A Heart for God

Israel selected Saul; the God of Israel rejected him. It’s not as if Yahweh didn’t give him a good shot at the office, however. Saul was given God’s Spirit, God’s word, and ample opportunity to prove himself a man after God’s heart. Found wanting, he was put aside for one of God’s choosing.

A part of the problem (a big part, truth be told) in this unfortunate episode was the difference in perspective between how God looks at people and how we look at people. To use Yahweh’s words, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). From a human perspective, Saul’s outward aspect appeared to make him a suitable candidate to rule Israel. From God’s perspective, there was little to commend him. This became evident as Saul’s reign unfolded. He lacked a proper reverence for and submission to God, as well as lacking a desire to heed and not rebel against God’s word. These were the faults substantiating God’s rationale for rejecting Saul’s kingship. Yahweh was seeking a man after his own heart, and that would be a man who had a heart for him.

How can we develop a heart for God? Of primary importance is developing our ability to see as God sees. By God’s grace, this will involve our eyes being opened to at least three things: that our hearts are corrupted by sin and inherently predisposed to Saul’s failings; that Jesus is the one whom God sent to save us from the fate of Saul; and, that how people appear is not as important as who they are, the contours of their heart being more important than the contours of their body.

God rejected Saul. But he had another ready to take his place. This one would be a man of his choosing and one who would prove, despite many failings, to have a heart for him.

True Justice, True Obedience, True Repentance

The second of two foolish and fatal decisions by King Saul brought a severe consequence. While the first was the loss of a royal dynasty, the second -- the loss of the throne itself.

Saul had been charged by God to carry out divine justice against the Amelekites, who had acted cruelly toward the Israelites as they came up from Egypt. Saul’s obedience to the command, however, was incomplete. As a result, God instructed Samuel to go to Saul and tell him that he was no longer fit to rule over God’s people. The exchange between Saul and Samuel is one of the most pitiful in Scripture. Rather than offering true repentance, Saul offered excuse piled on top of excuse. Saul’s heart proved to be, as the law had warned, “lifted up above his brothers” (Deuteronomy 17:20).

The punishment meted out against the Amelekites and their king, Agag, is a true picture of what we would be subject to apart from the love of God that placed his own Son between his wrath and us. Yet, somehow Saul thought better of God’s sentence of utter destruction against the sinner. Saul’s failure to recognize the grace that had been extended to him and the condemnation that followed this self-delusion offers a warning against such presumption. We have what we have only by the grace of God. The only appropriate response in the light of God’s mercy is to present our bodies “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” And rather than offering pious sounding religious intentions, as did Saul, we need to see that true obedience to God’s will is what constitutes our “spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Do Right

Saul was told to wait until Samuel arrived so that Samuel could give him instructions as well as offer up appropriate sacrifices to the Lord. As the days drew on, and Samuel did not arrive, the pressure mounted on Saul and he buckled. He went ahead and offered the sacrifice himself. The consequences for his lack of faith were grave: the posterity of his throne would be cut off.

This is the nature of sin. It presents a way of meeting a perceived need that goes against God’s explicit command. The alternative way seems reasonable, practical, often more enjoyable, and, at times, even pious, as in the case of Saul.  But, no matter how plausible the sin seems, it is still sin. And to the extent that we choose a sinful manner of satisfying a need we express our lack of faith in God being able to meet that need.

Faith demands that we do what is right, even if doing right comes at a cost and dictates that we wait until we see God’s provision for our perceived need.

Rocky Starts, Strong Finishes

The reign of Saul, Israel’s first king, was a disaster. It began with the demand of a willful and faithless people and ended with an ignominious death. There was little to commend it. Though the start of the monarchy in Israel was ill conceived and poorly executed, it nevertheless proved glorious.

Glorious might seem an odd adjective given what one reads about the kings who reigned in the Northern and Southern kingdoms. There are many, many more Saul-like failures than there are successes. But the glory of the monarchy is ultimately not realized in the earthly reigns of fallen men. Rather, it is ultimately realized in the one who sits enthroned as the King of kings and Lord of lords. As such, what began badly has ended (and will end) wonderfully.

This is the very nature of the gospel. God takes broken circumstances and people and transform them. Each of us was brought to Christ when we were willful and faithless and by his power and through his mercy, he redeems us so that we will end better than we began. Understanding this, none who read this should think themselves beyond hope. Your willfulness and faithlessness, no matter how horribly it has been expressed, is not irredeemable. If you repent and submit yourself to the kingship of Christ you will be held fast by the one who takes rocky starts and turns them into strong finishes.