I’m a Saul Man

By Ben

I read 1 Samuel 11-14.

In this section, we begin to learn more about Saul, the new king. He is brave and knows how to rally troops. Sounds like he should be a decent, albeit fierce, king. But chapter 12 brings us Samuel’s farewell address and a warning of Israel’s sin in asking for a king in the first place. God is not happy. Well, Saul gets the Israelites into a battle with the Philistines, and his son Jonathan is instrumental in defeating them.

Saul makes some really stupid decisions throughout this section. He seems like a good guy, trying to do a good job, but just doesn’t always use his whole brain. A few times, while in a hurry to get into battle, rushes through the important part of seeking God’s blessing (sounds like most of us in our everyday life). And then, he decides that it is a good idea to motivate his troops by saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening – before I have full revenge on my enemies.” Jonathan, who hasn’t heard his father’s declaration, eats some honey and gets into all kinds of trouble for it. Saul is ready to kill him (literally) and the people ask for him to be spared.

As I am looking back through what I have read today, I noticed that the upcoming chapter 15 is titled “Saul Fails to Obey.” Man, don’t you hate it when the prophets are right?

I guess I feel like I could be Saul. I’m not saying that I necessarily relate to him or agree with what he does, but the way that his story leads up is almost a Hollywood script:

(::Read in the movie guy’s voice::) A young farm boy, while on an errand for his father, meets up with a mysterious prophet, who tells him that he will become the king of all Israel. Through war and family conflict, King Saul is faced with impossible decisions that could bring about the end of his nation. Coming to an Odeon near you!

Okay, so maybe it is more of a Disney plot, but this coming-of-age story has more behind it. The Student’s Life Application Bible has a commentary on Saul that helps us to understand the point of this story:

“During his reign, Saul had his greatest successes when he obeyed God. His greatest failures resulted from acting on his own. Saul had the raw materials to be a good leader – appearance, courage, and action. Even his weaknesses could have been used by God if Saul had recognized them and left them in God’s control. His own choices cut him off from God and eventually alienated him from his own people. From Saul we learn that while our strengths and abilities make us useful, it is our weaknesses that make us usable. Our skills and talents make us tools, but our failures and shortcomings remind us that we need a craftsman in control of our life. Whatever we accomplish on our own is only a hint of what God could do through our life.”