When we get it wrong….

Getting told off is no fun at all. I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me I’m getting it wrong, I become defensive and insecure. I feel humiliated. I tend to sulk. I look for all the reasons that they are wrong.

Saul is 30 when he becomes king of Israel and reigns for 42 years and in that time, he manages to get it wrong on several occasions.

On the first occasion, the Philistine armies gather to attack the Israelites, who are afraid (rightly so – the Philistine armies and weapons are far superior to theirs – the Philistines had removed all the blacksmiths from Israel so they could make no weapons!) and hide in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns (1 Samuel 13:6). The men are quaking with fear and Saul is waiting for Samuel to come and offer up the burnt offering and fellowship offerings.

He waits. And waits. And waits. The mood is worsening. The fear is mounting. The Israelites start to scatter.

Still no Samuel.

Saul takes the decision to make the offerings without Samuel – usurping the holy role of priest.

And just then Samuel turns up.

Isn’t that always the way?

What have you done?

You did not come at the set time, so I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.

You have done a foolish thing. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.  1 Samuel 13:11-14

If you had trusted God, things would have been different.

If you had trusted God, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

But now your kingdom will not endure.

God is finding a new king to anoint – a man after his own heart (not like you).

Harsh words. I can understand why Saul did what he did, can’t you? I can feel myself wanting to defend him.

It’s so interesting with power and authority. When we give someone power, they then have the power to get it spectacularly wrong. When we give someone authority, there is a great responsibility to use that authority wisely. When we believe in someone as leader and they start to believe in themselves as leader, they gain confidence (which is necessary) but sometimes that confidence imperceptibly becomes over-confidence and that never ends well. Having no confidence is crippling – but too much confidence and you can easily shoot yourself in the foot!

Basically, a sense of power quickly rushes to your head and power can corrupt.

We’ve all seen it. In others and in ourselves, I’m guessing.

I get things wrong all the time. I am the only one in my store doing the job that I do. I have to act with confidence to make others believe in what I am doing. I have to be positive to encourage others to believe that the latest project is fun and exciting and worth being involved in. I have to demonstrate confidence in the groups I invite into store. And then I have to find a way to deal with how I feel when a project falls flat on its face, when an idea doesn’t work out how I hoped, when a visiting charity doesn’t show. I am learning so much along the way – so much about dealing with failure and getting it wrong, as well as about how to celebrate when it goes right. I am given a lot of freedom to make this role the best it can be – somedays that feels like a lot of rope to hang myself with!

So yes, I get things wrong. And yes, sometimes I get told off for getting something wrong. It is a fantastic learning curve!!!!!!!

So Saul is leading an army with no weapons and has attracted the disapproval of Samuel and his God. All he has on his side is his son Jonathan. Until he disappears off with his young armour bearer without telling anyone to check out a Philistine outpost. He has a plan. If they say this, then we do this….but if they say that, then we do that…..and it works! They kill some twenty men between them. This is the whole confident/ over-confident/ shooting in the foot thing starting to pan out right here……

But this time, God seems OK with it – how random and confusing is that? This time, it seems OK that one man is doing his own thing.

God sends a sense of panic through the Philistine camp and everyone starts to scatter. Saul discovers Jonathan is nowhere to be found. He gathers the army and they defeat the Philistines (who are completely confused and are attacking each other with their swords).

Jonathan rejoins the army. Everyone is starving. They find honey in the woods and he eats it. No one else does because Saul has made everyone swear under oath not to eat until the victory is complete. Oops! Jonathan missed all that. He was off killing Philistines on his own! He justifies himself by undermining his father (a common ploy – often when we are criticised, we try to take the sting out of it by finding a way to undermine our critic…) and saying how much stronger everyone would have been with food in their stomachs.

And then Saul gets it wrong again. Instead of killing everything and everyone killed in their path, as God commanded, Saul allows his men to kill and eat the sheep, cattle and calves (along with the blood). Someone points this out so Saul tries to rectify the situation by erecting an altar to kill the animals on so they can eat without the blood.

Saul prays. God doesn’t answer.

Saul blames Jonathan for causing this by eating the honey.

The people will not let him put Jonathan to death.

And then we have this summary –

After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle. Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.  1 Samuel 14:47-52

Remember how Saul didn’t kill all the cattle? Well, it happens again against the Amalekites. God specifically tells him not to spare anyone or anything – but he spares the king and all the best sheep and cattle. God is not happy – and it is up to Samuel to deliver the news.

Saul has erected a monument in his own honour (success going to his head!) and doesn’t realise what he has done wrong.

Samuel: Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?

Saul: But I did obey the Lord. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.  1 Samuel 15:17-21

But obeying God is far more important than sacrifice. There is no way back for Saul. He begs. He confesses his sin. He makes his excuses (it was because I was afraid of my men….). He’ll do anything to put it right.

But God’s mind is made up –

The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.  1 Samuel 15:28-29

Saul is going to have to live with the consequences of his disobedience.

And he is never going to see Samuel again.

Quite a lot going on there and plenty to think about. I wonder what situations and which people came to mind as you read all this.

This is the reality of everyday life – dealing with power and leadership and responsibility and getting it right and getting it wrong and getting told off……

I wonder what you’ll take away from Saul’s story that can help you in yours today……..