Overcome by Fear of Enemies (vv. 1-7)
1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent. 3 And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" 4 Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. 5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
Legitimate War and Courage
It is the responsibility kings and all whom the Lord has given the power of the sword to protect the lives of those they rule and serve (Rom. 13:1-7). Whether or not they recognize God’s authority, he has put the sword in their hand and will demand an accounting of how they exercised their office, for they are his ministers. Saul’s first year passed without incident (v. 1), but the second was marked by war with the Philistines. It would appear that Saul was initially passive in protecting the people and driving out their enemies. Jonathan his son, however, was valiant, attacked the Philistine garrison, and defeated it (14:1-15). This was legitimate military action, for the Philistines had set up bases in the borders that the Lord had given his people. Those whom the Lord has invested with authority and power must use this not to enrich and serve themselves, as our leaders do today, but protect the people from enemies. Borders must be enforced. When they are violated or ignored with impunity, chaos ensues. A people’s destruction draws closer. Once Saul heard of his son’s daring victory, he blew the trumpet to assemble all Israel to Gilgal for battle.
Are We Really Outnumbered and Overmatched?
The Philistines did not take this sitting down but assembled their full strength. They had recovered since Samson humbled them. Remember that spiritual forces were also at work here, for when righteousness begins to stir, Satan assembles his troops to resist. This is the way of our warfare – that the flesh and Spirit are always striving against one another. We should not be discouraged to find armies of evil assembled against us but expect the world to oppose Christ’s light. In the case of the Philistines, it was a vast array of chariots, cavalry, and infantry – like the sand of the sea. Israel recently mustered an army of over 300,000, but the people were terrified and hid in caves and hedges. Some even fled to the other side of the Jordan to escape what seemed to them inevitable defeat. And thus, we must walk by faith in the Lord’s promises. Faith believes God’s promises and knows it is never really outnumbered or outmatched. In fact, when we see evil active, blatant, and bizarre, we know it is calling out its full force at Satan’s orders to resist increasing good. This is happening throughout the world. The energy of global Babel-building is from Satan – opposing the growth of the gospel, the ongoing conversion of multitudes, and the forward march of the Lord Jesus Christ. To be courageous, we must not listen to Satan’s trumpeters – public and social media, public education, graveyard corporations and the politicians they have purchased. Put on God’s armor, and Satan himself must flee. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). This is God’s promise and our Savior’s power and the Spirit’s working. Let us believe and act in faith, standing where we are, listening to our Savior’s trumpet in his word, which is active and powerful. It is the sword of his mouth, and his word cannot be defeated.
Disobedient Leaders Lead to Loss (vv. 8-14)
8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." 13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."
Saul Unable to Keep Army Together: God Not His Strength
Samuel told Saul to wait seven days for him to return to Gilgal (1 Sam. 10:8). Samuel ran a little late – a couple of hours past Saul’s patience level. But the people began scattering; Saul could not keep them together. He might have told them that Samuel would surely come. He might have used the delay to remind them of God’s faithfulness and strength, and that they had nothing to fear from the Philistines. Had not the Lord just sent a powerful thunderstorm on the harvest day to confirm his word? Had they not recently defeated the Ammonites? Did they not have four hundred years of testimony to the Lord’s faithfulness to his covenant and his power over every enemy they faced? Yes, yes, and yes, but Saul did not know the Lord as his strength. Therefore, he could not encourage the people to trust the Lord in any meaningful way.
A godly leader at any level of life walks with the Lord and knows him as more than a formal truth or haunting thought. He has learned to depend upon the Lord, and he has seen the Lord help him. It is unthinkable to a godly leader fit for the Lord’s use not to turn to the Lord in time of trouble. Why could Saul not have called for a season of prayer and fasting? He was unable to keep the army together because he did not really know the Lord. And the same is true for our leaders today, especially at a national level. They do not know and depend upon the Lord of hosts. It should come as no surprise that they are unable to understand the cause of our national demise or keep the nation together by faith in Jesus Christ and calling the people to repentance. They are strangers to the Lord, and in many cases his professed enemies. They hate him. Therefore, their only strength lies in schemes and threats. They are powerless, for their captain, the devil, is defeated. Without the Lord, there is no strength or sound counsel in any area of life.
Saul Acted Presumptuously: God Manipulated, Not Trusted
Terrified he would lose all his supporters, Saul took matters in hand and offered burnt and peace offerings. Saul was not a priest, and he broke the Lord’s commandments (v. 13). Because his heart was not right with the Lord, his sacrifices were an attempt to manipulate the situation to obtain his desired outcome. He wanted the Lord’s blessing without giving himself to the Lord. Apart from usurping an office, he was not seeking mercy. He was not trying to make peace with the Lord through atonement but to purchase a blessing by religious devotion. Saul was not a man after the Lord’s heart for this primary reason. He did not trust the Lord, crave the Lord’s fellowship, or believe himself to be a wretched sinner in need of propitiation. And, compounding all this, he moved forward against the Lord’s specific commands through Samuel, and therefore without a clear word from the Lord through his prophet. We should never move forward with any decision or relationship unless we are assured of the Lord’s approval by his word. Not to seek his will in his word is to embrace the darkness of unbelief.
Saul Excused and Blamed: God Not a Reality to Him
On providential cue, Samuel arrived just as Saul finished offering sacrifices. Matthew Henry soberly observed that Saul lost the kingdom for two hours of impatience. But Saul did not see it that way. He greeted Samuel confidently, as if he had done the Lord’s will. Samuel immediately confronts him, but Saul began making excuses – I had to offer the sacrifices, for the people were scattering. You did not come when you said you would. The Philistines will come down and fight before you have made supplication to the Lord. Samuel dismisses every excuse – you have done foolishly. Whatever your justifications, there is never one justification for disobeying the Lord. The Lord might have established the kingdom in your hand forever, but now you have lost the kingdom. The Lord will look for a man after his own heart. At the heart of Saul was “there is no God.” Saul was not a professing atheist, but the Lord was not Saul’s governing reality – pleasing him, trusting him, worshipping him, turning to him. And, when confronted about his sins, unlike David, who wept and chastened himself and trusted the Lord’s mercy, Saul made excuses. His heart was far from the Lord. A man of God, a godly leader, does not blame the times in which he lives, bad influences around him, or God. He does not blame the preacher, his elders, or his wife. He blames himself, and then, broken and contrite, he comes to the Lord for mercy – and the Lord forgives him through Jesus Christ.
If we are to worship the Lord aright, first, the way we worship him must be in accordance with his word. There is no true worship without obedience. Second, the Lord wants our heart. There are many reasons a person might go to church or pray – to look good religiously, or to buy God off with acts of piety, or to feel better about oneself. Especially for long-time churched souls, we must guard against a deep layer of pride that keeps up all the legitimate duties of worship and body life, but for all the wrong reasons. And the chief wrong reason is that we are not offering the Lord our hearts, turning to him with all our hearts, and we are using the means of grace as ends in themselves – rather than the means he has appointed for us to know and serve him. If our hearts are humbled and broken before him, the more our worship, prayers, and participation in body life are expressions of true devotion to him, opportunities to draw near to him, and ways we grow in strength and love in the body – not ways we serve ourselves and maintain an appearance of religion to others.
Then, Dispirited, Diminished, and Disarmed (vv. 15-23)
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men. 16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned to the road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears." 20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21 and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. 22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
Nothing Worse than Facing Distress Alone
Upon these words, Samuel left Saul. The troubles facing Saul were hard enough, but now he was alone. Only 600 of his 2,000 retainers remained (v. 2). Unbelief and disobedience have terrible consequences that are far worse than the challenges of obedience. Yes, when we set out to obey the Lord, many difficulties will confront us. Remember our Savior’s life. The more he obeyed and took pleasure in obeying his Father, the more the world hated him. The more he was attacked and tempted by the devil. It will be no different for us, except for this – we are in union with the One who overcame sin and Satan. We are more than conquerors in him (Rom. 8:37). Therefore, whatever difficulties the Lord in his wise and good providence may set in our way to test us and teach us to depend upon his strength, let us never doubt that the outcome will be victory in Jesus Christ – now or later. We shall triumph in our triumphant Captain. But we can have this confidence only if we face our troubles trusting in the Lord’s word. If we turn away from hearing the Lord, troubles will multiply and appear far worse than they are. Faith brings down the high mountains of fear so that we see them as little ridges of testing upon which our Savior rides triumphantly to help and defend us.
Loss of Faith Leads to Loss of Courage
This was not Saul’s heart. It was not Israel’s. Now we are given a little more background about the difficulty of those times. The Philistines not only were gathering for battle, but they had also reduced Israel to a tributary status. No one had swords. There were no blacksmiths. God’s people had to travel to a “government authorized” metal sharpener for their farming implements. What had led to Israel’s disarmament? Unbelief. Unbelief breeds fear. Fear makes us easy prey for those who tyrannize and plunder us. It is the same today. Many nations and some once generally influenced by the Christian faith, have given up the means of protection from tyrannical governments, even from petty thieves. When men lose a life-dominating faith in the Lord, life terrifies them. They are willing to give up liberty for security and plundering armies of state bureaucrats are more than willing to supply a façade of security by their host of laws and administrative control and licensing requirements. What the Philistines did on a small scale, most western governments, especially our own, are attempting on a much larger scale of tyranny. Arms alone are insufficient. We can only overcome ungodly leaders if we are godly, if we trust the Lord and are dominated by a deep conviction that he is our ultimate reality – his promises, his protection, his presence. Then, we need not fear men, states, and even the very shadow of Babel. This is the Lord’s war in our times, and our only security is faith in him and obedience to his Bible.
But, Now That We Have the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ the Lord
1. Disobedience to the Lord’s word is never justified, and it is never needed. These things were written for our admonition (1 Cor. 10:11). Saul is intended as a negative example, a warning to ungodly leaders. We now live in the “end of the ages,” as the apostle immediately adds, which means that we are living in the mediatorial reign of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father. And in his union and kingdom, disobedience is never justified. There is never a tragic moral dilemma, as the ethicists call it, in which our only choice is to sin. There are dilemmas in which the choice to obey may be life-ending, or even harder, a way of life ending. But however we read our times and circumstances, the sure path forward is to obey the Lord. It did not matter how many chariots were bearing down upon Saul, he should have waited for Samuel. Had the first wave of Philistine cavalry passed him, he should have waited. Obedience unto death was the way our Lord saved us, and we shall find deliverance and help on this same path. It is a great marker of the evil of our times that Satan has deceived so many on this point – that obedience is the opposite of grace. Evil has few better friends than such a mistaken view of grace. All the grace we need is in Jesus Christ, and he walks with us in the path of obedience (John 15:9-11). If we walk with him humbly, trusting his strength, we shall find all the grace, support, strength, and hope we need to resist the devil.
2. God must be our consuming reality – we are never helpless or hopeless. And we have much more reason to trust him now that the Son of God has come in our flesh, humbled himself, obeyed unto death, and trusted his Father all the way to the painful, shameful death of the cross. How did Moses endure but by “seeing him who was invisible?” And all the other examples – the living, triune God was their determining reality – not the size or ferocity of enemies, not the smallness of the godly band – remember Daniel! – or any other consideration. The sole consideration of faith is: has God said? Do I have my Father’s promise? How can I walk worthy of the Lord and please him in this relationship – perhaps I must leave it? Or, in this job? Or, in my thoughts? God was not in all Saul’s thoughts – Saul was. It will be the same for us unless we constantly feed faith upon the promises of God. His word must be living and powerful in our own lives, as we abide in it, meditate upon it, and obey it.
3. Wait upon the Lord in good hope and obedience. Waiting upon the Lord is not passively doing nothing and hoping for a miracle. We wait upon the Lord when we trust him and put on the armor he has given to us. To wait upon the Lord is to hope in him, wearing the helmet of the hope of salvation and taking up the sword of the Spirit, his word, to subdue our own thoughts to Jesus Christ and then to live for him in the world. Saul did not wait upon the Lord, for he did not really know the Lord. It seemed foolish to him to obey Samuel’s word when the Philistines were threatening to run him over in their chariots. Faith teaches just the opposite. It is foolish to listen to the king’s command, as in Moses’ parents’ case, when the Lord has said to trust him. It is foolish to obey the king’s command not to pray, as in Daniel’s case, for obedience is safety. Trusting the Lord is our only safe space in the entire universe.
4. Trust the Lord’s promise never to leave or forsake us (Ex. 33:15; Matt. 28:20). Saul was willing to move forward without the Lord’s word, and therefore, without the Lord’s presence. Far different is the conviction that faith works in us. Like Moses, we plead: “If your presence does not go up with us, carry us not up from here” (Ex. 33:15). The attitude of godly leadership is that however pressing business may be, unless the Lord is with us, we can do nothing lasting or useful. We are not going to save ourselves by more programs and rules and bureaucrats. We cannot build a utopia of man’s imagination in which we do not need the Lord. There is a desperate attempt to do this today – prosperity through fake money, or DEI, or whatever else promotes rebellion. But we live in God’s world, and man cannot prevail against the Lord or resist his purposes. Thus, when we have leaders who do not seek the Lord’s honor, they are doomed, for he is against them. Faith has its work cut out, for we must trust the Lord and seek to be governed and guided by him whatever men are doing. So, let us pray with Moses – Lord, our leaders contribute to our calamities, but there is a far greater calamity – to be without you. Therefore, we seek your face, desire only you to be our Shepherd, and ask you to give us a heart to follow you, obey your word, and wait for you to help to deliver us from every enemy. This is our Savior’s great work, and the “pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”
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