In Search of a King Par 11
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The autonomic nerves system is that which is responsible for the bodies response to intense stress.
Fight or flight!
Prepares the body for stressful or emergency situations—fight or flight
Thus, the sympathetic division increases heart rate and the force of heart contractions and widens (dilates) the airways to make breathing easier. It causes the body to release stored energy. Muscular strength is increased. This division also causes palms to sweat, pupils to dilate, and hair to stand on end. It slows body processes that are less important in emergencies, such as digestion and urination.
I. Difficulty
I. Difficulty
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 sam 13
Extreme difficulty tempts us to turn from trusting to panicking.
Extreme difficulty tempts us to turn from trusting to panicking.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fear is an opportunity to turn to God or from Him.
Fear is an opportunity to turn to God or from Him.
Woodrow Kroll
The only known antidote to fear is faith.
When difficultits come - there are two options - Trusting or Panicing.
Unfortunately, this story reminds us that Sual doesn’t use this occasion to turn to God but from him.
II. Disobedience
II. Disobedience
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
8-9
8-9
When God doesn’t immediately fix our problems we are prone to take matters in our own hands.
When God doesn’t immediately fix our problems we are prone to take matters in our own hands.
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
1 sam
Waiting on the Lord is one of the most challenging spiritual disciplines.
Waiting on the Lord is one of the most challenging spiritual disciplines.
Does God have you in a season of waiting?
Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be. – John Ortberg
That is why scripture commands this
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
While you are waiting God is working.
While you are waiting God is working.
What does waiting on the Lord Mean
The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive Lord of the Storm
It means obey what you know.
What is the problem in this text.
Some propos that it was primarily about worship - Saul offering sacrifices that shuld have been done by a prophet
The problem comes in the simple fact that Saul didn’t obey the word of Samuel.
Remember what Samuel said in 10:8
Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”
Saul’s sin was not that as king he was forbidden by God’s law to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings under any and all circumstances. Later David (2 Sam 24:25) and Solomon (1 Kings 3:15) made the same kinds of offerings, and there is no hint of divine rebuke in either case. Saul sinned because he disobeyed God’s word through the prophet Samuel (v.13)—a sin that he would commit again (15:26).
When Saul rejected the word of the prophet he rejected the Word of God.
Church Lawless States,
The problem with most of us is not that we can’t figure out God’s will; it’s that we don’t obey Him in the things that are clear in the scriptures.
Christianity doesn’t require a crystal ball but an obedient heart.
Saul is in the crucible of testing
When we are in the crucible we begin to learn where our trust really lies.
When we are in the crucible we begin to learn where our trust really lies.
When Saul rejected the word of the prophet he was rejecting the word of the Lord.
Disobedience leads to:
III. Disaster
III. Disaster
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.”
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.”
10-14
1 sam 13 10-15
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.”
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.”
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. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.
I know what your thinking. What’s the dig deal?
It seems like the Bible makes such a fuss over the smallest of things.
Sin is always a big deal.
Sin is always a big deal.
You know, John Wesley wrote little notes in his Bible, and on this passage, he wrote a note. He asked a question —
“Is there such a thing as a little sin?”
That's a good question, isn't it? Is there such a thing as a little sin? Do you know what his answer was? He wrote it in his Bible —
“Only if there is such a thing as a little God.”
You can’t receive the favor of God while rejecting the word of God.
You can’t receive the favor of God while rejecting the word of God.
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.”
Sometimes obedience to God seems like madness.
Sometimes obedience to God seems like madness.
Because to obey God in those circumstances would have required him to trust God against every instinct, against every evidence, and against every aspect of his experience at that moment. The Philistines were coming in massive numbers, the Israelites were slipping away, and everyone was terrified!
Disobedience might seem like wisdom but it is folly.
Disobedience might seem like wisdom but it is folly.
John Woodhouse stated,
We sympathize with Saul because we know all too well how difficult obedience to God can be. We find Samuel’s judgment harsh because we are not always persuaded that obedience to God is the wisest course of action.