First Samuel, chapter 16. Several have asked me what was
going to be our next study, and Lord willing, we'll be trying
to be looking at the life of David. I want to read one verse,
but then I think we need to go back and look at some chapters
prior to this. In First Samuel, chapter 16,
excuse me, in verse one, And the Lord said unto Samuel, How
long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and
go, and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
provided me a king among his sons." If you underline your
Bible, that would be a good statement to underline, where God says,
I have provided me a king. among his sons. But as I got
to thinking about David, I thought it would be good for us to go
back and look at the king that was before him, Saul, because
a lot of David's life coincides with Saul. God used Saul, who
was a wicked king, as God's instrument of making David. So let's begin,
let's go back in chapter 8. There's no way I can look at
all these chapters from chapter 8 up to chapter 16, but I just
want us to look at some things. Let's read verses 1 through 5
of 1 Samuel chapter 8. And it came to pass when Samuel was
old. We don't know how old that he was, that he made his sons
judges over Israel. So Samuel was not only a prophet
and a priest, but he was a judge over Israel. And the name of
his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abbai.
And they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his
ways, but turned aside after lucre, after money, and took
bribes and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel
gathered themselves together unto Samuel and to Ramah. And
here's what they said. And they said unto him, unto
Samuel, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy
ways. Now make us a king to judge us
like all the nations. Here was their request. They
came to Samuel, he's old, and his sons walk not in God's ways. And they said, We want to have
a king. We want to have a king. Why? We want to be like everybody
else. Now remember this. Remember the
first time that it's mentioned about kings? Remember in the
time of Abraham? Remember when the kings of Sodom and the kings
of Gomorrah and those other kings, they came and took over Sodom
and Gomorrah? But also there was another king
that was mentioned. And I think this is important
that we understand this. In that same time frame, when
Abraham met another king called Melchizedek, who was the king
of Salem, which is king of Jerusalem. Mechizedek is without father
or mother, without beginning of days, who is a prophet, he
was a priest, and he was a king. All that picture is the Lord
Jesus Christ, and it's important for us to understand this, because
up to this time, there had not been any kings. Remember when
they came out of Egypt? Joshua led them into Canaan,
and then they were ruled by the judges. And it says that in the
days when the judges ruled, everyone did that which was evil in his
own sight. And now the nation, these people,
come to Samuel, and they said, we want a king to be like everybody
else. Desiring a king. was a wicked
violation upon the sovereignty of the Lord. Why? God was their
king. God was their king. The children
of Israel wanted a king that appeared in pomp and splendor,
wearing a crown of gold, clothed in royal apparel, with a scepter
in his hand, and dwelling in a stately palace. That's what
they wanted. We want to have a king like everybody
else. Remember one time they came to
our Lord and they wanted to take him by force and make him their
king. And he said it wouldn't have
anything to do with it. The first king, as I've already
mentioned, we're mentioned in the times of Abraham. Israel
had God for their king in a peculiar manner other than other nations
had. And they stood, they didn't stand
in need of another king. God was their king. He ruled
over them. He fought their battles. He delivered
them. God was their king. And they
wanted a king. What I want you to see, they
wanted a king. And we're going to see that's what God gave them.
They wanted a king who would ride in splendor, to be like
everybody else, and God's going to give them one. As I thought
about that, you better be careful what you wish for. God may give
you just exactly what you want. And that's what we see. This
would be, I want you to see, now look over in verse 11, this
God, okay, they picture this, they're coming to Samuel and
they're wanting a king. And God's going to give them
one. But God tells them exactly what this king's going to be
like. Beginning in verse 11 of chapter 8. And he said, this
will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. Now
watch this. He will take your sons, and appoint
them for themselves for his chariots, to be his horsemen, and some
shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains
over thousands, and captains over fifties, and will set them
to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his
instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will
take your dollars to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your
olive yards, yet even the best of them, and give them to his
servants. And he will take the tenth of
your seed, and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and
to his servants. And he will take your men's servants,
your maid's servants, and your good list among them, and your
ashes, and put them to his work. And he will take the tenth of
your sheep, and you shall be his servants." He'll take it
and won't ask for it. It's his. And you shall cry out
in that day because of your king. You'll cry out when you get this
king, when you shall have chosen you. And the Lord will not hear
you in that day. He's telling them exactly what
it's going to be like. Exactly what he's going to be
like in the time in which he lived. Look in verse 19. You'd have thought when anybody
said, now hold on now, I didn't really think this thing through.
I didn't think this is exactly what it was going to be like.
No, they said, nevertheless. The people refused to obey the
voice of Samuel, and they said, nay, but we will have a king
over us. He's going to take your sons.
He's going to take your daughters. He can come get your sheep. He
can come get your asses. He's going to come over to Danny's
farm and say, Danny, I'm going to get the best boy you've got.
And he said, no, no, no. He said, oh, yes, yes, yes. And
I'm coming to get him. And they said, OK, we still want
a king like that. I want you to see that and understand
that's what's going on. That shows the spiritual condition
of that nation in which they lived. 20, that we also may be like all
the nations, that our king may judge us, and go out before us,
and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words
of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, Harken unto their voice, and
make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men
of Israel, Go ye every man to his city. We see the man that they're going
to choose, and the man that God set apart to be their king. I
want you to see this. Now, he's going to, I don't want
to get ahead of myself, but he's going to be anointed as king.
The powers that be are ordained of God. Civil governments ordained of
God. And those people, if you want
to look at it, are anointed of God. They are put in that position
by God to rule. by God, wicked or righteous. Even the man in the White House,
whether you like him or whether you don't, that's beside the
point. The point is, he's there by the ordination of Almighty
God. Isn't he? Isn't he? Yes, he is. King Saul did. We're going to
see very wicked man, very wicked king, did not know God. But God
raised him up. As he said to Pharaoh, for this
same purpose. Verse 1 of chapter 9, there was
a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the
son of Zehor, the son of Borthri, and the son of Abiel, a Benjamite,
a mighty man of power. And he had a son whose name was
Saul, a choice young man. He was young in age. Probably
in the prime of his life. A goodly. And there was not among
the children of Israel a more goodlier person. He was probably
the best specimen of a man that you could have produced. I mean,
just a big, robust, he was a man. Probably a giant of a man. We
see in the latter part of verse 2, let me read on, from his shoulders
upward, he was higher than all the people. He stood out in the
crowd. This is the one. When he walked
down the street, everybody said, oh, my goodness, what a man. This is the one we want to fight
our battles. That's how it looked from the
outward appearance. This is what described this man. Does this not sound familiar?
Outwardly, doesn't religion seem very impressive to the natural
eye? It's, oh, just look how great it is. That's how Saul
looked. That's how Saul looked. Someone that would draw attention
to himself. He was in human strength a giant
of a man. A giant of a man. So this is him. And the rest
of the chapter, I'll leave this to you. I'll give you a reading
assignment. You read these chapters this
week. The rest of the chapter talks about how God used this
circumstance of Saul hunting his father's asses to meet Samuel. His father's asses are gone,
and what I can understand, asses represented wealth and strings. Most people didn't have horses.
And if a man had a bunch of donkeys or asses, whatever you want to
call them, it was a symbol of his strength and his wealth.
And what I can also understand from studying this is that Saul
lived pretty close to Samuel. Samuel lived in Ramah. But he
didn't even understand who, he had no idea who Samuel was. But
as Saul and the servant are going out looking for his father's
asses, and this is kind of ironic, Saul is looking for his father's
asses. David was a seeker and a keeper
of his father's sheep. Now there's something there,
and I'll leave that to you to develop it. But I thought that was ironic. He's out here looking for his
father's ashes. And the servant said, well, I
hear over here in the other town that there's a seer, there's
a prophet. And we can't find these donkeys, so let us go over
here and ask this prophet where these donkeys are. Isn't that
how man looks at religion? He wants someone to solve his
problems. He'd rather come to God's prophet
to help him understand and find his asses than he had to find
lost sheep. And Saul says, well, when we
go to the seer or to the prophet, we've got to pay him for his
services. And the servant said, well, I've got a little bit of
corn. And Saul says, that'll do. Matthew Henry said, their
religion was nothing more than cheap religion. But what I want
you to see They come to that town where Samuel's at, and Samuel
meet him. And Samuel says, don't you worry
about them donkeys. Them donkeys are found. God brought these
two together. God did, on purpose, for a reason,
to raise this man up as king. And Saul's going to reign as
king a long time. What I can understand, when Samuel
finally comes and anoints David the big king, he's only about
20 or 25. Well, if he's 20 years old, that means Saul reigns for
another 10 years, because David was 30 before he began to reign. God's in control of all this. So this is what happens in chapter
9. But can you imagine what Samuel
thought? God is going to give them a king,
the nation of Israel. Samuel loved Israel. Samuel loved
God. God had regenerated that man,
called him, separated him, remember, from his mother's wound. And
everybody probably had high hopes for Saul. But what we will see,
what was in his heart, became manifest in his life. Chapter
10. Saul is going to be anointed
as king. Now I want you to see this. Verse 1 of chapter Verse
1 of chapter 10. Y'all just bear with me. Then
Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed
him and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to
be captain over his inheritance? Now notice this, and we're going
to see this when we get over in chapter 16. Saul was anointed
with a vial of oil, which he represents also with a flask,
not with a horn of oil. David is going to be anointed
with a horn of oil. A vial flask here only held a small amount
of oil. A vial was very brittle, showing
that Saul's kingdom would be broken, that it wouldn't last
long. That's what this is a picture
of. Saul was anointed governor and captain over the nation,
and he was raised up for this purpose. And like I said, the
powers that be, they are ordained of God. Now look over in verse
17 of this chapter. And Samuel called the people
together unto Mishah. And he said unto the children
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Now God's reminding
them, the children of Israel. I brought you up out of Egypt,
and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out
of the hands of the kingdom, and out of them that oppressed
you. And you have this day rejected your God. Do you see that? And
you have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out
of all your adversaries and your tribulations. And you have said
unto him, Nay, but set us a king over us. Now therefore present
yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. And they set him on what happened
is, in the rest of this chapter, they brought him by tribe. They
brought the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Issachar, and all the
tribes, and they came down to the tribe of Benjamin. And Saul's
name comes up. And you know what Saul does?
He runs, it says, notice in verse 22, therefore they inquired of
the Lord further if the man talking about Saul should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, behold,
he hath hid himself among the stuff. He's over here hiding. I believe he's just a coward.
When he got to thinking about, you mean when I'm king, I'm going
to have to lead this bunch of ragtag army? I'm going to be
the one that they're going to be shooting at? Now, I didn't
sign up for all this. So he's over here hiding. He's
a coward. We find that out when David comes
to fight Goliath. Who should have fought Goliath?
Saul should have. He's, from his head up, taller
than any man. He's a giant of a man. He's a
coward. The wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as a lion. Saul, hiding among the
stuff. And they ran and fetched him
thence, and when he stood among the people, he was higher than
any other people from his shoulders and upward. He keeps repeating
that. But a coward. Verse 12, I mean, chapter 12.
Are you kind of getting the picture? Just bear with me. I think that
we need to understand this. I think you need to understand
what kind of, just because this man was king, what kind of king
he was. That he was a man. Outwardly,
he seemed to have all this potential. And everybody, if anybody had
been voting for anybody to be king, outwardly, everybody would
have voted for Saul. Right? Everybody said, look what
he's got going for him. His father's probably got money.
He's got all these donkeys. He's got height. He's got prestige.
He's got age. He's robust. But you must see his heart. You must see his heart. Chapter
12. Let's begin reading in verse
6. And Samuel said to the people
again, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, that brought
your fathers out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand
still, that I may reason with you, because the Lord of all
the righteous acts of the Lord which he did to you and to your
fathers. When Jacob was coming to Egypt, and your fathers cried
unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought
forth your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place."
Who did all that for them? God did. What's Samuel doing? He's reminding them. All over
again, he keeps reminding them that God is their King. God's
the one that brought them out of Egypt. God's the one that
sent Moses to them. God's the one that brought them
through the Red Sea. Verse 90, when they forget the
Lord their God, He sold them into the hands of Syria, captain
of the host of Azar, into the hand of the Philistines, and
into the hands of the king of Moab. And they fought against
him." Look in verse 10, "...and they cried unto the Lord, and
said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and
have served Balaam and Ashtoreth. But now deliver us out of the
hands of our enemies, and we will serve thee." And the Lord
sent Jeroboam. and Bedan, and Joptha, and Samuel,
and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every
side. And you dwelled safe when they
cried unto God." Read the book of Judges sometimes. It's just
like a roller coaster. They'd fall into sin, and God
would send judgment upon them, and they would cry to God, and
you know what He'd do? He'd send them a deliverer. He
would deliver them. Who did? God did. They didn't
need a king. He was their king. He keeps reminding
them. He wants them to know what He's
done for them. And you know what it is? When
they wanted them a king, it was like every one of them spitting
in God's face. We want to be like everybody
else. Doesn't work the way this world
does. God's ways are not our ways. Man looks on the outward. Man looks at what's impressive.
And this is what he tries and what he wants. And sometimes
God gives people exactly what they want. Exactly. Exactly. I'll tell you this,
this country, this country has exactly what they want. That
man that's sitting there, I just think that that illustrates what
we're trying to talk about this morning. He's there by the ordination
of Almighty God. That's right. That's exactly
right. And God will use him. The hearts
of a king are in the hands of the Lord and he turns them whichever
way he wants them to go. He can and he does. Find out where I was at. Verse
12, And when they saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon,
was come against you, you said unto me, Nay, but a king shall
reign over us, when the Lord your God was your king. Don't you see this? Sometimes
some of the worst judgments that God can bring on a people is
when he leaves them alone. and lets them have exactly, exactly
what they want. Now, that's sobering. He says,
this is what you want? Okay, you can have it. You can
have it. Now, therefore, behold the king
whom you have chosen. Who chose him? They did. And
whom you have desired, and behold, the Lord has set a king over
you. Now watch this, if you will fear
the Lord and serve and obey His voice and not rebel against the
commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king
that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God.
If they had obeyed God and served God, He would have continued.
It was based on conditions. This was a covenant of works.
He said, if you do this, the blessing shall come upon you.
The problem was they couldn't, and he couldn't. But if you will
not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment
of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as
it was against your fathers. Now therefore stand and see this
great thing which the Lord shall do before your eyes." Verse 17,
"'Is it not that we harvest today? I will call unto the Lord, and
he shall send thunder and rain. And you may perceive and see
that your wickedness is great, which you have done
in the sight of the Lord, what was the wickedness that they
done in asking you a king?" God's going to show them. He's going
to reveal to them. God is a God of justice. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. A fearful thing. So Samuel called unto the Lord,
and the Lord sent thunder, and reigned that day, and all the
people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people
said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God,
that we die not, for we have added unto all of our sins this
evil, to ask unto us a king. And Samuel said unto the people,
Fear not. You have done all this wickedness,
yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord
with your hearts. And turn ye not aside, for then should ye
go after vain things, which cannot profit you, nor deliver, for
they are vain." Now, watch this. They sinned. They rebelled. And they're going to get exactly
what they want. But I like it when it says, in
wrath remember mercy. Verse 23. And the Lord will not
forsake his people for his great name. He could have left them
alone, but he didn't. He didn't. They chose the one
they wanted. But we're going to see God chose
his king. Because he will not forget his
covenant. He will not forget his covenant. You say, well,
if God had allowed Saul to reign, well, what about Ruth and Boaz?
Having Obed, who's the father of Jesse? All that has to come
to pass. Verse 23, moreover, as for me,
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, ceasing to
pray for you, but I will teach you the good in the right way. Now, chapter 13. We have Saul's sin and his disobeying
of God, that's beginning in verse 1. I said, y'all just kindly
bear with me. Saul reigned one year, and when
he had reigned two years over Israel, and what I can understand
when it says he reigned one year, there probably wasn't anything
happened, you know. There wasn't anything to happen, there wasn't
anything to record, and it was an uneventful year. I can just picture Saul saying,
we've got to cause something to happen, you know. We're a
king, we've got to prove to these people that we're a king now.
So Saul chose him, three thousand men of Israel. whereof two thousand
were with Saul in Mount Macias, and in the Mount Bethel, and
a thousand were with Jonathan." The first time Jonathan is mentioned.
And Gebeah, a Benjamin. And the rest of the people, he
sent every man to his tent. He sent the rest of them home.
What's this, verse 3? And Jonathan smote the garrison. of the Philistines that were
in Gebea. And the Philistines heard of
it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying,
Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard say that
Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines. Who was it
that smote the garrison of the Philistines? Jonathan did. But who wants to take the credit?
Saul did. Look what I've done. Look what
I've done. Doesn't that sound familiar?
Look what I've accomplished. And all Israel heard that Saul
had submitted a garrison to the Philistines, and Israel also
was had an abomination with the Philistines, and the people were
called together after Saul to Gilgal. And the Philistines gathered
themselves together to fight with Israel. You know what he's
done? He's stirred up him a hornet's nest. The Philistines went and
bothered him right now, but Saul says, I'm going to stir him.
I'll show him who I am. Saul takes 3,000 men. And the
Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel.
30,000 chariots. 6,000 horsemen. and the people as the sand which
is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and pitched
in Mishmath eastward from Bethlehem." Sounds like somebody's outnumbered.
What's he done now? What has he done? And watch this,
"...when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, For
the people were distressed. Then the people did hide themselves
in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places,
and in pits. And some of the Hebrews went
over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilgal. And as for Saul,
he was yet in Gilgal. For all the people followed him
trembling." Yeah, I'd have trembled too. I'd have trembled. You would have trembled. And
he tarried seven days according to the set time. Now I want you
to see this. That Samuel had appointed. But Samuel came not
to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. I want you
to notice back in verse, let me find it. In verse 8 of chapter 10, and
here's what Samuel had told him. And thou shalt go down before
me to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down unto thee, and to offer
burnt offerings and sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days
shalt thou tarry till I come to thee, and show thee what thou
shalt do. Saul is no prophet. Saul is no
priest. And this is what Samuel told
him. And this is this. This is it. He's been warned.
And he's tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had
appointed. But Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the people were
scattered from Saul. And Saul said, Bring hither a
burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the
burnt offering. He's even wanting to take upon
himself the office of a priest. You know what he's saying? I
can be my own mediator. I don't need Samuel. That's what
he's saying. This man. And it came to pass
that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering,
behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him
that he might salute him. John Gill said he went out to
salute him as another prophet. I'm so glad you're here. Let
me just tell you what I've done. And Samuel said, What hast thou
done? What hast thou done? And Saul
said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me,
and that thou camest not within the day's appointed. It was not
only the people's fault, Samuel, it was your fault. And that the Philistines were
gathered together together at Mixmash. Therefore said I, The
Philistines will come down now upon us to Gilgal. And I've not
made supplication unto the Lord. I've not prayed and sought God's
guidance. I forced myself, therefore, and offered the burnt offering.
I had to force myself. Do you not see the condition
of this man's heart? He's getting ready. He's got
to face all these Philistines. What's he going to do? Which,
what's he going to do? He has no direction. He gets
direction from God's prophet. Guidance from God. And he says,
you know what he's saying? I'll be my own God. Doesn't that
sound familiar? Man wants to be his own God.
Rule his own life. 13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou
hast done foolishly. Thou hast not kept the commandment
of the Lord thy God, when he commanded thee. For now would
the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. 14 But now thy kingdom shall
not continue. He was anointed with an oil of
flask. The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart. Oh, what grace. Saul's going to do what's in
his heart. And God says, I've sought me a man after my own
heart. How many times is that saying,
how many times has it said that in the scripture? David was a
man after God's own heart. Wanted to serve God, honor God,
and worship God. Not Saul. Saul's a picture of
our human nature. Saul's a picture of our flesh.
And Saul's a picture of Antichrist, who exalts himself above God
and wants to be worshipped as God, and actually thinks that
it is God. You say, well, what is Antichrist?
I thought Antichrist was something that was going to come in the
future. It's the spirit of Antichrist. Any religion. Any false, free-will
religion, whatever brand it is, whether it's Catholic, Methodist,
Baptist, Mormon, I don't care what it is, it's anti-Christ. It worships and serves man, and
it thinks that it can approach God without a mediator. Isn't
that right? And who hates David all of his
life? Psalm does. Is there not an enmity? Do you
see the picture? So when we get to those points,
hopefully you will understand and see this, this enmity. But God even lets this go on.
Yes, He does. He talks about revelation, and
when she's standing there, the beast is waiting for the child
to be born, a picture of when Christ will be born into the
world, and he spews out this water out of his mouth, which
is a picture of all false doctrine and heresy. And you know what
it says happens? The earth helped the woman and
swallowed up the water. And what they do? They swallow
up that heresy. Chapter 14. Chapter 14 has to
deal with Saul's rash vow. He made this command that nobody
was to eat anything. They were in battle. And Jonathan
didn't hear him make the command. And, you know, Jonathan's over
here and Jonathan's wore out and he comes across this honeycomb. You know what he did? He sticks
his spear in it and he eats some honeycomb. It gave him strength. He was enlightened. He was encouraged.
And everybody else saw it, and they did it. And you know what
Saul says? If any man eats anything, he's going to die. And he finds
out that Jonathan has done this, and you know what? Saul said,
you're going to die. A man is so crazy and so foolish, he'd
kill his own son? This world will sacrifice their
children to their ungodly desires. They will. So that's chapter
14. Chapter 15. We see Saul's partial obedience. Let me just give you an overview
of what this is. God told Saul to go down, I think
it was the Amalekites, and destroy everybody. Let me find it. I think it was the Amalekites.
He said, kill everybody. Kill the king. Don't spare anyone. And when he goes down, you know
what he does? The people keep the best sheep.
And they said, well, we're going to offer these to God, which,
oh, that sounds good, doesn't it? And he spares a gag. He spares the king. I can just
see the king probably begging to him, saying, don't kill me,
just spare my life and I'll make it worth your while. And he spared
him. But that ain't what God told
him to do. God told him to destroy everything. What was he supposed
to do? He's supposed to obey God. So
let me find. Verse 15, and then Saul said,
they have wrought, let me get in verse 13, and Samuel came
to Saul, and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord,
I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said,
but what meaneth this bleeding of the sheep in mine ears, and
the lowing of the oxen which I hear? What about this, where
do all these come from? And Saul said, they brought them
from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the
sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the
rest we've utterly destroyed. And Samuel said unto Saul, saying,
I'll tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night. And
he said unto him, Say, Aum. And Samuel said, When thou wast
little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the
tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy
the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until
they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not
obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and
did evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel,
Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the
way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king, and
the Amalekites, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. And
the people took the spoils, the sheep, and the ox, and the chief,
and the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice
them to the Lord thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord
as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Now watch this. Behold, to obey
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, then, to the fat
of rams. For rebellion, and this is what it is, rebellion is as
the sin of witchcraft. Did you see that? It is as the
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness, and as iniquity, and idolatry. Because thou has rejected the
word of the Lord, he has also rejected thee from being king. You rejected God, and God's rejecting
you. And Saul said unto Samuel, I've
sinned. Oh, is he sincere? I have sinned
and I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and His words because
I feared the people." And they obeyed and obeyed their voice.
Now, therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin and turn again
with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul,
I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word
of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected thee from being over
Israel. You read this week again, Romans
chapter 1, when people will not like them to retain God in their
knowledge, and they keep on rebelling against Almighty God, God gives
them up to reprobate minds. God gives them up to vile affections. God gives them up to do exactly
what they want. What's that saying? God just
leaves them alone. And you know what he's saying to Saul? You've
rejected God. You've refused the commandments
of God, and I'm going to leave you alone. And as Samuel turned
about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle,
and it rent. I think, this is my opinion,
I believe that Saul probably realized right now what he had
done, and it's too late. Do you know what it says about
Esau after he sold his birthright? He sought repentance carefully
with tears, and he was rejected, and God left him alone. He said,
you'll cry and I won't hear you. I stretched out my hand all the
day long and you refused it. He's a picture of a man. Look
at all the life that Saul had. And he would not, he would not
obey God. Worried about what somebody else
may think. Listen to me, the most important thing this morning
is what God thinks. And partial obedience is disobedience. Let's read on. As Samuel said,
verse 28, Unto him the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from
thee this day, and hath given it unto the neighbour of thine,
that is better than thou. And also the strength of Israel
will not lie nor repent, for he is God, is not a man, that
he should repent. And he said, I have sinned, yet
honour me now. I pray thee before the elders
of my people. All he's worried about. They
do all their works. They do all their works to be
seen of men. He said, honor me before the
elders. Everybody knew who Samuel was. And of my people and before
Israel and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord.
So Samuel turned again after Saul and Saul worshiped the Lord. Now, what's this? Then said Samuel. Bring ye hither to me Agag, the
king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness
of death is past. He said, Boy, I got over that. Boy, I'm glad I talked my way
out of that. I'm not going to die now. Hold
on now. What did God tell Saul to do? God told him to kill this
man. Saul wouldn't kill him, but Samuel sure will. And Samuel
says in verse 33, As thy sword hath made women childless, so
shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed
agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. I bet you nobody opened
their mouth. You know why Samuel did this?
You said that seemed so severe. He believed God. He obeyed God. He trusted God. And Saul would
not. Obedience. Faith without works
is dead. How do we know Samuel believed
God? He obeyed God. He worshipped God. And Samuel
went to Ramah, and Saul went to his house to gilgal Saul. Now watch this. Don't you see
this? This is sad. Samuel's God's prophet. God's
prophet. Now, there was a school of prophets
that Samuel was over. Samuel's an old man, a wise man,
walked with God a long time. And Samuel came no more to see
Saul until the day of his death. That's sad. Samuel came no more
to see him until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned
for Saul. I don't understand what that
means. But you know what? You know what Paul said? He said,
I would be willing to be accursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Samuel loved Saul, and
it broke his heart. He knew what this man had done.
Saul may not have realized it. He may never have realized it,
but Samuel did. And it broke his heart. Samuel mourned for Saul, and
the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. Now,
let me read our verse that we began with. And the Lord said
to Samuel, How long will thou mourn for Saul? Seeing I have
rejected him from being king over Israel, or reigning over
Israel, filled thine horn with awe, and go, I'll send thee to
Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king. among his
sons. And that king will obey God. He's just a sinner, we know that.
But God sought him a man after his own heart. And God anoints
that man his king. Did you get anything from it?
I hope it's... I just feel like we need to go back and read them
again. It's just... Saul was such a
sad picture. Sad picture. But Samuel still
mourned for him. Cared for him. But God said,
how long are you going to mourn for him? Get up. Morning's over. I provided me a king. He didn't
know which one he is. He just knows to go to Jesse's
house. And Lord willing, we'll pick up there next week. Amen.