March 22 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 81

Well, that didn't last too long.  Saul's story began with humility and favor.  Today, a bit of impatience gets the best of him and things begin to unravel.

DAILY READINGS

1 Samuel 13-14 & Psalm 81

DAILY NOTES

1 Samuel 13

• Remember when Samuel told Saul to wait 7 days for him (10:8)?  Then again, remember 11:1?  I'll let you think on that.
• Saul, feeling the people "slip away" (literally, scattering), decides he must take the responsibility to do the offerings.  As he finishes, Samuel arrives.  
• Consequently, Samuel prophesies that Saul's "kingdom will not continue."  

1 Samuel 14

• Saul's son, Jonathan, shows himself to be a military hero.  He sends the Philistines into panic and, as a result, the Hebrews work together to defeat them.
• Saul commands his troops to take an oath to not eat anything before sundown. Jonathan does not hear this and eats; he even gets others to eat because the troops are "faint."  Notice Jonathan's attitude toward the oath his father has prescribed.

Psalm 81

• Notice this psalm takes the viewpoint of God.  
• What is the point?  Take note of the last two verses and see what the benefit of following God is.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

I feel bad for Saul.  Throughout his story, we'll see there are times he does what is wrong, but, perhaps, for not-so-wrong reasons.  Let's take today's example.

Assuming the story line as is, that Saul is waiting 7 days from when Samuel told him to go, can you imagine all the feelings he's having these 7 days?  His people are afraid; they're hiding.  There is an enemy before them, but no one seems to have confidence they'll be able to defeat them, even stand against them.  The text says that Saul saw his people scattering.  

As a last resort, he decides to hold an offering.  

Of course, Samuel comes right after that.  Notice Saul's response.  Essentially, he says that he waited the prescribed amount of days and Samuel did not arrive.  His people were scattering and he knew he had to prepare to fight.  But he also knew he had not "entreated the favor of the Lord."  

If I'd been Samuel, I think I would have said, "Ok.  Let's make sure this doesn't happen again."

But there's one more line to consider, too.  Saul told Samuel he "forced himself" to do the offering.  So, that means he knew he shouldn't be doing what he was doing.  What did he feel as he gave the offering?  What was he thinking then?  

Don't we usually feel like we have to force ourselves to do the good we want to do (think Romans 7:19)?  

It seems, then, that maybe a great lesson for us to gather from Saul's experience is that what God has told us to do is priority.  There may be times when we feel like we need to do other things.  We may even have good reason to do so.  But we cannot let our thoughts of what is important supersede God's.  

Stay blessed...john