1 Samuel 13:4–15

Nothing could be more humbling than the confusion, distress, and utter helplessness of Saul and Israel. The only exception to the general condition is Jonathan, who "defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba." But this victory given to Jonathan showed that God was still with His people — if only those in responsibility knew how to count on His presence and help. And yet Saul missed the lesson entirely. He exalted himself through his son's achievement. He "blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear." So the report went out that Saul, not Jonathan but Saul, "had defeated a garrison of the Philistines."

Saul's language was extraordinary. "Let the Hebrews hear." The Spirit says in the following verse, "All Israel heard say," and so on. "Israel" was the name of grace (Gen. 35:10); "Hebrews" was a term that merely recalled how Abraham, their father, first came into the land from across the Euphrates. But many things had happened since Abraham's day. His descendants had, by the grace of God, crossed both the Red Sea and the Jordan, and were now God's covenant people in the land of promise. Did not these mighty facts count for something? But Saul had no real sense in his soul of the people's true relationship with the Lord.

This is what unbelief always did, and does now. "Our people" — "our church!" Such language betrays the fatal habit of connecting things with ourselves instead of with God... So with the people of Israel here. If they were regarded merely as Saul's people, the Hebrews, or something of that kind, everything must go wrong. The starting point was false: it left God out, along with Israel's relationship to Him.

"And that Israel also was held in abomination by the Philistines." It was all right. God does not intend His people to be anything else in the eyes of those who hate them. They may respect or dread a people, which is natural enough; but the thing the world cannot stand is the claim of God. If you only hope to find a portion for yourselves from God, the world would hardly mind. They have their own fears, and they at least hope He may show mercy. But what offends the world is when you hold firmly that God Himself has called and blessed you — calmly and humbly, for you cannot be too humble about it.

The way the people received the news sadly shows their state. The news did not thrill them with energy or arm them as one man to finish off this proud enemy. It filled them with terror. They realise the Philistines now hold them in abomination. That fills their minds more than any hope of deliverance. How like unbelief in every age! It fears the consequences of any measure of faithfulness... to be occupied with the effect of our action on the enemies of God, rather than with God Himself, is to invite defeat.

Saul attributes Jonathan's victory, faith's victory, to himself (v. 4)... The flesh never seeks to gather souls around Christ: it makes itself the centre. This is how Saul acted when he tried to frighten the people with these words: "Israel had become a stench to the Philistines." In 1 Samuel 11:7 he had forced the tribes to follow him by threats; here he does it through fear. The result of acting this way is to gather Israel after himself. But the moral consequences soon follow. Those who put themselves under the flesh's leadership to find some measure of security soon feel that they have no security at all.

The Philistines typically stand for mere formal religion, a form of godliness with no spiritual power… Israel then gathers to Saul in Gilgal, while the Philistines gather a great army that would seem unbeatable by its sheer size. Today too we know that formal religion wins crowds, in contrast to the few who claim Christ as their Center. Yet Jonathan had not been afraid to attack this powerful enemy. It seems amazing that they could gather 30,000 chariots, six thousand horsemen and foot soldiers almost beyond counting.

They appear to me to represent the power of the enemy acting within the circle of God's people. They were in the territory of the Israelites — within the land, and even on this side of the Jordan. They were not, like the Egyptians or Assyrians, enemies from outside. They were always hostile to Israel, to those who by God's appointment should have owned the land of promise. They were all the more dangerous because they were always close at hand, claiming the country as their own… I do not mean the flesh, but the enemy inside the professing church… the oppressor of God's true people to whom the promises belong.

Saul's strength lay in Michmash, which means "hidden treasure," and in Bethel, which means "house of God." Jonathan's strength lay in Gibeah of Benjamin, which means "son of my right hand."

This place is said to lie east of Bethel. But in Hosea the name seems to be given to Bethel itself. Bethel was no longer the "house of God" but the "house of vanity," because of the idols there.

The tribes gathered, but there was no faith. They heard that the Philistines were on the move with "thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude." So they trembled and scattered, and some even hid themselves "in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks." We are not always ready for what follows when the Spirit of God moves. There are dangers to face and reproach to bear, and the faith of God's true saints sometimes falters at such moments.

He does not see God; he sees only circumstances. Where he moves most freely and boldly, he is in fact moved helplessly by them… Now they see only the army of the Philistines, countless to their eyes, who soon seize the passes to the hill country.

At Michmash, east of Beth-aven, the Philistines had terrified Saul and Israel simply by being there. On the day of Jonathan's victory the battle moved from Michmash across to Beth-aven, and Israel struck them from Michmash to Aijalon… At Ebenezer, the battlefield where Israel had lost the ark, the Philistines were later defeated. In the same way, where Saul had been afraid of them, Jonathan won a victory for the people by his faith in God. The position remained unchanged.

He does not see God; he sees only circumstances. Even where he moves most freely and confidently, his circumstances are in fact moving him, and he is helpless before them. ... Now the only thing they take in is the Philistine army, countless in their eyes. It soon seizes the passes up into the hill country. So, seeing they are in trouble, they scatter and hide themselves in holes in the rocks and in the ground.

How like unbelief in all time is this! It fears the consequences of any measure of faithfulness. To be taken up with the effect of our action on God's enemies, instead of with God Himself, is to invite defeat. ... The Philistines had indeed gathered in enormous numbers to fight Israel. They had chariots and horsemen and people like the sand on the seashore, a most formidable army. If they took advice from flesh and blood alone, no wonder the people of Israel are terror-stricken. And sadly that is just what happened. This army had come out against the Lord, not against His feeble people. Instead of remembering that and facing it boldly, they flee to the caves and hide in the thickets and rocks, in high places and pits.

Those who put themselves under the leadership of the flesh to find some security soon feel that they have no security at all. Their distress is no smaller than before, and they follow Saul "trembling" (v. 7). Looking for shelter, they cross the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead (v. 7). They leave Canaan itself, to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the enemy. This lack of faith makes them forget the one thing that mattered. It was not Saul who dwelt among the people, and their cause was not resting in his hands.

Why should the faith of God's people be so weakened because they are outnumbered? "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Would faith not cry to God in firm confidence? Some of Israel even deserted their own land, choosing to cross the Jordan to avoid possible conflict. Let us remember that God does not give us armour for our backs! (Ephesians 6:11-17). Those who stayed with Saul did so trembling! Yet they had the courage to follow despite their fear.

What is Israel going to do in the face of this huge army? Hide in caves and thickets, in rocks, in high places and pits! They were God's people, but they were hardly ready yet to bring God into their affairs by casting themselves wholly on Him.

What a reproach it is when we are afraid to say that we are the Lord's, and hide in secret places! What a reproach when we are afraid to let our neighbours know that we belong to Christ, and that the word of God is guide enough for us — the guide we are seeking to obey! ... Of course there may be, and there is, a morality and an upright walk. There may even be, up to a point, religious observances that Philistines themselves can join in. But where is that bold confession of loyalty to Christ our Lord? Where is the doing of what we do because we belong to Christ, and not merely because it is right, or expected, or what others do?

Israel, in unbelief, had asked for a king to fight their battles. No doubt they imagined that, once they had a king, no enemy could stand before them. But was it so? One word in 1 Samuel 13 gives the reply: "All the people followed him trembling." What a change! How different from the mighty host who long ago had followed Joshua into the strongholds of Canaan! And yet they now had their longed-for king in front of them. But God was not there, and so they trembled.

A few follow him too, trembling so much that their eye is plainly on their human leader, and they have forgotten the living God. This wretched remnant of an army mocks any real resistance, and any test would have proved it.

This army strikes fear into the hearts of the men of Israel. They look for every possible hiding place — caves, thickets, rocks, high places, pits. Why should being outnumbered so weaken the faith of God's people? "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Would faith not cry to God in firm confidence? Some of Israel even deserted their own land, choosing to cross the Jordan to avoid possible conflict. Let us remember that God does not give us armour for our backs! (Ephesians 6:11-17).

He does not see God; he sees only circumstances. Where he moves most freely and confidently, circumstances are in fact moving him, and he is helpless in their hands.

"And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear." It was not the action of faith but the result of his own proud heart. It is significant that he avoids the word Israel. The Lord never speaks of "My people the Hebrews," their original, national name. It is always "My people Israel." Saul leaves out the God of Israel. It all reveals the character of Saul.

People who put themselves under the leadership of the flesh to gain some security soon feel that they have no security at all. Their distress does not shrink; they follow Saul "trembling." Looking for shelter, they cross the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. They leave Canaan itself, to put as much distance as they can between themselves and the enemy. This lack of faith makes them forget the one thing that mattered. It was not Saul who dwelt among the people, and their cause did not rest in his hands.

But trembling in Gilgal of all places! How blind Saul and the people were to what that place meant! It was there that the people used the sharp knives of circumcision when they first entered Canaan. That was the place where, in picture at least, the flesh met its unsparing judgement. We have nothing to fear when we put the flesh to death as we should. Where we refuse evil like this, God shows His presence in power. Gilgal is a sure starting-point for victory.

Saul is at Gilgal, where, if he had truly entered into the spirit of the place, he would have found an unbeatable position, and from which he could have gone out victoriously over all the host of the enemy.

But why had Saul acted this way? What had taken hold of him? Did he say to himself something like this? "After all, that seven-day appointment was only an arrangement Samuel made. He may have forgotten it, or he may have been mistaken." Perhaps he did. But wait! Samuel's arrangement was not everything… Samuel was, without a doubt, the judge God raised up for his days. The Word of God required full obedience to his instructions. Saul disobeyed. What swayed him was what seemed to him the practical thing to do. He treated the Word of God, through Samuel, as only Samuel's opinion.

Saul's gift had indeed been proved. But Saul himself had not yet been proved. An occasion had tested the gift, but the commandment had not yet tested the heart of the king… Then the time of the commandment came, and "the word of the Lord tries him." Now the test was Saul's obedience to the Lord, not his gift in the Spirit.

Patience must always have its perfect work; but this was what Saul could not afford. He had hoped, no doubt, that Samuel would come in good time. He waited and waited, and it seemed as if the time was all but complete. But that was exactly the point of trial where he broke down. The time was not yet run out, and the flesh can never wait it out.

After the seven days Samuel had not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from Saul. This man had gathered them by tactics of fear, and they found in him no authority strong enough to guard and defend them. Then Saul loses patience. He does not know the patience of faith, which is "strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory." His patience stops where faith should begin. When the people scatter, when man's support fails him, everything fails this poor king.

He had, as we have already seen, shown the results of the unbelief of the flesh. He failed to wait for Samuel at Gilgal, and he intruded into the priestly rights, as king Uzziah did in a later day. For someone under the law of Moses, intruding into the priesthood was a most glaring act of sacrilege.

It is common to hear good reasons given for a bad thing. The course he took sounded fair. The great fault in it was that God was not in the matter. It was Saul's policy, and this because of Saul's fears. Faith always looks to God, and does His will. Little did Saul know the fatal consequence of his unbelief.

How often the hour for establishing the offered blessing is lost through carelessness! It becomes instead the moment of forfeiture and defeat, and of Satan's power. At this very point Saul breaks down. Burnt offerings and peace offerings were about to confirm the kingdom and the king for ever. The first man Adam gave place to the last Adam. In the same way the first king must be set aside to make room for the second, the true David.

You will find there is nothing that tests the strength of your soul like waiting for God. We think we must do the things we think are right. Instead, we must learn to wait. Take Saul, for example, in 1 Samuel 13. He ought to have waited, and said, I can do nothing.

Then Saul loses patience; he does not know the patience of faith which is "strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might." His patience stops where faith should begin. When the people scatter, when man's support fails him, everything fails this poor king. His flesh, driven to act, at once seizes the place that belongs to the prophet. It reverses the order God established and tramples it underfoot.

He waits for him long enough to satisfy the demands of conscience. Nature can go a long way on that principle. But nature does not feel its own weakness, and it does not feel that everything depends on God. That sense is what makes a man wait on God as his only resource and worker… If he had had confidence in God, he would have understood that he should wait for Him, whatever the result might be. He would have seen that it was useless to do anything without Him, and that he ran no risk in waiting for Him.

The poor king saw the people deserting him, the power of the enemy, and the absence of the man he leaned on. But he did not see God.

So Saul offers the sacrifices. He pushes into the priest's office, and in effect he ignores all need of the very thing that lay at the base of sacrifice — a mediator. The flesh, with all its religiousness and carefulness, never grasps that it has no standing before God. It would push its way into the holiest things.

But Saul was not Melchizedek! What place did the burnt offering have in his mind, that he should act like this? It could have been little more than a lucky charm, as the ark was to the people in the day of Hophni and Phinehas. It is GOD who counts. If we let the outward, visible things He Himself appointed crowd Him out of our minds, they become truly harmful in our unspiritual hands.

Samuel's arrangement was not everything. Long before his day the law had already provided for just such a situation. The divine instruction was: "you shall come… to the judge who is in those days… you shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left" (Deut. 17:8-12)… Samuel was without doubt the judge God raised up for his day. The word of God required full obedience to his instructions. Saul disobeyed. What looked practical swayed him, and he treated the word of God, through Samuel, as no more than Samuel's opinion.

How often carelessness loses the hour for establishing the offered blessing! That hour becomes instead the moment of forfeiture and defeat… At this very point burnt offerings and peace offerings were about to confirm the kingdom and the king forever. Right here Saul breaks down… Samuel should have stood in the place of offering, blessing the sacrifices, the people, and their king. Instead he becomes the prophet of woe to Saul.

God's help arrives at the moment when the flesh has just attempted to come to its own rescue. What use is this help to him therefore? Saul is not an unbeliever. He does not openly despise Israel's God, and he knows that a sacrifice is needed to come near Him. Far from despising the prophet, he "went out to meet him and greet him."

He waits until near the end of the seventh day — so far into it that there seems to be no hope of Samuel coming. In open disobedience he offers the burnt offering, or has it offered for him. He has barely done this before Samuel comes.

How often the hour set for establishing the offered blessing is lost through carelessness! It becomes instead the moment of forfeiture, of defeat, and of Satan's power. At this very point the kingdom and the king were about to be confirmed for ever by burnt offerings and peace offerings. Here Saul breaks down. The first man, Adam, gave place to the last Adam. In the same way the first king must be set aside to make room for the Second, the true David.

When the people scatter, when man's support fails him, everything fails this poor king. His flesh drives him to act. He at once seizes the place that belongs to the prophet, and so he reverses and tramples on the order God had set up.

The flesh can imitate faith up to a certain point, but no further… Nothing is harder for the flesh than to stand still and wait for God to save. Its patience is often impressive, and it may even impress Christians. But it ends at the moment when faith is required — the faith that does not count difficulties or impossibilities, because faith holds fast to God, who is above them all.

Saul was treating as worthless the word of God spoken by His prophet. At that very time he went out to meet and greet (bless) him, and he seemed well satisfied with himself for showing him this outward honour… What must it be to go out in appearance only to meet and bless the Lord, while living and acting against His revealed will?

Selfishness and pride mark Saul's whole course, hidden under a cloak of humility… He was a self-seeker throughout. He used the name of God only for his own ends, and the things of God as a pedestal to display his own glory.

He had already shown what the unbelief of the flesh produces. He failed to wait for Samuel at Gilgal, and he intruded into the priest's office, as King Uzziah did later. Under the law of Moses, intruding into the priesthood was a most glaring act of sacrilege. What matches it today is the refusal of Christ in His priestly and atoning work as the only way to come to God. This will explain the terrible judgment upon Uzziah and the setting aside of Saul. No one is fit to lead His people if he fails to see that Christ's sacrifice and His priestly pleading for them are absolutely necessary.

Saul's gift had indeed been vindicated. But Saul himself had not yet been proved. An occasion had tested the gift, but the commandment had not yet tested the heart of the king.

Then, Samuel had not come during the appointed days. This was simply to test the genuineness of his faith.

"What have you done?" Samuel demands of the impatient, unbelieving, disobedient king. That is the startling, conscience-searching question. The Lord God asked it of the woman, fallen, in the Garden: "What is this that you have done?" He asked it of her son Cain, the murderer of his brother: "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground." It would have been well if they had answered, "I have played the fool. I have broken the commandment. I have sinned before heaven and in your sight, O God of righteousness, holiness and truth." This indeed should be the answer of everyone, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

In his reply to Samuel (1 Sam. 13:11-12) God never enters his thoughts. His concern was how to keep the people together and drive back the enemy — the eye of the flesh on the things that are seen. He wants the people to trust in him, not in God. So he does not offer a sin offering. That would have meant taking the place of humiliation and weakness — the place that suited him. He offers a burnt offering instead, claiming acceptance and blessing — the place of honour and power. It was all done for the sake of appearance, busy about himself, his people, Samuel, the enemy, anything but God.

As always, the flesh has excellent reasons for acting, and so for disobeying: "Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were assembled at Michmash" (v. 11). The flesh has an excuse, even a pious excuse, for its disobedience.

Saul offers the empty excuse that man has always offered: "The people were scattering from me," he says. Then he wickedly tries to load the blame for his sin onto Samuel: "You did not come within the days appointed." This was false, and all the worse for being spoken under the appearance of truth. Samuel did appear before the seventh day had closed… Under this show of piety he says, "I forced myself." But faith never has to force itself; it can always trust God's word, depend on His promise, and wait patiently for its sure fulfilment.

It was a plain breach of a direct command. Saul can point, and does point, to the people scattering, to Samuel's failure to come (which he assumed too quickly), and to the gathered Philistines. With all this he had nothing at all to do. The king of Israel was only the representative of the heavenly King. Israel was really God's people, and His will alone was absolute in every situation that might arise. How good, in fact, to have it so! A king who governed like that could be completely at rest!… He had nothing whatever to do with consequences.

Samuel's reply is startlingly frank. Saul has done foolishly. He does not try to take up his reasons one by one. The people may have been scattered. He does not refer to it. The enemy may be threatening. He does not even explain his own delay, though its purpose was plain. He has one thing to say to the king: "You have not kept the command of the Lord your God." How all his paltry excuses are scattered to the winds by that solemn charge! What excuse can there be for disobedience? If he had stood this test, his kingdom would have been established, for it would have shown him to be a man of genuine faith. One thing he lacked, and that one thing was absolutely needed. It was really everything. It was faith in God.

First, "I saw that the people were scattered from me." He dreaded being left alone... Second, Saul said, "I saw... that the Philistines had gathered at Michmash." His eye was on the strength of the enemy. Third, "I saw... that you did not come within the days appointed." He had confidence in Samuel, but that human support was not there. But GOD was there. The poor king saw the people deserting him, the power of the enemy, and the absence of the man he leaned on. But he did not see God.

Saul is not an unbeliever and does not openly despise Israel's God; he knows that a sacrifice is necessary in order to approach Him. But being a man according to the flesh, he was completely unable to act other than he did. Even so, he is extremely responsible. "What have you done?" Samuel asks him — the same question God had addressed to Cain! As always, the flesh has excellent reasons for acting, and so for disobeying... The flesh has an excuse, even a pious excuse, for its disobedience: "Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD."

His words are a confession that he knew he had disobeyed God in offering the sacrifices. He would have Samuel believe that it went against his own wishes, and that he had to do it despite his convictions. That showed the unbelief all the more clearly — the unbelief that will not cling to God, at all costs, in obedience. How much is excused in the same way! People excuse their own schemes, encourage the activity of the flesh, and allow fellowship with the world, all on the plea that it was practical. A reluctant conscience has to be forced, because it knows these things are against God. But it will force itself, unless it is subject to God in living faith.

He realised that if the Philistines attacked he would need the help of God. But instead of asking God's direction about the matter, he says, "So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering." He ignored any thought of HEART DEPENDENCE on God. He forced himself into the outward form of worshipping God, as though that would work like magic. That is man in the flesh. He sees nothing but outward form in the worship of God, and thinks he honours God while disobeying His plain word.

It was a plain breach of positive command. Saul might urge, and does urge, the scattering of the people, the failure of Samuel (too quickly assumed), the gathered Philistines. With all this he had nothing at all to do. The king of Israel was only the representative of the heavenly King. Israel was really God's people, and His will alone was absolute in every circumstance that might arise. How good, in fact, to have it so!... With consequences he had nothing whatever to do.

He thought, no doubt, to cover his wilfulness by a show of piety, but it was a bandage for his own eyes only. Samuel's question, "What have you done?" showed that he was not blinded by it. Mere religiousness may make a man satisfied with himself, as Adam was with his apron of fig leaves. But sooner or later the question must come: "What have you done?" Then everything is upset.

Samuel had told Saul to wait for him at Gilgal for seven days — "I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings" (ch. 10:8). Saul waited just the seven days, then, instead of depending on the word of Samuel, took matters into his own hands and offered a burnt offering. Samuel arrived just as he had finished sacrificing.

And Samuel tells Saul: "You have done foolishly." Man's wisdom, reasonings, counsels and decisions are foolishness to God, because they are disobedience. "You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which He commanded you" (v. 13). Obedience is the first and only mark of faith. Without it there is no faith. It goes hand in hand with dependence.

Saul offers, as man has always done, an empty excuse: "the people were scattering from me," he says. Then he wickedly tries to load the blame for his sin onto Samuel: "you did not come within the days appointed." This was false, and all the worse for sounding like the truth. Samuel did appear before the seventh day had closed. Saul would not wait for that. During the day, perhaps towards its close, he took his case out of God's hands and acted for himself. He is also a hypocrite. He tries to give his bold act of disobedience a look of piety, saying he feared the Philistines would come down on him before he had sought the favour of the LORD. Under this cover he says, "I forced myself." But faith never has to force itself. It can always trust God's word and rest on His promise. It can wait patiently, because God will surely keep it.

The poor king saw the desertion of the people, the power of the enemy, and the absence of the man he leaned on — but he did not see God.

How often the hour that could have settled the offered blessing is lost through carelessness! It becomes instead the moment of forfeiture and defeat, and of Satan's power. Saul breaks down at the very point where burnt offerings and peace offerings were about to confirm the kingdom and the king for ever. The first man Adam gave place to the last Adam. In the same way, the first king must be set aside to make room for the second, or true, David.

If Saul had simply obeyed, his kingdom would have been permanently established. His disobedience settled it: his kingdom would not continue. So soon after his reign began, Saul is warned that the Lord has sought a man after His own heart, to make him captain over His people. This refers to David, as we see in chapter 16. But it also pictures something wider. God must set aside all the kingdoms of men. In the end He will bring in the Man after His own heart, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can be trusted with the responsibility of reigning fully for God.

These are the results Saul's disobedience brought on him: "Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you from being king" (1 Sam. 15:23). Earlier, at Gilgal, the Lord had said to him through Samuel: "Your kingdom shall not continue" (1 Sam. 13:14). Now the final blow has fallen: "God has rejected you."

Man's wisdom, reasoning, plans, and decisions are foolishness to God, because they are disobedience. "You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you" (v. 13). Obedience is the first, the only characteristic of faith. Without it there is no faith. It is allied to dependence.

One thing he has to say to the king: "You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God which He commanded you." That solemn charge blows away all his feeble excuses! What excuse can there be for disobedience? The consequences were not temporary, and they would not show up at once. But this act had shown him to be completely incapable of ruling, and certainly not the man after God's heart. If he had stood this test, his kingdom would have been established, because it would have shown him to be a man of genuine faith.

If Saul had simply obeyed, his kingdom would have been permanently established; but his disobedience to God settled the fact that his kingdom would not continue. So soon after the beginning of his reign Saul is forewarned that the Lord has sought a man after His own heart, to make him captain over His people.

As yet this does not amount to rejecting Saul himself here and now. The announcement is only that his kingdom should not continue, and that God had sought Him a king after His own heart. Plainly that means one who would govern according to His will. That, in the main, was David's character. But Saul is yet left to recover, if it may be, the ground he had lost. Such is the mercy of the divine government... Yet this mercy of God allows, too, the development of evil in the unrepentant.

The ungodly have always taken exception to the expression "a man after My own heart," and it sounds offensive to them. Still, it was God's own verdict on David. God describes him that way twice in Scripture. See Acts 13:22. This is what he was to God, as measured by Him alone, without reference or comparison to others.

God must have a man after His own heart. He is one who knows Him and His goodness and love. Despite many shortcomings, he still has a true spirit of obedience to God, and that obedience springs from confidence in Him. A little later we will see poor Saul with remarkable zeal and strict outward obedience. But notice it every time: wherever the will of God clashed with the wishes of man or the desires of his own heart, Saul fell short.

Kingship according to the flesh was responsible, even though God Himself set it up. It has just proven two things: it cannot keep itself standing, and man has no resource except grace. This is what God wanted to show. Then He establishes kingship according to grace, after His own heart.

This refers to David, as we see in Chapter 16. But it also pictures something larger: God must set aside all the kingdoms of men. In the end He will bring in the Man after His own heart, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can be trusted with the responsibility of reigning for God in full.

Gilgal, the place where the flesh is judged, had become, through Saul's unfaithfulness, the place where the flesh was affirmed. Samuel leaves it and goes to Gibeah of Benjamin, the only place where, in the person of Jonathan, faith is still maintained in Israel.

Saul appears insensible to the seriousness of what he has done; he continues in the same path by numbering the people who are with him.

Samuel then left Saul and went to Gibeah. Saul now has only six hundred men, more than two-thirds fewer than before. The Philistines far outnumber him, and he has no heart at all to attack.

The people have dwindled down to a paltry 600 — enough, surely, if they were with God, to do all the works which David with a similar number did later on. But the one thing needed is lacking.

Saul found himself after all, despite the desertions, surrounded by six hundred men. Gideon had only half that number when he ventured out to attack the camp of Midian (Judges 7:7). David's band of heroes numbered only four hundred, but see what they accomplished.

Notice here that Saul does not lose the throne because the Philistines defeated him. The fault was between himself and God. The Philistines do not attack him. It is enough for Satan if he succeeds in frightening us away from the pure and simple path of faith. Samuel leaves after making God's mind known to Saul.

The poor king thus saw the defection of the people, the power of the enemy, and the absence of the man on whom he leaned — but he did not see God.

By way of contrast, listen to Paul: "At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me... But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me." What a contrast between these two men, of the same nation, of the same tribe, and bearing the same name.

A little later on we will see poor Saul with remarkable zeal and strict outward obedience. But we will always notice one thing. Wherever the will of God clashed with the wishes of man, or with the desires of his own heart, Saul fell short.