Lesson 242: "No Respect"
Respect is earned, I was always told;
Not something you receive by growing old.
Reaching great heights in your status in life;
Without humbleness causes nothing but strife.
A poet I’m not, but this I have learned;
Without God’s approval, respect is NEVER earned.
King Saul was the man that God chose to rule over Israel. Samuel was the prophet that God sent to anoint Saul as king. The reason for this is because the Israelites showed no respect for God and even though they begged Samuel; “do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us” (1 Sam. 7:8), they showed little for Samuel as well. Samuel was judge over Israel all the days of his life and when he grew old he appointed his sons as judges. However, they turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice, showing no respect for their father Samuel or their Father God or for Israel. This is when the people demanded that Samuel find them a king “like all the other nations” (1 Sam. 8:5). God assured his trusted judge/prophet that the people were not rejecting him but rather God Himself, just like they had done from the day He brought them out of Egypt.
God told Samuel to listen to the people but to warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who would reign over them would do. Again the rebellious “chosen ones” of God refused to listen to Samuel and said; “we want a king over us” and the Lord made a chilling statement; “Listen to them and give them what they asked for”! I have always heard that we should be careful what we ask for and this proved to be true in this case. I think that sometimes God just gets tired of our whining and lets us have our own way; the way to disaster.
Saul was an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites; a head taller than any of the others. Saul and a servant were out looking for donkey strays when Samuel caught sight of him. The Lord told Samuel; “this is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people” (1 Sam. 17). When Samuel approached Saul he was very humble and protested that he was of the smallest tribe of Israel and the least of the clans of the Benjamites. However, he was God’s choice and Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over Saul’s head saying the Lord had anointed him. He told him that when the Spirit of the Lord came on him he would be a changed person and change Saul did. He stayed humble and “shy” for the first few days, hiding among the baggage when Saul announced him king; however when he went to his home some troublemakers despised him and brought him no gifts; the ultimate disrespect toward a king.
Saul never seemed really sure of himself as king and proved this when he “went ahead of Samuel” and began the sacrifice without him (1 Sam. 13:8-9). Samuel was irate asking Saul; “what have you done”? “You acted foolishly”, Samuel said, “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord’s commands”. Saul had lost the respect of God and Israel was in distress because their king had bound them with an oath that no one should eat until he had avenged himself on his enemies. Notice that here he did not wait for the vengeance of the Lord but was again going his own way. His son, Jonathan did not hear the command not to eat so he helped himself to some honey from the ground. When the troops fearfully told Jonathan he had gone against his father, even the king’s own son lost respect for him saying; “My father has made trouble for the country”.
God was silent toward the king when he asked if he should go against the Philistines so Saul cast lots to see what sin had been committed. The lot fell on his son Jonathan and the king said he must die. “But the men said to Saul, ‘should Jonathan die; he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground for he did this today with God’s help’. So the men rescued Jonathan and he was not put to death”. The men of Israel had lost respect for their king! Later when God used Saul and his army to punish the Amalekites, Saul did not follow the Lord’s commands to destroy everything, God lost his final respect and patience with him, telling Samuel; “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me”. Not only did Saul disobey in not destroying everything the Amalekites had but he lied to Samuel when confronted about keeping the plunder. He then tried to cover the lie or used the excuse that he kept some of the plunder for a sacrifice to the Lord. This was not accepted because “to obey was better than sacrifice for rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry” (1 Sam. 15:22-23). It saddened Samuel to tell Saul the final Words of the Lord; “Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king. And the Lord was grieved that He had made Saul king over Israel”.
Remember that it is no frivolous matter to hear the voice of God and a most humbling experience to be chosen to speak for Him. The brilliant British preacher said he “trembled” lest he should misinterpret the Word. We all should tremble in the presence of God and pay extra special attention to the commands, instructions and directions He gives us. “It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23-24).