“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.”
— First Samuel 13:14.
It is hard not to sympathize with Saul in this situation. It is not easy to see what he had done wrong. God had given him the kingship, a responsibility that Saul did not even want, but one he was trying to faithfully carry out. As he waited for Samuel, the enemy gained strength while his own numbers dwindled. Didn’t God expect him to save Israel?
Saul should have asked God Himself what to do. If he had, God might have told him to offer the sacrifice. Samuel then would have had nothing to say. But Saul’s feeling was, “It’s all on my shoulders. I must do the job I have been chosen to do.” He sought to handle the situation as the circumstances dictated rather than seek God’s direction.
This story should cause us to wonder what the Lord wants from us. As believers, we should never declare, “I must do it” or “I have no choice.” Instead, we should always seek the Lord until we are able to say, “The Lord told me.”
Adapted from David: After God’s Heart, pages 33-34.
Tomorrow: “We Must Seek the Lord’s Leading (3)”