1 Samuel 13 - A Man After His Own Heart

Previously in 1 Samuel, Samuel gave a speech at Saul’s coronation, and this would be his last address to the nation recorded in the Scriptures.  He chastised the people for asking for a king, and he prayed to the Lord that it would rain during their wheat harvest as a sign they had done this against the Lord’s will.  So, the Lord caused it to thunder and rain, and the people were so afraid, they feared they might die at the Lord’s hand.  Samuel told them not to be afraid, for it pleased the Lord to have made them His people.  They had done wickedly in asking a king instead of the Lord being their King, but Samuel admonished them to fear and serve the Lord with all their hearts, both them and their king for all the great things the Lord had already done for them.

After Saul had reigned two years, he chose out 3000 men to be in his army.  Two thousand were with him in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and one thousand went with Jonathan his son in Gibeah of Benjamin.  Previously Israel had a militia that was called on to fight when there was a national threat, but now Saul had a professional army.  This is the first mention of Jonathan in 1 Samuel, and as we will see, he will prove to be a man of tremendous faith, courage, and loyalty to the people of God.

While being stationed in Gibeah, Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was there.  At this point, Israel was, again, under Philistine control, and none of the Israeli soldiers had swords or spears except for Saul and Jonathan.  There were no blacksmiths in Israel, so each man had to go to the Philistines, and pay to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, their forks and axes, and to set the points of the goads.  You know you are under tyranny when you are not allowed to own your own weapons and have to pay for the basic necessities of life.  Every tyrannical government throughout history has first gotten rid of the people’s right to bear arms, for that is the best defense against such forms of government.  It comes as no surprise then, that the Left in our country is working hard to make it illegal to keep and bear arms.  What happened in Canada earlier this year (and probably worse) is what we can look forward to if they succeed.  The Lord was allowing them to be under this tyrannical rule as a consequence of their sin, and it is no different for us today.  Having said this, it was quite an act of faith for Jonathan to go and attack the Philistine’s garrison, and this will not be the last time he will take such a step out in faith.

Saul did not exercise such faith, but it appears he was ok taking the credit for it.  He blew the trumpet throughout the land to call the people to Gilgal.  Naturally, the Philistines were not going to allow this attack to go unanswered, for oppressive governments never like to give up their control.  It states that the Israelis had become an abomination to them.  The Philistines summoned together (probably) three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and people as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they encamped in Michmash.  So, although Jonathan took a step out in faith, he poked the hornets’ nest.  Sometimes this happens to us as believers as well: the devil doesn’t like it when we take a step out in faith for the Lord, and he will mount a considerable force to discourage and intimidate us into fear and silence.  We can choose to yield to this temptation to retreat, or we can choose to trust the Lord.  The author of Hebrews writes “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb 11:6)

Well, the people chose to become fearful.  They hid in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and in pits, and some of them even fled across the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.  Saul remained in Gilgal, but the people followed him trembling.  Now, Samuel had previously told Saul to wait for him in Gilgal seven days for him to come to make an offering, but when Saul saw that the people were scattered from him and that Samuel was delayed, he offered the burnt and peace offerings himself.  Now if we recall, only the priests were permitted to make offerings to the Lord, because they represented the people to God.  The Lord made a clear distinction between spiritual and civic authority, and an examination of history has proven the wisdom in this.  So, what Saul did was plainly sinful.  He became fearful himself, and allowed his fear and lack of faith to influence his decision-making.

No sooner had Saul made the offerings, that Samuel arrived.  In other words, Saul missed Samuel by only an hour.  Guzek writes, “If he had trusted God and waited one more hour, how different things could have been! The last moments of waiting are usually the most difficult and they powerfully tempt us to take matters into our own hands.”  Saul went out to greet him, and Samuel said “What have you done?”  Maybe Samuel smelled the burnt sacrifices in the air, but somehow, he knew what Saul had done.  Saul responded, “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, 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.”  Notice the excuse making and even the blame game that Saul plays here: Saul thought he needed to make the sacrifice to re-gain the confidence and support of the people, but it was the Lord’s favor that he needed.  Again, Saul is fearing man rather than fearing God.  It was Samuel’s fault for not showing up on time.  This is a big one, folks.  It is all too easy to make excuses and blame others for our own faults, rather than simply confessing them to the Lord for forgiveness.  It was Benjamin Franklin that said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”  When believers engage in excuse-making and blaming others, it demonstrates a lack of humility and repentance for what they have done, and makes it impossible to move past those sins.  They will be stuck there until they decide to deal with them in the manner the Bible prescribes.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Pro 28:13) Saul said he needed to do it to gain God’s protection in going to battle with the Philistines, but he failed to realize that God’s favor and protection come in response to faith in Him and obedience to His word.  Saul stated that for these reasons he just had to do it, but if he would have trusted and obeyed God, the Lord would have taken care of the situation.  Samuel told him, “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.  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 was not a man after God’s own heart but a man after his own heart.  He was a stubborn and self-willed man who insisted on doing things his own way.  At the heart of this was pride, for he thought he knew better than the Lord.  Samuel told him he had done foolishly, for whenever we disobey what we know to be right, it is foolishness.    After this, Samuel left Gilgal, and went back to Gibeah.

Saul numbered the people remaining with him, and there were about 600 men, a fifth of the army he once had.  Saul, Jonathan his son, and the men with him also went to Gibeah, while the Philistines remained in Michmash.  The philistines then sent companies of raiders into Israeli territory, and because they had no weapons, they were unable to defend themselves against these raids.  So, Saul was left with 600 men with no swords or spears to face an army that was far superior.  In the natural, it was a pretty dire situation, and you can partly understand why the people were afraid.  It would take a miracle and a man who believed in a God who works miracles for them to win a victory, and in the next chapter we will see just that.

Previously I stated that some sins have permanent consequences, and for Saul this was the case.  His lack of faith and obedience to the word of the Lord cost him the kingdom.  This loss would not be immediate, but it would eventually happen due to a continual string of worsening sins by him.  I believe Saul could have repented, and if he had, things may have been different.  However, the Lord, in His foreknowledge, knew that he would not.  So, this may have been as much a prediction as it was a pronouncement of discipline from Samuel from the Lord.  I do not mean to make light of Saul’s struggles or of the people’s, for the king and his army were in a serious predicament.  However, God holds His leaders to a higher standard, and because the situation was so dire, it was all the more important for Saul to trust and obey the Lord.

In what ways are we like Saul?  Do we have a tendency to look at our circumstances through fear and unbelief rather than faith?  Are we tired of waiting, and take matters into our own hands?  Do we make decisions in haste based off this lack of faith that are contrary to the word of God?  Do we stubbornly insist on our own way rather than the Lord’s?  When we are convicted by the Holy Spirit or called out for it by others, do we make excuses and blame others?  If this is you or me, we need to remember that we will not prosper in this state.  We will remain immature and carnal Christians, and our lives will be filled with unnecessary problems.  The way to prosper in the Christian walk is to passionately seek the Lord, obey what His word says, and repent when we fall short.  Remember, those last hours of waiting for the Lord to intervene are often the most crucial, and it is where our faith and character grow the most.  We should not make excuses or blame others for our sins, but we should humbly confess our sins as soon as we are made aware of them, for “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  The Lord is seeking out those who are men and women after His own heart, those who simply trust and obey Him.