Decline

1 Samuel 13:8

He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.

To listen and hear, to read and understand, this is a great challenge for the Christian. To read the old familiar stories and still be impacted by them is an act of discipline. The reader must read carefully to what is said, perceive what is not said, and apply the medication given in God’s word to one’s own heart, that it might have its full effect in our lives. As the train wreck of Saul’s Kingship crystalizes in dreadful detail, the glory of grace in our lives bears full bloom.

To this point everything has been going Saul’s way. Victories have been coming and with that success comes notoriety. He becomes a marked man by the Philistines as Jonathan takes a thousand men and removes one of their garrisons (verse 3). To quell this uprising by the Hebrews a force of 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horseman and more regular troops than they wanted to count. Here Saul stands with his force of 3,000 footman watching as his enemy grows and his band of 3,000 dwindles. He waits past when Samuel said he would come. It is easy to get caught writing Saul off, but notice in verse fifteen how low Saul’s numbers had gotten, he was down to a mere 600 men! When people start exiting how long will we hold the line? When our doom marches towards us, how long will we stay the course? We must not let Saul off the hook though, his heart was not right with God, as Samuel points out latter, but not many are the men able to look down those odds and not flinch.

To understand that Saul’s major flaw was that his heart was not right. This was revealed by his turning to pragmatic means to solidify his army. Yet, is our heart any better? The trials of churches in the united states are many and well known. How long do churches hold to sound doctrine, and how quickly will they turn to contemporary music for their salvation? The fundamental reality that we must find is “in what is our trust. My heart is only better than Saul’s because God has given, not because I have earned.

In Saul Israel was given the best King man could dream of finding. In David they were Given the best king God could find, and both were short of perfection. So, God gave them the King they needed in Christ Jesus. Looking at Saul and knowing the sin in my heart it is obvious faith comes by grace alone. I have no doubt that I would have acted differently than Saul, but only because God would have given me a heart for it. Left to my own devices Saul’s failure would surely be my own. As we are tempted daily to trust in created things and pragmatic means rather than our creator to deliver us from the trials and tribulations we face. This is why we pray “…lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” not because we think we can conquer but because we know we can’t! We know we have failed so often we are no better than Saul, and yet God has called Christians, his elect, chosen from the foundation of the world! Do not despise Saul when you see his failure, rejoice and marvel at the grace given to you, a sinner, to be called the sons of God!

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO