It’s a classic tick tock moment.
The king of Israel wanted a photo-op with the prophet of Israel. I know, I know. There were no camera’s in pre-historic Israel but the sentiments were the same.
Samuel seen with Saul was good PR for the King, and if there was one top priority for Saul at the time, it was saving face at all costs.
In case I’ve thoroughly confused you, let me go back to one of the most interesting biblical stories that show human nature hasn’t changed much.
As first King of Israel, Saul had one job. To obey God in his leadership of Israel but he seemingly thought otherwise and chose to edit the instructions of the Most-High when it came to the instruction to wipe out the Amalekites.
He killed majority of the Amalekites but left their King and the best of their livestock alive.
Saul didn’t know it then, but the seed of Amalek that he left would have been the genesis of the first holocaust – but for the intervention of God through Queen Esther, another royal who chose total obedience.
Samuel the prophet, knowing how grievous the sin of ‘partial obedience’ to God was, pointed out with clarity what God’s response to the Kings actions would be.
You would think that given Samuel’s pronouncements, the important thing for Saul would be to seek to restore the favor of God on himself and his lineage.
Unfortunately he chose to look good rather than be good.
The King’s priority was to have the populace assume all was well. This he managed by convincing Samuel to make a sacrifice with him.
You see, for the average Jew, if Samuel was with you then God was with you, and if God was with you, so would the people.
The optics were all that mattered, but God had already moved on. Saul was destined to be plagued by evil spirits while alive, stay jealous of his own son-in-law and end up losing his life after spending his last night with a witch.
That one move led Saul from grace to grass.
Now let’s contrast Saul’s actions with those of another King.
The King who ended up succeeding him
David made mistakes.
You could even argue that David’s crimes were more egregious than Saul’s.
The striking difference? When confronted by the prophet of God, David focused on repentance and seeking God’s favor back. His psalms tell us that much.
What most of us don’t think about, is the fact that David could have gone the way of Saul. He could have had Nathan killed for daring to question his actions. He had already killed Uriah, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to silence another man.
Unlike Saul, David knew not to match himself up against the God who had given him everything. Unlike Saul, David sought genuine forgiveness, even turning to the Lord for healing when his son with Bathsheba became ill.
David’s sin, came with consequences as sin often does, and he paid dearly for his crimes, but God stayed faithful to him all of his life and even after his death, God kept the promise that he would always have someone from his line to sit on the throne.
The human heart hasn’t changed much over thousands of years. We may not be royalty but we have the same tendency to look good to everyone else even if God is displeased.
Social media of course has worsened things considerably as the easiest way to develop and keep a following is to expose the good parts of your life to the entire world .
Truthfully, we’re all susceptible to the trap of caring what other’s think when weighed against what God thinks.
Saul and David are good lessons when thinking long term.
Today, more than in any other generation, God’s ways are mocked , ridiculed and disdained while the praise of man is hyped and celebrated.
Saul took the easy road. David did not and God shows us by the way both lives ended, who made the right choice.
When all is said and done, it’s God’s ‘like’ that really matters.
Let’s strive for that.
Ref: 1 Samuel 15