Stay Salty - 1 Sam 13-15

Intro

The Wrong One

I’m marrying the wrong one.

ooh that sucks.

We see a similar story today. God regrets making Saul King.

God says Saul was the wrong one.

But you see God intends to use us like He used Saul.

Let’s see what makes Saul the wrong one and what that shows us about how w

Saul was the representative of God to the nation. He was supposed to represent God to Israel and to others.

In the same way, we as Christians are called to represent Christ to this world.

Jesus says we are salt and light to this world.

We’re going to read the story of Saul’s failure and how that teaches us how we are called to live.

1 Samuel 13:8–14 CSB

He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering. Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, and Samuel asked, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel, but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.”

1 Samuel 15:17–29 CSB

Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?” “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered. “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back King Agag of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. The troops took sheep, goats, and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the Lord.” Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.”

Why does God reject Saul?

Because Saul did not obey God’s commands.

Two different times Saul disobeys God’s commands.

Why does Saul disobey God?

FEAR

He was afraid.

He feared for his life. He saw that he was in trouble and no one was coming to help. So he offered sacrifice thinking that was going to save him.

He feared his troop. They destroyed the Amalekites and was supposed destroy everything and everyone but instead they kept the good stuff. The soldiers after they fought, usually got to keep the good stuff. It was their reward for fighting. That’s how other countries did it. They started to make excuses… oh we will tithe this and give sacrifices to God.

He feared that if he didn’t let them, then he would get overthrown.

He let fear of people and fear of circumstances control his life.

Those fears made him disobedient to God.

But you see… we’re not that far off from Saul. Just as God called Saul to be the representative of Him on earth, we are also called to represent Christ here on earth.

we are salt and light

We are salt and light when we obey Him.

But many times we don’t obey Him.

There are many reasons why we don’t.

One of them is fear.

FEAR.

I. People of God should not live in fear

One of the most common commands in the Bible is do not be afraid. Fear not.

Why? Because there can be many things to be afraid of in life.

Fear of loneliness

Fear of purposelessness

Fear of being unsuccessful

Fear of being unloved

Fear of being left out

Instead of fearing people and situations in life, we should trust in God.

That was Saul’s problem.

He was facing a lot of trouble and problems… he would give into his fears instead of trusting God.

How do we grow in our trust of God?

II. People of God should live in fear

Do not fear the world or circumstances that come our way

But live in fear of the Lord.

Live in acknowledgement of the mighty, crushing, almighty strength and presence of God.

Know Him who moves the heavens who can move the earth.

Fear the Lord: Deep heavy, awe and respect. Trembling before the Lord.

If you fear God, you don’t need to fear people or circumstances.

If you fear the one who can do all things, you don’t need to fear the ones who can only kill you in body

Fear the one who can destroy your soul and body

We see that is how Jonathan lived.

Jonathan is Saul’s son. Instead of living in fear like his dad, King Saul.

Jonathan lived in fear not of the Philistines or the people.

He lived in fear of the Lord.

1 Samuel 14:6–14 CSB

Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will help us. Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. You choose. I’m right here with you whatever you decide.” “All right,” Jonathan replied, “we’ll cross over to the men and then let them see us. If they say, ‘Wait until we reach you,’ then we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we’ll go up, because the Lord has handed them over to us—that will be our sign.” They let themselves be seen by the Philistine garrison, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!” The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said. “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.” Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. Jonathan cut them down, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off. In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.

He sneaks into enemy camp and kills 20 Philistines by himself. Philistines go into panic and chaos ensues. The Israelites sees what is happening and they attack and they get the Philistines to retreat.

You know why Jonathan does this stupid thing? Because He has a fear of the Lord. He knows God can do all things. He knows God can save with many but also with a few. He knows who God is. He fears the Lord not the Philistines.

Sometimes the reason why we struggle

or the reason why we stop being salty and lighty

we think our problems are big and our God is small

We think people in our lives are big and our God is small

No my brothers and sisters…

Our God is mighty and our problems are small to Him.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes our problems feel huge and overwhelming.

Know for certain that God can handle it. He is putting you through the fire, to make you more pure and make you stronger.

Be salty. Be the light.

Do not fear the things of this world. Do not fear people.

Fear the Lord Jesus Christ

Fear the Lord who with His power…

decided not to destroy us but to save us.

Fear the Lord who will one day return with all His might

and it says all knees will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.