“Saul is Disobedient” - 1 Samuel 13

When Virginia's Henrico County School system decided to get rid of 1,000 laptop computers, they offered the 4-year-old Apple iBooks to the public for $50 each. People started lining up hours before the sale was to take place at the Richmond International Raceway.

One woman was so desperate to hold on to her place in line that she wet herself rather than give it up. By the time the gates opened at 7:00 a.m., desire had built to a fever pitch, and "a terrifying mob scene" took place. Although most injuries were minor, a child's stroller was crushed, and an elderly man was thrown to the ground.

Jesse Sandler was one of the winners. He ended up with an iBook, but not without a fight. Sandler beat people with the folding chair he had brought along. "I took my chair here, and I threw it over my shoulder, and I went, Bam," the 20-year-old said nonchalantly, his eyes glued to the screen of his new iBook as he tapped away on the keyboard at a testing station. "They were getting in front of me, and I was there a lot earlier than them, so I thought that it was just."

When I played sports and when I played badly my father would always tell me to stop making excuses and play. Because I was not able to stop justifying why I was doing the things I was doing. Many times, for many of us when we do something wrong we continue to make excuses and justify our mistakes especially when it comes to our fathers. Not only that, we tend to blame others for the incident sometimes, even our fathers. In our world today, it seems all people from all walks of life, fathers included, we justify ourselves when we do something wrong… we don’t like the guilt or shame that we receive. Not only that but the blame game is at an all-time high in our country. Politics, special interest groups, racism, narcissism, nepotism and rascalism. We blame and blame. Every day the same blame game. Why do we do this? Come on family, we seen it, we experienced it, many of us have seen some justify their sins against us or blamed us for their sins. Many of us may have been the one to do the justifying and or the blaming. Sometimes we just can’t handle the shame so we blame. But there is hope for us all today. We will find the answer in our text today.

Review: We witnessed Samuel’s farewell address to the people. He further develops the consequences in asking for a king and how things are going to further develop. We saw how all of this is a reflection our natural tendency to reject God and seek after the things of the world. But Samuel encouraged the people, in fear, because of their sin, by declaring the faithfulness of God. Do not be afraid. Now we continue.

We witnessed Samuel’s farewell address to the people. He further develops the consequences in asking for a king and how things are going to further develop. We saw how all of this is a reflection our natural tendency to reject God and seek after the things of the world. But Samuel encouraged the people, in fear, because of their sin, by declaring the faithfulness of God. Do not be afraid. Now we continue.

Summary: War continues with the Philistines. Saul was the King of Israel fulfilling the passage , where God said they would ask for a king. Saul began to muster an army for war. Jonathon was victorious at Geba and word spread quickly in Philistia as Saul called for all of Israel to rise up for battle. This brought even more hatred for the Israelites. The Philistines brought an army so grand that it caused many Israelites to run for the hills to hide in caves, thickets, holes ect. Saul’s men were trembling in fear. This concerned Saul as he waited 7 days for Samuel to make sacrifices to the Lord as instructed. But Samuel did not show. His men were beginning to scatter and run. He was losing his troops. So, Saul commanded the sacrifice to be brought to him so that he could make the sacrifice. And he did. Just then Samuel arrived with Saul going out to welcome him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” But, the men were beginning to flee and you did not come when you said you would. The Philistines were coming and we did not ask the Lord for favor yet. So I did it. “You foolish foolish faithless man. After you were warned about keeping the command of the Lord, you disobeyed Him. If you had kept it, the Lord would have made your kingdom last forever. Now it will end, and in fact the Lord has already found a man after His own heart and the Lord has already appointed him as leader over His people. Can you take a guess who this man is? Not only was there now unrest within the ranks of the soldiers because of what Saul did, they were all now at a strategic disadvantage. What of the people of Israel?

1 Samuel 13:13–14 NLT

“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

1. We Justify

1. We Justify

2. We Blame

3. He Justifies

The first thing we will look at is how Saul when asked why, was to justify his actions when face to face with his disobedience. When asked why… we justify. The second thing we will look at is how he could not take the shame so he was quick to blame. We don’t like shame…so we blame. Finally we will we will see how our King justifies his people by enduring shame on the cross.

Thesis Statement: Though the corruption of sin and the deceptions of the world causes us to justify when asked why and blame when we are face to face with shame bringing us think too highly of ourselves and too little of God resulting in real judgment, it is Christ who was shamed on the cross that justifies His people and causes us to become the people after the very heart of God.

We Justify

We Blame

I. We Justify

He Justifies

I. We Justify

- Because we can’t take it when we are face to face with the shame of what we have done, we tend to justify our actions.

A. Now Saul wanted to get the Philistines out of Geba, which was truly a heart land of Israel. Also, this enemy’s outpost was 3 miles away from the capital. 3 miles. From the church to Utah Park

B. They needed to get it back. But, not just that…it was a city for the Aaronic priesthood. This was a place for worshiping God. They needed this place to foster worship in the land.

C. Jonathon, stationed at the capital, Gibeah, went there and took it back by force. This was a resounding victory for Saul, which led him to blow the horn for battle. (They got the momentum swing) But now the Philistines and their hatred for the Israelites was now burning more than it ever did. They wanted this to be over quickly. And now there is a huge intimidating army before the Israelites and they began to tremble in fear. They could not win.

D. Think about it… Isn’t it amazing how many times we feel good after a battle in our own lives only to find that a war is now in front of us. Metaphorically speaking of course.

E. We beat an addiction or compulsive behavior, only to find that there is a problem or multiple problems even worse now standing before you. To find that we stood up for our faith at school and now everyone thinks I’m a freak. I preached to my colleagues at the office and now they all avoid me. So… This is what I get for being obedient.

F. This is what Saul got for being obedient. He is now face to face with a war that appeared as if he could not win. Now he was supposed to continue to be obedient, but this is now a disaster and now Samuel is late. If the sacrifice is not made to bring the favor of our God then we will lose for sure. Look, I know that kings are not to do this.

G. I know that it is disobedient, but the future of our people is in jeopardy. They were all starting to leave. I had no choice. I took matters into my own hands. I could not help it. It drives me crazy, like no one else, it drives me crazy, and I can’t help myself.

H. Think about it… can you blame him? What would you have done? Obey, not sacrifice and watch his people get slaughtered. What to choose? This is why many of us could sympathize with Saul here. Impossible. So why was God so harsh with him? Let us also not deceive ourselves in think that we do not do the same things. When people ask me to pray then they ask if I did...

I. [Self-justification] allows people to convince themselves that what they did was the best thing they could have done. In fact, come to think of it, it was the right thing. "There was nothing else I could have done." "Actually, it was a brilliant solution to the problem." "I was doing the best for the nation." "Those [jerks] deserved what they got." "I'm entitled."

[For example], when researchers ask husbands and wives what percentage of the housework they do, the wives say, "Are you kidding? I do almost everything, at least 90 percent." And the husbands say, "I do a lot, about 40 percent." Although the specific numbers differ from couple to couple, the total always exceeds 100 percent by a significant margin. It's tempting to conclude that one spouse is lying, but it is more likely that each is remembering in a way that enhances his or her contribution.

Over time, as the self-serving distortions of memory kick in … we come to believe our own lies, little by little. We know we did something wrong, but we gradually begin to think that it wasn't our fault, and after all, the situation was complex. We start underestimating our own responsibility, whittling away at it until it is a mere shadow of its former hulking self. Not only do we justify, we will also blame.

II. We Blame

- Because we can’t take it when we are face to face with the shame, we tend to blame.

A. First of all, Saul knew the weight of the sin. He knew what how bad this sin was. He waited till the last moment. And then he begins to rationalize his actions. To defend it. To justify it. I got a good reason. This is what we do when we sin. And we Blame!

B. It’s your fault… you did not come when you said you would. God you did not come through for me like you promised in your Word that you would help me. Samuel do you now see that the war is about to begin… its too late already. God you said that you will protect me… where are you. You left me, you abandoned me its now over. I lost it all. Samuel, they were starting to come and I did not yet have the Lord’s favor so I … more literally… I forced myself to make the sacrifice. I did not want to do it, It was against my good judgment, but you left me no choice. I had to disobey. I know that it is wrong, I know that this is disobedient to God, but I asked, I prayed, I fasted, I waited, and waited, and waited and He left me no choice. I had to disobey for the sake of my family, for the sake of my friends, for the sake of the world. And if you only came in a timely manner, then this would not be an issue. You took too Long

C. Samuel said… you are a fool! If this is what we have done, then we are also fools! Do we really think that there is a good excuse to disobey the Lord? If we do then what are we saying about the importance of the Law of God. Do these reasons carry more importance then the holy, unadulterated, transcendent, irreproachable word of God? Do we think that the survival of a nation is more important than obedience to God? Do we think that a sacrifice is more important than obedience?

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22

Why do we do this??

We think too highly of ourselves and to little of the Word of God. Watch this.

E. Shane… I understand that it is disobedient for a king to offer a sacrifice, but it is just a sacrifice. I understand that following God’s word is important, but we are talking about a war here. I understand that we must obey, but the very lives of many people in our country is at stake here. Doesn’t God care more about people then the method of sacrifice? He got what he wanted… He got his sacrifice. What’s the deal?

F. Shane…are you saying that it is possible that at this time with the Philistines coming against us, our nation about to be wiped out, is God more concerned as to how a simple everyday sacrifice is to be done, than to the well being of a nation and all of its people?

G. The answer is YES! Do we think that little of the Law of God and that much of ourselves, that we would see this as an acceptable excuse for disobedience? Do you see how we fail? The lives of thousands vs. His purposes. Do we think that highly of ourselves that there is something about us that would justify disobedience to God? This is why the self-esteem movement is hurting our culture. When we think to high of ourselves, we automatically think too little of God.

H. How could God think that His commands are not more important than a nation? Because His word is Holy and Worthy and when heaven and earth passes away, His word will still remain. Do we think that our filthy rag works with disobedient worship from sinful people are worth more than God’s holy law? We think too highly of ourselves and to little of God.

I. Do we think that it would be better to disobey the Law and touch the ark to keep it from falling then to let it fall to the mud. Uzza, with good intentions did and many of us would have as well. Again we think too highly of ourselves and to little of the Word of God. Do you realize that it would be cleaner for the Ark to fall into the mud than for us to touch it? Mud is not plagued with disgusting filthy rag sin. It does not steal, kill, lie, fornicate, and commit idolatry. Would you rather be covered with mud, or covered with vomit? We think too highly of ourselves and to little of God.

J. Do we think that it is wrong for God to be upset about this? He got His Sacrifice. Who cares how it was given. A Sacrifice is worship. Worship. We give Him what He wants, who cares how we do it as long as we do it… Wrong! God does want our worship, but He also cares how we do it! Ask Nadab and Abihu. We think too highly of ourselves and to little of God. Shane I came to church what more does He want? He should be happy I even came today. Im here don’t expect me to give my all in worship today… you don’t know what kind of week I had.

K. It is because we think to highly of ourselves and to little of God, that we sympathize with Saul and think that God was too harsh on Him. I am telling uus all today… if we think God was too harsh on Saul today... It is because we think to highly of ourselves and too little of God, that we think universalism or that all people will go, no matter what, to heaven is a right and acceptable doctrine. It is because we think too highly of ourselves and too little of God that we are inundated with the preaching of successful life principles, prosperity and purposes instead of the reality of sin and hell. Maybe we just don’t think that God really means it when He says that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

L. It is because we think too highly of ourselves and too little of God that we feel like we can worship God however we want, when we want, using whatever we want, bmx, clowns, circus, laser lights and explosions, using pizza and coke for elements of the Lord’s Table, using Jesus bobble head dolls and caricatures to bling our cars.

M. It is because we think to highly of ourselves and too little of God that the good news of the Gospel is not very good, because we do not see how sinful we really are. When we think that these things are not that bad, it is because we are thinking to high of ourselves and too little of God.

N. Many of us may not think that what Saul did was really all that bad. We are not really all that bad because we are not like all of those bad people. Again we only think we are good because we compare ourselves to other people. Compare yourself to Christ.

James 2:10 NLT

For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

You are as guilty as them.

O. Many of us who might not think that Saul’s sin was not so bad, forgets the fact that his little sin deserves death. Look, Adam’s little sin condemned all of mankind, not just a nation. We forget that all of our sin, even the smallest sins, could only be paid for by the suffering, torturous, disfiguring death of the Son of God on the Cross. We have got to stop thinking too highly of ourselves and to little of God. Our God is greater stronger and He is Higher than anyone of us. He is higher than the richest, strongest, smartest of all that mankind can muster. He is more precious than silver… He rules the raging of the seas...

III. He Justifies

He embraced the shame on the cross to truly justify our sins.

A. In light of all of this… The reality of sin is real. We are more like Saul and less like Christ than we initially thought. If today we see the reality that God is actually way more than we think He is and we are way less than we think we are, we see that serious gap between us and Christ. We see this gap … we see how sinful we are and how Holy He is and now we see the greatness of our condemnation and how much we actually deserve this condemnation and how unjust it would be for God not to condemn us.

B. Then Samuel showed Saul the core issue… God wants a king who is after His own heart. God wants a king that wants God. He wants a king whose desire is the Lord and the Lord alone. This was not Saul. Do we desire the Lord today? Yes, No, Maybe.

C. This is the beauty of the Gospel. Before we were born again, we did not desire Christ. We by nature were not people after the heart of Christ. He was not our desire. But behold the new Covenant...

Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Jeremiah 31

The Gospel of Jesus

E. This means that duty and desire become the same thing. Our desire is to obey. We will want to obey. In other words… we will become people after God’s own heart. Desiring obedience instead of sacrifice.

F. All of this because Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures…

G. Because the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

H. Do not fear… it pleased the Lord to make a people for Himself that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Like a loving father caring an guiding for his children. You and me.

  Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.

  Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.