pockets with gold. He was guilty of hy pocrisy, v. 20. It is also clear that he sought to evade his own personal re sponsibility, v. 21. He tried to lay the blame on the people (cf. w . 14,15). But the outstanding failure emphasized in this passage is that of disobedience, v. 22. It is clear from this whole chapter that Saul had not fully obeyed the Lord. The Lord had said that Saul should completely destroy the Amalekites and their possessions (v. 3), but Saul spared the king and some of their livestock (v. 9). The great lesson to be learned from this story is couched in the words, “ Be hold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (v. 22). God accepts no substitute for obedience to His word. No matter how good the substitute may be, God frowns upon it. A man may live like a fiend for months prior to Communion Sunday and think that by coming to the Lord’s Table he can atone for his past failures. But the Lord will accept no such sub stitutions. The Lord wants obedience without compromise or reservation. This is the way of blessing. Saul’s Jealousy 18:6-9 “ Saul eyed David” (v. 9). This is the key to this section and it shows an other of the reasons for Saul’s failure. The “green-eyed monster” of envy or jealousy had gotten control of his life and he was never able to drive him off. We see this jealousy appearing again and again in his dealings with David. Upon the present occasion as David re turned from his victorious assault upon the Philistines, in characteristic fash ion, women formed a triumphal proces sion to celebrate the victory, and sang and danced to please the soldiers and to extol the leaders for their achieve ment. David was the main one to be congratulated by these Hebrew women but they committed a great indiscre tion by praising a subject at the ex pense of their sovereign. “ Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (v. 7). Saul at once became envious and a growing hatred for David developed. Unchecked, this envy and hatred ended in tragedy. It is plainly taught in the Word of God that the servants of the Lord have no business harboring an attitude of jealousy toward one another. Each ser vant of the Lord is expected to be faithful in the place the Lord has put him (1 Cor. 4 :1), leaving any differ ences of position and success in His hands, “ For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor 4:7). Saul’s Tragic Death 31:3,4 In these two verses we have depicted the sad end of a life that was bent JULY, 1952
upon living for self instead of for God. God permitted him to be wounded in a battle, but not being killed, Saul slew himself upon his own sword. Thus he left this world with no apparent thought of God in his mind. Instead of turning to God in his time of desperate need, he took things in his own hands and killed himself. Truly sin is a cruel taskmaster! Memory Verse: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty” (Prov. 16:32). When Saul, the king of Israel, com menced to rule in his own way and to refuse to obey God, he had many un happy experiences. Jonathan, Saul’s son, dearly loved David the shepherd boy. David was allowed to live in the palace with Saul and Jonathan. At last people began to think that David was a greater warrior than was Saul. Saul became angry and jealous toward David. He forgot his duty toward God and was no longer a good and strong leader. Saul even tried to kill David. All Is rael learned to love David dearly for they saw that God was pleased with him. Years later Israel’s enemies were at war with them. Saul was badly wounded in the battle. Rather than al low his enemies to kill him, Saul killed himself with his own sword. Saul’s own position had been more important to him than had the work that God wanted him to do. How often boys and girls become an gry or jealous of other children! Quick ly they forget that the Lord Jesus has commanded them to love others, even their enemies. Soon they are thinking about nothing else than their feelings toward the one with whom they are angry. Quickly their lives become im patient and unkind and unhappy. God’s Word says, “He that is slow to anger Helps for the Children Why Saul Failed 1 Sam. 18:1-16; 31
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