Day 100! Doesn’t that feel like an accomplishment?!
God regretted that He had made Saul king because Saul had turned back from following Him and had not performed His commandments. Further, because Saul rejected God’s word, God rejected him from being king. Unlike man, God doesn’t have to live with regret; He judges what causes Him regret. Isn’t regret a sad word for God to use with regard to one He had chosen? He doesn’t have anything to regret with regard to you, does He?
Saul claimed that he had performed God’s commandment and obeyed God’s voice by going on the mission which God had sent him and devoting to destruction the people he defeated. When he was confronted about the animals that had been saved from destruction, he placed the blame on the people and said that the animals were for sacrificing to God. We aren’t given enough information to know what truly was in Saul’s heart: did he really think he had obeyed God’s command, or was he justifying his actions? God didn’t buy it, and He won’t buy our excuses, either. If Saul was confused about the details of his mission, God didn’t buy it. If he believed that partial obedience, the going and destroying of the people, was good enough to call it obedience, God didn’t buy it. If he truly felt pressured by the people, God didn’t buy it. Failure to obey was called rebellion by God. Apparently God saw the sin of presumption in Saul’s actions, that he intended to ask forgiveness later for his actions, and expected to receive it after having done what he wanted instead of what God wanted. God didn’t extend that to him. What does God’s response to Saul lead you to expect from Him if you try the same?
Saul confessed that he had sinned – was it prompted by genuine remorse? Apparently it was just words, for he asked Samuel to pardon him, when the sin had been against God. And although he said he wanted to bow before the Lord, and did bow, he did not submit to God. We know that because Samuel had to be the one to kill the Amalekite king, and although Samuel had told Saul that God had taken the kingdom from him and given it to a more worthy man, Saul made no secret about his intention to kill Samuel if he anointed another king. Another hint about the condition of Saul’s heart was that he called God “the Lord your God.”
When God told Samuel that man looks on the outward appearance, I don’t think He was just thinking about the kind of things that made Saul stand out physically, but also a person’s actions. God is not fooled by our actions. Our service, our kind gestures, our pious demeanor, and our words may favorably impress other people, but God will never be fooled by them. And even if we try to convince ourselves that our motives are pure, that we’re “doing okay,” God is not fooled. We may actually fool ourselves, but we will never fool God. That is why David in Psalm 139 invited God to search him and try him. Since Saul’s example shows that even if we fool ourselves we will not be excused by God for our rebellion or presumption, we should regularly invite Him to reveal to us if there is anything in our hearts that has fooled us, so that we can make it right. God will not do that if we don’t invite Him to. Today is a good time for that, since our reading reminds us of it!
Several clues in today’s reading reveal that David was not highly regarded by his father or brothers. Can you imagine being left out of that important feast with the renowned Samuel, when everyone else in the family got to attend? He was so unimportant in his father’s eyes that Jesse didn’t even tell Samuel that there was another son until Samuel asked, and then Jesse was dismissive of the young man. Did the hurt that must have caused him shape David to be the man after God’s own heart? I believe those kinds of hurts are allowed by God to drive us to Him. Can we appreciate them for what they are, and allow Him to use them for His intended purpose?
The Philistines weren’t far into Judah’s territory when they gathered at Socoh, for Azekah was just on the Philistine side of the boundary between Philistia and Judah. Saul had made progress in his ongoing fight against the Philistines.
David was offended by Goliath’s taunts because he was defying the armies of the living God, and in so doing had defied God Himself. In a day when every people had multiple gods, and each people group respected the gods of any other people who enjoyed wealth or success in battle, Israel’s God would have been perceived as one of many. David was taking a stand first and foremost for God’s honor above all other gods. In doing so, he trusted God to deliver Goliath into his hand, so that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves….”
Goliath’s huge sword and spear and javelin meant nothing to the one who came in the name of the living God, the Lord of hosts. David must have looked tiny and naked next to Goliath in his bronze helmet, coat of mail, and greaves, protected behind his shield bearer. He must have expected that his bold words would provoke Goliath, but he spoke them unashamedly as he took his ridiculously vulnerable stand. He would have had a captive audience as he spoke them; what a witness! And God validated his witness, so that no one could deny that God saves,. God would have stood out above all other gods, not only because of David’s words, but God’s actions. What does David’s example teach you about your own witness for God? Does God want you to be jealous of His honor?