WHEN GOD SAYS, “YOU ARE QUALIFIED”.
1Samuel 15:10-29,
Verse 10 Now the word of The Lord came to Samuel, saying,
Verse 11 “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to The Lord all night.
Verse 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”
Verse 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said, “Blessed are you of The Lord! I have performed the commandment of The Lord.”
Verse 14 But Samuel said, “what then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
Verse 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and then oxen, to sacrifice to The Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Verse 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what The Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on”.
Verse 17 So Samuel said, “when you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not The Lord anoint you king over Israel?
Verse 18 “Now The Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.”
Verse 19 “Why then did you not obey the voice of The Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of The Lord?”
Verse 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of The Lord and gone on the mission on which The Lord sent me and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
Verse 21 “But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to The Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Verse 22 Then Samuel said: “has The Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of The Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
Verse 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of The Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Verse 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of The Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
Verse 25 “Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship The Lord.”
Verse 26 “But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of The Lord and The Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
Verse 27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore.
Verse 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a Neighbour of yours, who is better than you.
Verse 29 “And also The Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
Please note that in verse 11, God said, “My commandments” (plural) but Saul said “His commandment”(singular) in verse 13.
First of all, Saul was not on the same page with God. He probably did not understand God’s instructions through Samuel or he deliberately decided to violate them.
Could God not have forgiven him? (Did I hear you say?)
Of Course, He could have and He did but the question is, “Did Saul accept His forgiveness or did he whine, murmur, brood and get walloped with self pity which led to resentment, bitterness, strife and all manners of evil which he later exhibited in the scripture?”
Please, do not forget that This same God chose and anointed him king over His people, qualifying him even when he was unqualified.
Saul blamed the people in verse 21 for his own outright disobedience.
(A good leader takes responsibility for his actions rather than blame his followers.)
We could conclude that Saul was responsible for his fallout with God. May God keep us in His will at all times and grant us the Grace to always be obedient to Him.
In 1 Samuel Chapter 16, God asked Samuel to stop mourning over Saul’s rejection and prepare to anoint another king in his place among Jesse’s sons.
The story became more interesting as seven well built, articulate, charismatic, handsome sons of Jesse were lined up but God said they were not qualified. As far as Samuel was concerned any of them would have been the perfect king of Israel but the most important thing to God in choosing a leader for His people was a perfect heart that loves Him and trembles at His word.
He found that in a ruddy, teenage shepherd boy called David who was not even remembered (or let’s say, he was deliberately forgotten by men). David was anointed as King because God said, he was qualified in spite of his age, birth circumstance and every other issue that disqualified him.
Although during his reign, he stumbled many times, sinning against God, he had a repentant heart and the highest praises of God and His word were continually, genuinely in his mouth and heart. He loved and served God without hypocrisy. All these won him a special place in God’s heart. God lovingly corrected him when he sinned but He never left nor forsook him.
Friends, you can also enjoy God’s love and approval like David, if you will come to Him just as you are, trusting Him to give you a perfect heart. He has promised to turn the heart of stone to the heart of flesh. Jesus already paid the price for you with His blood.
Lessons from King David
1. David had no idea he was going to be the King of Israel, so he never lobbied for it. God qualified him and gave it to him on a platter of God.
2. He was very diligent in his job as a shepherd boy.
3. He was very protective of his flock, no wonder he did very well when he became the king of Israel.
4. He was a remarkable leader who never blamed his followers. He took full responsibility for his actions.
5. He waited patiently to sit on the throne.
6. He did not have a wicked or an evil heart. (He repented, accepted rebuke from God and still served Him against all odds)
7. He worshipped God in the beauty of His Holiness.
8. He totally depended on God right from his youth to his old age.
9. He genuinely loved God.
10. He spared Saul’s life when he had a chance to kill him because he recognized God’s anointing upon him although Saul was rejected by God.
