THE PEOPLE KNEW THEM!

PROBLEM WE ALL FACE: WE’VE ALL BEEN DISOBEDIENT…WE’VE ALL FORSAKEN GOD..

SOME @ CATASTROPHIC LEVELS.

SOME = BETTER SINNERS...

BETTER SINNERS ARE STILL SINNERS.

GOD’S STANDARDS AREN’T JUST REGARDING BIG THINGS…GOD CARES ABOUT LITTLE THINGS TOO...

WE GENERALLY LABEL OUR STRUGGLES AS LITTLE AREAS ANYWAYS...

🐢🐢🐢🐢

SAUL’S JUDGMENT?? — TO BE REPLACED BY ONE AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART.

ENCOURAGE: WHETHER YOU’VE SINNED BIG or SMALL…THERE’S A MAN AFTER GOD’S HEART WHO OBEYED WHERE WE FAILED!

**WE’VE ALL SINNED…WE’VE ALL FALLEN SHORT...

PERHAPS YOU’VE ONLY BEEN A LIAR

COVETER

DISHONORED PARENTS

----

IDOLATER

ADULTERER

MURDERER

GOD CALLS the SHOTS.... & SIN = STILL SIN…ALL PART of SAME 10 COMMANDMENTS!

IT’S EASY for the LIAR/COVETER to SAY, “AT LEAST I’M NOT A MURDERER”

ALL SIN MAKES US LAWBREAKERS & TRANSGRESSORS...

🐢🐢🐢🐢

OUR SITUATION WAS DESPERATE....NO CHANCE of SALVATION.... WE WERE UNRIGHTEOUS...

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES?? GOD GAVE HIS SON FOR US!!

WHERE WE COULDN’T LIVE to the STANDARD…JESUS LIVED THE PERFECT OBEDIENT LIFE WE WERE CALLED to LIVE!

IF YOU PLACE YOUR FAITH & TRUST in HIM… YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN of EVERY WRONG YOU’VE EVER DONE!

BIG SINNER

LITTLE SINNER

IN BETWEEN.

DOESN’T MATTER HOW VILE…OR HOW SEEMINGLY CLEAN.

YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN. TODAY.

BY GRACE…NOT BY WORKS…BECAUSE WE AREN’T CAPABLE of WORKING FOR IT!

🐢🐢🐢🐢

YOU CAN RECEIVE FREE GIFT:

BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST DIED for YOUR SIN… & WAS RAISED on 3RD DAY...

PROFESS HIM to BE LORD of YOUR LIFE… & TRUE LORD of CREATION…

TURN FROM SIN to THE SAVIOR…YOU CAN BE CLEANSED TODAY!!

***MADE INTO NEW CREATION…TODAY…SAVED FROM SINS PENALTY TODAY...

TALK TO US AFTER SERVICE.

🐢🐢🐢…3 minutes left....🐢🐢🐢

Takeaways:

Learn about God?

GOD’S TIMING = DIFFERENT THAN OURS… WE MUST WALK BY FAITH...

SAMUEL’S DELAY WASN’T in SAUL’S PLANS…BUT it WAS GOD’S TIMING...

GOD CARES ABOUT LITTLE THINGS JUST LIKE the BIG THINGS...

GOD DESIRES PERFECT OBEDIENCE to WHOLE LAW…NOT JUST PARTS of OUR CHOOSING...

Learn about Us?

MUST BE CAREFUL NOT to GLORY in OURSELVES...

GIVE GOD CREDIT...

BE WILLING to TAKE BLAME...

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

App.

Closing Question: “When desperate times come, do you place things in the hands of God, or do you keep them in your own hands?”

DURING TIMES of TESTING…DO YOU LOOK INWARD?? OR OUTWARD???

DO WE MAKE it HAPPEN/COMPROMISE....OR TRUST GOD KNOWS WHAT’S BEST??

SAUL PROVED HE WASN’T A MAN AFTER GOD’S HEART:

CONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE

LACK of REPENTANCE

DURING DIFFICULTY,, ARE YOU WILLING to COMPROMISE? OR DO YOU TRUST that GOD WORKS ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD?

The PROOF COMES DURING the TIMES of TESTING, and we must RESOLVE in OUR HEARTS to SERVE and OBEY GOD, even WHEN it’s INCONVENIENT and we’re FEELING DESPERATE.

Close in prayer