I Samuel 13

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I Samuel 13:11-14, “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.  But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

One of Saul’s first acts as king was to establish a standing army.  Both he and his son, Jonathan, commanded different divisions of the Hebrew army.  In today’s chapter, we see Jonathan and his soldiers attacking the Philistine army at the town of Geba, greatly aggravating the Philistine leaders.  They decide to retaliate by attacking Saul’s troops and the Israelites are greatly outnumbered.  In fact, Saul and Jonathan’s men respond by running away and hiding in caves, rocks, thickets, cisterns, or wherever else they can find safety. 

Saul waits for Samuel to come to offer the necessary burnt offerings that are supposed to happen before a battle occurs to receive the Lord’s favor.  But Saul gets impatient.  In fact, Saul is so impatient that he goes ahead and just offers the burnt offerings himself, a big no-no.  Samuel, as the prophet, is still the spiritual authority, not King Saul.  We don’t really know why Saul took matters into his own hands; maybe he was anxious about the battle and not thinking straight or possibly he thought himself invincible as king.  Regardless, when Samuel arrives and realizes what has happened, he admonishes Saul and prophesies that because Saul did not obey God’s commands, his kingdom will not endure.  God has another king in mind, someone who will be man after God’s own heart.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get a bit impatient.  If I’m honest, I get impatient with God.  Why hasn’t this happened yet, God?  When are you going to act in this area?  But impatience never ends well, not for Saul and not for us.  I was thinking about how the opposite of impatience is not patience but trust.  God calls us to trust him to do his will in his timing. 

Let’s pray…Lord Jesus, Where we are impatient, help us trust you more.  We belong to you.  More of you and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.