Saul & David
Notes
Transcript
23 They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
--------------------
God gave Israel the king they wanted based on outward appearance.
Saul didn’t want to be king. So God touched the hearts of brave men. — God calls us to do things we don’t want to do, but when He does, He always gives us what we need to accomplish what He calls us to do.
But as we will see with Saul, even though God is faithful to provide us with everything we need, it is up to us to be faithful to do what God has called us to do. We can obey or disobey. We can have faith or we can doubt.
8 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. 9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, 11 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, 12 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.” 13 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, 14 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.”
--------------------
Saul sinned by offering the burnt offering which was only allowed to be offered by the priest. He disobeyed God’s laws because he was afraid and thought that by sinning he could bring about the outcome that he wanted.
22 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. 23 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.
--------------------
When confronted with his sin by Samuel, he made excuses and did not repent.
Samuel said that it was at this time, aka this testing, that God would have permanently established Saul’s reign over Israel, but instead that kingdom reign would be given to someone else. We know that that person ends up being David and God promised to establish David’s kingdom forever. So instead of Jesus being the Messiah from the line of David, we would be reading that Jesus was the Messiah from the line of Saul. Instead of the kingdom of David, we would read in the Scriptures, the kingdom of Saul. Saul was faced with a situation in which he could have chosen to trust God and not sin, or doubt God and sin. He did not choose to resist sin, he chose to give into sin. And so the kingdom, and the Holy Spirit was taken away from him and was given to David instead.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
--------------------
David ended up sinning just like Saul, but when confronted with his sin, he genuinely repented.
1 Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. 2 Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge. 5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. 10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.
--------------------
God promised to give us His Spirit who would cause us to obey Him
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.
--------------------
Paul said to the Philippians
12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
--------------------
Peter said at pentecost that if we would repent that we would receive God’s Holy Spirit
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
--------------------
Paul said that God’s Spirit comes to live within us.
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
--------------------
And God’s Holy Spirit in us, changes us and makes us new.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 1 Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!
--------------------