WAIT ON THE LORD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

"What have you done?" asked Samuel.

Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

1 Samuel 13:1-15

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to this point in 1st Samuel, all has seemed well with Saul, the first king selected by God to lead His people in Israel. But as we reach chapter 13, we shouldn’t forget the warnings that God gave the Israelites when they asked for a king in the first place…warnings that appeared to indicate that things with Saul wouldn’t turn out as well. As we can see in our passage, that happened.

For as Saul was encamped at Micmash near the hill country of Bethel with two thousand men from Israel, his son, Jonathan, attacked a Philistine outpost at Geba…an act that angered the Philistines who “assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore”. In response to this, we see where Saul sends word to the Israelites that a battle is soon to happen, summoning all the Israelites to join him at Gilgal. Ironically, we read where the Philistines assembled at Micmash, where Saul had just departed.

So the battle lines were drawn and the sheer number of Philistine troops resulted in panic among the Israelite troops. The scriptures tell us that some of the Israelites “hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns” while others “crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead”. Meanwhile, “Saul remained at Gilgal” and “all the troops with him were quaking with fear”.

Indeed, the situation wasn’t looking good for the people of Israel but note one important thing here. No on Israelite, including their king, ever turned to God for guidance or help. Instead, we see a major flaw in Saul’s character emerge as he decides to rely on his own wisdom instead of seeking the Lord’s…and in doing so, he would suffer extreme consequences for his actions.

You know, it would be very easy for someone to read this turn in Saul’s life and judge him for it but perhaps we should stop before doing so and consider how often we make the same mistake as he did.

For how often do we, when situations in life tend to get difficult, turn away from seeking God and His guidance and/or assistance in the midst of our hardships and instead try and assume control over the situations ourselves. Essentially, we conscientiously sideline the Lord as if we can do better on our own without Him, particularly when He doesn’t act in a timely fashion that is to our liking. In our humanity, we don’t like to wait and so we allow the enemy to take advantage of our impatience, leading us to sin against the God who has the power and ability to handle anything and everything we will ever go through.

At its core, it really is an absolutely foolish choice if we really think about it.

Well, thankfully God has blessed us with several scriptures passages which address this matter of waiting on the Lord. Let’s use them to break down Saul’s actions at the end of this passage and, in doing so, hopefully learn from the Word so to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

1. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

As the Philistines assembled and prepared for their assault on Israel, Saul waited at Gilgal for Samuel. You’ll recall that Samuel had told him to go there and wait seven days, at which time Samuel would arrive and tell Saul what to do (1 Samuel 10:8).

Now given that Samuel was a prophet, we know that he spoke messages from God Himself. And so when Samuel told Saul to wait for seven days so to receive instructions on what to do, Samuel was essentially telling Israel’s king to wait so to hear what the Lord wanted him to do.

And so Saul “waited seven days…but Samuel did not come to Gilgal” on that last day before Saul began to get impatient. His “men began to scatter” and Saul started to feel like things were beginning to unravel as he faced a threatening, enemy force. And so rather than go to God and ask what he should do, he takes matters into his own hands, demanding that the “burnt offering and the fellowship offerings” be brought to him. He would then offer “up the burnt offering” himself.

Through his actions, we can see Saul showing that he wasn’t very strong nor willing to “take heart and wait for the Lord”. He felt that by acting on his own accord, he could solve the issue at hand and lead the Israelites to victory himself. After all, he was the king of Israel but as will see, his arrogance and pride would lead to his downfall.

Like him, we will also find ourselves failing and falling every time we decide to not wait for the Lord in the midst of any circumstances we may find ourselves in.

2. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in His word, I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

Going back to our passage, we read that “just as (Saul) finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him”. Sensing something was amiss, we see Samuel asking Saul:

“What have you done?"

Immediately, Saul tries to justify his actions to Samuel saying:

“When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

As we see, his reasoning did not set well with Samuel who told Saul that he had acted foolishly because he had not “kept the command the Lord gave (him)”. Indeed, Saul allowed his anxiety to get the best of him, causing him to not wait on the Lord. And as we look closer at this passage, we see where Israel’s king made a second error as well…for he failed to place his hope in the Word of the Lord. If he had, then he would have waited for Samuel to come and tell him what he should do…which as we have covered was really what God wanted him to do.

Friends, we need to give attention to where Saul went wrong here and resolve to never stop placing our hope in God’s word for it’s there that we find the strength and power to persevere through life in faith, able to carry on through whatever difficulties we go through. There is no doubt that His word instructs us, guides us, comforts us, and empowers us to make it through whatever life brings our way…and helps us to wait on the Lord to act in His perfect time and in His perfect way.

3. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18b

So Saul had chosen to not trust in the Lord nor place his hope in God’s word.

Going back to our passage for today, we see where he now would face the consequences for his actions because the scriptures make it clear that He (the Lord) is a “God of justice”. We read where Samuel passes the following sentence on Saul for his wrongs, a sentence imposed by God Himself.

First, Samuel tells Saul what could have been.

For had Israel’s first king simply trusted in God, waiting for His Word’s of instruction to come, then the Lord would have “established (Saul’s) kingdom over Israel for all time”. That wasn’t going to happen now because Saul failed to wait and his error would cost him authority over the entire kingdom of Israel.

We read where Samuel tells Saul that his “kingdom will not endure” because “the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people”, all because Saul hadn’t “kept the Lord's command." Through the dismissal of Saul, we find the Lord showing is that He wouldn’t tolerate someone who decides to lead His people without Him. Saul had chosen to separate himself from God and so now God was going to turn His favor away, transferring it to another man who was after His heart…a man we know as David.

My brothers and sister, this passage provides us a stern warning for we should never lose sight that we serve a God of justice…a God who will discipline us as a father might discipline his child when they error. After all, He is our Heavenly Father.

Saul lost his kingdom because he failed to wait on the Lord and place his hope in His word. We can expect consequences as well if we do likewise so my prayer today is that we’ll never lose our patience while allowing the Lord to do His mighty, amazing work in our lives. May we persevere through times of trouble, waiting in faith for Him to reveal His power and goodness to us, no matter what.

To that end, His Word assures us that “Blessed are all who wait for Him” so let’s be a people who continuously stay blessed by the One who grants every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.