Trust and Obey

intro

panic - sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety. Often causing wildly unthinking behavior

strong attack of fear that makes you do something stupid

what causes us to panic?

Summary of 1 Samuel 13, verses 5 through 15

The Philistines, a major enemy of Israel, gathered a large army and prepared to attack Israel

People of Israel were so scared that they were going into hiding

Israel’s King, and their army were also trembling with fear.

The well respected prophet Samuel, told Saul that we would be there in 7 days, to make the proper offerings to ask for the Lord’s help.

But seven days passed and Samuel had not shown up.

To make matters worse men of Israel kept deserting the army

So Saul decided to do the sacrifices himself

Just as he was finishing the sacrifices, Samuel shows up and scolds Saul

What have you done?

How foolish!

You broke God’s command!

Had you obeyed, your family would have remained as kings of Israel forever

Since you did not, God has already a replacement. A person who truly and sincerely wants to please Him, unlike you

My initial reaction: wow, seems harsh, what just happened?

Turns out that of course God was right, Saul’s could care less about pleasing God. But how did all of that come from this?

let’s look at Saul’s explanation

1 Samuel 13:11 (NASB95)

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

everyday, the situation got worse

my resources dwindling, my problem increasing

I looked at my resources: I saw that the people were leaving from me

He should have been more concerned with God leaving

You can withstand people not being in your life, but you cannot withstand God not being in your life

you can make it without people’s blessings, but you cannot make it without God’s blessings

the soldiers gave him a sense of security, they were his source

But God is our source, someone else put it best, everything else is a re-source

like you re-gift, I got the gift for from someone else

everyone, every way, every job that provides you with something is simply re-sourcing from the original source . . . God

so though it look bad, the soldiers leaving was not a problem for they were not the real source of his security, God was

I looked at the time: and that you did not come within the appointed days

Samuel, it was your fault, if you had come on time, everything would have been fine

Time had run out

We often treat serving God like it is a religious game or exercise, and we even have the nerve to set the rules of the game

for Saul it was, if you come by the appointed time, you can make your sacrifices

to Him sacrifices were more of a good luck charm

they were more of a method to inspire confidence in the troops

later Saul would try to use Samuel for validation

it wasn’t about faith, obedience, or truly seeking the help of the true and living God

We are not much better

I will tithe this upcoming check, and see how it goes

I will go to church for one month, and see how things improve

I will show one act of kindness to my enemy and see how they react this month

the problem is that when we treat God like an exercise in religion, we set limits on how far we are willing to go

Yet when you truly serve God, it is not a game with limits, but a relationship without limits

you serve, no matter what

you trust his words, no matter what

you obey Him, no matter what

you have faith, no matter what

if Saul obeyed, if Saul had God, God would have still taken care of him, God would have taken care of him, despite Samuel being late.

reminder that lot of people religious exercise it tied up in the preacher, or church members

as long as they don’t make me mad, or let me down . . . I’ll keep serving the Lord

truth is, many want you to mess up

I looked at the problem: and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash

Samuel, the problem was getting bigger by the day

1 Samuel 13:12 (NASB95)

12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

I looked at my resources, I looked at the time, I looked at the problem, and I had no choice but to make the offering without you

and that’s where many of us are . . . resources, time, problem . . . I have no choice

but God looks at it this way, “Since the pressure was on, I decided to ask God for help, by sinning”

Since the pressure was on, I decided to not give what God told me to

notice that there was no repentance nor confession of sins

1 Samuel 13:13 (NASB95)

13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

you have acted foolishly

you did have a choice

there is a choice still on the table - trust and obey God

you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you

The problem according to the prophet was that Saul did not follow the Lords command.

What was the command?

The command was that only priest could offer sacrifices

God took this seriously , in 2 Chronicles 26, King Uzziah tried to do the work of priest and God struck him with leprosy.

for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever

not only did you sin, but you missed a blessing - your family could have held the throne for generations

how many blessings have we missed because of sin

1 Samuel 13:14 (NASB95)

14 “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

God has picked someone who will serve Him for real

Are you moments away from your blessing?

Maybe you have a problem with a time component

not only have a problem, but only so much time to solve it

problems where the people around you were trembling also

Problem where you religious plan did not work

TIn other words I tried to live right but it did not work

So I must take matters into my own hands

Jesus said if you love me you will keep my commandments

It demonstrates a lack of relationship.

It demonstrates a lack of trust.

I trust in Samuel but not God

Set time to faith to make a move. Sometimes you need faith to not make a move.