Samuel ends chapter 12 with a final warning. (verse 25) But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you AND your king.

Transcription

1 Good Morning! It is good to have you with us here this morning! It was so great to have Gus back preaching last week! What an answer to prayer! Speaking of prayer Let s pray, and we ll dive in to this morning s message. This series is a look at King Saul. The very first King of the nation of Israel. And today s sermon title is, When faith falters even hero s fall. If the nation of Israel wanted a king that could fight They found him! Right away Saul is fighting battles and winning! Chapter 11 tells us that when Saul fought the Ammonites, he strategically split his forces into three factions and won handily bible says the survivors were scattered so there weren t two of them together brutal. After that victory, Saul was riding high on the hog His approval rating was through the roof! Everyone is celebrating and having a great time! Then in Chapter 12 we hear from Samuel. (who is a very important prophet and judge of Israel think of him as Gods translator God speaks to him directly, and its his job to relay what God says) Instead of rejoicing with everyone, Samuel takes this opportunity to talk about Israel s pattern of disobedience toward God. Samuel lays out a Disobey, Enslave, Save, repeat pattern that doesn t exactly make Gods chosen people look so great. God continually providing their every need, saving them again, and again and again! Desperately wanting a relationship and the people of Israel seemingly only calling on God when they want something, when they need to get out of a jam. A What have you done for me lately? attitude toward God. Since Israel is treading new ground with this first king, Samuel tells them exactly what God expects starting in Ch 12 Verse 14 Verse 14: IF you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey this voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you AND the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15: BUT if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Seems pretty clear cut here You people and your King obey and serve God, everything will be fine. You don t there will be trouble. Samuel ends chapter 12 with a final warning. (verse 25) But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you AND your king.

2 Israel and Saul had very clear instructions. It wasn t good enough to have God as king Israel wanted to be like everyone else, ignoring Samuel s warnings about appointing a king, and in the process ignoring what sets Israel apart from the rest of the world. When you are a parent, sometimes the best way to help your child learn is to give them exactly what they want. It reminds me o the movie A Christmas Story Ralphies singular focus is an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time Ralphie is resolute in his campaign to get one. It doesn t matter how many warnings of You ll shoot your eye out Ralphie gets, it doesn t change his desire, or drive toward the gun. Ralphie ignores You ll shoot your eye out. just like Israel ignores Samuels warnings about a king in 1 Samuel 8:10-16 Ralphie ends up getting his BB gun, and God gives Israel a king. Fast forward a little over 2 years, this is where we find Saul this morning. At the start of chapter 13 Saul continues to show himself to be an effective and surgical strategist in battle. While keeping 2000 men in Michmash, He sent another 1,000 with Jonathan to Geba, and they made short work of the group of Philistines there. After winning the battle at Geba, Saul celebrates by going through the land blowing a trumpet and saying Let the Hebrews hear. A rally cry, a victory celebration. I imagine it was something like the roar in the horseshoe when OSU scores. I-S-R-A-E-L ISRAEL ISRAEL IS THE BEST! OUR KING IS ABOVE THE REST! GOOO! HEBREWS! Saul is the hero Israel always wanted. This is a new look at Saul. When first appointed as king, Saul hid not wanting anything to do with this but The king isn t hiding among the baggage anymore. Riding through the land to uproarious applause I bet he was thinking, Hey I could get used to this king thing Saul was large and in charge, He s loud and proud, He s the king with that special zing. And he doesn t care who knows it. It wasn t just the Hebrews that heard the Philistines heard too, and they didn t really appreciate the celebration at their expense Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. A stench they prepped to eliminate. The Philistines gathered 36,000 plus chariots, horses, and troops, so many the bible says they were like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They marched

3 and camped in Michmash making sure to be in full view of Saul s people. They were the ones with the statement now. From a strategic standpoint, you gotta respect this move. The Philistines trying to scare the Israelites with their sheer numbers alone. The Philistines understand how to get into their opponents head, and tip the scales in their favor. Its also true in the sport of wrestling The easiest opponent to defeat, is the one that defeats themselves. I coached Middle school wrestling for 3 seasons, and the hardest lesson to teach a wrestler is, It doesn t matter what your opponent looks like. That s true! When I coached middle school, I could see it in my athletes eyes. They didn t think they could win and they were right. One of the things I said over and over to my teams, If you think you re going to win, or you think you re going to lose You re right. The Philistines best tactic in battle isn t the amount of troops they have, their greatest tactic is defeating their opponent here (point to head), before they even set foot on the battlefield. This is the pivot point. Saul s first real test as king. He wants to go to battle, but can t because Samuel relayed this message to him from God in 1 Samuel 10:8 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do. During that seven day waiting period, the Philistines mind games were working. Israelites saw the army and, they either hid or ran. And those remaining with Saul followed him trembling. Saul s hands are tied he has to wait for Samuel so God can tell him what to do. Remember Samuels instructions are from God himself but that doesn t make staring certain doom in the face any easier. Does Saul have the faith to wait on God? Lets see what Saul does, in 1 Sam13:8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, Now the Philistines will

4 come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord. So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. Wow. In a moment (snap fingers) Hero to Zero. Saul shoots Israel s eye out. Notice when Samuel asks Saul, What have you done? Saul has fingers to point everywhere but himself. Look all the people were scattering, YOU were LATE! And the Philistines are on my front stoop this isn t what we talked about! What did you expect me to do?!? Samuel didn t expect Saul to disobey. Seems harsh How does Saul disobey? Saul gives an unauthorized sacrifice to God. In Leviticus 10:1-2 Nadab, and Abihu give an unauthorized sacrifice, and God kills them on the spot The fact that Saul is able to talk to Samuel is a gracious outcome. And remember 1 Samuel 10:8? Samuel is talking to Saul, 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do. Saul had very specific instructions God through Samuel didn t say, Wait seven days then go ahead and do the sacrifice yourself No it was Seven days you SHALL WAIT, UNTIL I COME to you and show you what you shall do. And back in 1 Sam Chapter 12:14-15 Samuel spells out that God expects obedience. And disobedience brings consequences. So why did Saul do what he did?

5 I interpret the scripture this way. Up to that point Saul hadn t really had a real test of faith. God didn t throw Saul in the deep end right away God actually WANTED Saul to succeed. With the challenge level being low to begin with, Saul could get his feet wet, and catch a high five or thousand. And then over the course of the two years as king, he grew to rely on his own strength, and the strength of his army, taking for granted the help God was giving him. Until he peeks out the window at the Philistine army that was like the sand on the seashore in multitude and thinks Oh my word this just got real. It was gut check time does Saul have the faith to wait on God? To his credit Saul does wait 7 days. But each day that goes by he loses more and more troops from a tactical perspective he starts to see whatever chance they might have to win this fight dwindle and run away. Every moment he doesn t see Samuel, fear grows larger and larger as it sits on his chest, knotting him up, making it hard to breathe, or think. I imagine him pacing and angrily mocking Samuel Oh yeah wait seven days YOU DIDN T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE LARGEST ARMY I VE EVER SEEN BREATHING DOWN MY NECK WHILE I WAITED! I can t afford to wait any longer! Day 7 comes and goes, and Saul allows the voice of fear to persuade him, You re the King. Why are you waiting on that prophet? If God was going to help, he d be here by now Looks like we have to do this ourselves. Come on, what has God really done for you lately? Then driven by fear Saul disobeys God And starts down a path he won t recover from. Fear is a strangly powerful emotion, when I think about fear or being scared, scaring my kids comes to mind. I really enjoy scaring my kids I will hide around a corner, jump out or grab an ankle and GRARAR! They love it! I m pretty good at it. It s finally come full circle. I didn t expect Grace to be just as good as me. She has startled me so bad I had to clench my teeth, unclench my fists, and take a couple deep breaths. Turns out I do not enjoy it nearly as much as they do I startle easily I get focused on the task at hand, shut out distractions, and all of a sudden BAM! There s a person there. And I do a terrible Arnold impression while I adjust to the new reality Just ask Blake you guys might not think he s scary but he scares me accidently. That type of fear has an automatic physical response in humans. When threatened people will tuck their chin, protecting the neck, the body pumps adrenaline into the system, and pumps more blood to the large muscle groups. The body is prepping to either fight or flight. (running away)

6 That falls under the umbrella of true fear. True fear is a survival mechanisim meant to protect you. If all fear was stripped from us, we wouldn t live very long. Our bodies are designed so that when we come up on a rattle snake or live electric wire there s a feeling deep down that says Maybe I shouldn t mess with that. True fear is that feeling of looking over a cliff, and realizing one slip and you re dead. Being 6 inches of glass away from a grizzly bear, and you thank God for that glass. Legit real tangible life protecting fear. False fear however, is a child sleeping in an unfimilar dark room, and the shadows in that room turn into very real monsters in the childs head. False fear is worrying so much about the stock market, that you can t hold a conversation with your spouse. If you re explaining a fear you have to someone and you start with, This is going to sound weird, but chances are good you are dealing with a false fear. False fears are not false to the person experiencing them however to them they re very real. There s ZERO chance a shark is going to swim toward me out of the foggy water of the four foot deep holiday inn pool. That doesn t change the fact that if I go underwater with my goggles on, and can t see the other side of the pool, I feel a sharp pang of panic, as if a shark s head is coming at me out of the fog. My mind tricks my body into thinking that is an actual possibility, and I quickly exit the pool. I am convinced this is the fear that fueled Saul s disobedience. Bonus round Whats the most common command in the bible? Do not be afraid. 70 times. Lets Go to Matthew 14 Jesus had just got done feeding the 5,000 When he dismisses the crowd, he tells the diciples to go ahead and get in the boat He ll catch up later, it ends up taking longer than planned, so Jesus meets up with them in a way only he can He walks out to the boat on top of the water We pick it up at verse But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, It is a ghost! and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid. 28 And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. 29 He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, [a] and beginning to sink he cried out, Lord, save me. 31 Jesus immediately

7 reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? In verse 29 when Jesus tells Peter to come and he steps on the water and goes to Jesus I imagine Peter and Jesus maintaining eye contact with giant grins on their faces this is fun! With his eyes locked on Jesus it doesn t take Peter long before he s out further from the boat (from perceived safety) than he d like to be, breaks eye contact with Jesus as fear grips him, he starts to sink. Was Peter in any real danger? Absolutely not. No way Jesus is going to let his friend drown. That should tell you how powerful false fear can be Even with Jesus staring you in the face, its possible to allow false fear to kill your faith in him. Lets go back to 1 Samuel chapter 17 Saul is still fighting the Philistines Something I ve learned prepping for this sermon Philistines are really good at mind games. Again they ve stacked the deck in their favor, they picked a champion that no one from the Israelites side thinks they can beat Goliath. The deal this giant man makes is a one on one fight winner take all. Start in verse 8 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together. 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Remember last week when Gus showed us just how short he really is? Or maybe it was to show how tall Saul is using James Well Goliath made Saul look small in comparison. The fear of Goliath falls under the true fear umbrella Goliath is a real threat. However once again Saul doesn t have faith that God can handle this. For 40 days morning and night Goliath challenged Israel, and for 40 days the nation of Israel trembled with fear. Until a young man named David heard Goliath s taunting, and rather than shake in his boots we see Davids reaction in the second half of verse 26 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

8 David isn t afraid He s mad! Who does this big oaf think he is? No one disrespects God! He s gonna learn today! So David approaches Saul to accept Goliath s challenge, But Saul takes one look at David s outward appearance, and tells David that he s too young, too inexperienced in combat, too small. David doesn t miss a beat. I love David s response in verses 36 and Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. Spoiler-Alert: David defeats Goliath. Not because he s a better fighter, not because he s stronger, taller, meaner, or hairer. David defeats Goliath because of his faith in God. When David looks at Goliath, he doesn t see a problem. David see s an opportunity to show the power of God through faith and obedience. David has zero fear, because he has 100 Faith. So how do we combat fear? Peter did fearlessly lock eyes with Jesus, and did what most would call impossible. Just don t lose eye contact when things get unfamiliar Following Jesus might require walking in places you never thought possible. David never waivered in his belief that God is with him always. Doesn t matter who/what is on the end of his sling. He isn t the strong one, God is. Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. -God is love, and God s love is perfect. God loves you perfectly. If God s not afraid Why should I be? Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those called according to his purpose. - In your life, if you can t piece together the why of it all Guess what? You don t have to. ALL things work together for good for those that love the Lord. Even if it doesn t look like it right now Trust and have faith that God is big enough to handle it.

9 I m reminded of a Veggie tales song. God is bigger than the boogey man. He s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV. God is bigger than the boogey man and he s watching out for you and me. I love the silly simplicity of that song. God is bigger than any fear our brain can spin, fictional or otherwise. Saul s boogey man was the giant philistine army, then Goliath himself. Saul s biggest issue was placing his faith somewhere other than in God. He was the Man! Until he wasn t. His lack of faith lead to his fall From Hero to Villain. What s your boogey man? Are you scared of not being the type of parent you should to be? Not being the type of spouse you should be? Are you scared of what others might think of you if you share your faith? Telling someone a hard truth? Messing up? Addiction? Cancer? Have you convinced yourself these problems too big for even God? If your life isn t going the way you hoped, do you have faith that all things work out for good for those that love the Lord? Are you ready to let go of fears that exist only in your head? God loves you perfectly. He s numbered the hairs on your head. He loves you so much, that he sacrificed his son for you. Because of that perfect love We have nothing to fear.