Theme: King Saul's Life
Message By: Bro. Immanuel P. Kumar
Horeb House Of Worship
# 42, 2nd Cross Road,
New Baiyyappanahalli Extn,
Maruti Sevanagar,
Bangalore, Karnataka. 560038.
India.
KING SAUL’S LIFE
In 1 Samuel 28: 3 -14, we see one of the darkest chapters in the life of Saul. We see many contrast things happened in his life. He started the life in the morning and ended his life in the evening. He started his life with great courage, but ended his life with fear. Also he started his life with God inhis life with standing and walking with the Lord, but in the end we see a great fall. He fell down spiritually, physically fromthe kingship started with great victory but ended with great defeat.
Let us consider the life of Saul; these are the incidents which were
written for our admonition, edification and also for our correction. We saw that
he started his life career in the morning that means in light. In the beginning
we see, Saul was running behind an ass and his ass was lost. He went in search
of the lost one so muchthat he went after the ass but we see that he became a
king. He became the king of Israel. Scriptures say that he has been anointed 3
times. First time when he met Samuel on the hill, secondly, he was anointed in
the midst of the people as a king, thirdly by the strengthening of his
kingship. Even though he has been anointed, we still see that his life ended in
a pathetic way. In the beginning, wonderful virtues were seen in his life. He
was fit to be a king in the beginning stage, but later on we see that he lost
it. He lost a beautiful character which God has given unto him and ends his
life with a great shame and disgrace.
He has to face a great defeat in his life, he lost his life and
thus he went into that night. He was a man who drew all the ones who practices
witch crafts in his kingdom, because those are nothing but the activities of
evil spirits.But later on we see that he himself went after it and searched for
such ones. The portion we have read in 1
Samuel 28:7 “Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar
spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him,
Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.” (1
Sam. 28:7). Once he has wisdom of God and he was living a spiritual
life, but later he wentafter the darkness or evil spirit. He started his life in
the morning, with light but now he has ended his life with darkness, or in the
evening. John 3:20 says, “For
every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20). He was loving the light and
doing good things but now we see that he is hating the light and doing the evil
things and wrong things. Good beginning does not guarantee that we are going to
end our life with goodness unless we are careful in how we are leading our life
and try to see right then only wewould end our life with good things.
1 John 1:5 says, “This
then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God
is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God, whom we serve,
is a God of light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Even darkness which
is seen, for Him is light. Because He is the God of light, Lord Jesus Christ
Himself said, “I am the light of the world”. John 8:12 says “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life” (Joh 8:12). We need to walk in the light
and follow the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. So our prayer should be in
this way, ’Lord Help me O God, I want to begin my life not only with light but
also end my life in light.’ Sad thing is that Saul failed to walk in the light
in the end days of his life. Started in the morning but ended at evening.
Secondly, he
started his life with great courage, but ended his life with fear
All the philistines came against Israel to fight the battle; the
people of Israel were filled with fear. At that time he was the only one who stood
with courage and came forward to fight for the people. He encouraged all the
people of Israel to strengthen them, to face the enemy and fight the battle. He
fought the battle and got the victory, but in the end we see that the same
philistines came against Israel and he was filled with fear. Not only in the
end but also in the middle of his life he was filled with fear, or may be only
few years after his kingship he had that courage. But he lost that courage,
when he heard that philistines are gathered together against Israel.
When Goliath came against the people of Israel and that was the
time when Saul and all the people of Israel were filled with fear, but only one
young lad David was filled with courage. And he came forward and fought against
the philistine Goliath and got victory, because he had the courage and he knew
his God and also was serving the Lord. All those who enjoy the presence of God,
serve the God and worship the God are given the courage, not only for some time
but as long as we serve the wonderful God we enjoy the courage and boldness. God
said in the Bible nearly 366 times
‘fear not’. One of the beautiful characters in the life of a believer, in the
life of child of God is to have the courage. But enemy will all the time tries
to attack and bring fears in our life. So to overcome this, God has given us
His weapons.
He has given us His precious word; he has given us His precious
blood for us.
How to overcome the enemy? - A beautiful word we see in Rev 12:11 says “And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11). We can overcome the enemy by the
blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony. There is power in the word of God;
there is power in the shed blood of Lord Jesus Christ. We sing the Chorus
‘There is power, power, and wonder working power in the blood of the lamb’. By
faith when we receive that power we can overcome any kind of enemy who creates
trouble in our life.
King Saul here has started his life with great courage, but
finally ended with fear. One who stood against the enemy is now afraid of the
enemy. He was afraid of Goliath, he was also afraid of young man David. Even
though David held his breath and held his life and fought against Goliath and
he has been a great supportive to Saul, but when he looked at David he was
still afraid.He was afraid of the people of Israel and every man of God. So,
that was the condition of Saul, because he lost the fellowship and lost the
track with God. Because of that he lost the faith in God, and he disobeyed God.
Because of these things he was filled with fear.
One beautiful word in Proverbs
28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a
lion” (Prov. 28:1). So we are expected to live a righteous life. Praise
God, we exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and see Him as Lord and our saviour
and we will be made righteous people. Those who continue to lead the righteous
life enjoy the courage and boldness. They will be as bold as a lion. Whatever
comes in the way of a Lion it will not be afraid. No animal can withstand
against it. God gives that courage to us, only when we lead a righteous life. Whereas
Saul’s life was filled with unrighteousness and so much so he started hating
his own people. He started hating David, Why? When David conquered Goliath,
some of the women started singing song which says ‘Saul killed thousand, David
killed ten thousand’. Because of this he hated David. When he started hating
David then his life was filled with fear. Hatred leads us to unrighteousness
and then to have fear. Only when we lead a righteous life we will have courage
and boldness.
Also, he disobeyed God, but when we show forth obedience unto God
we will enjoy boldness. Also, he was disobedient with Prophet Samuel, that’s
why sin came and fear gripped his life. We begin our life with courage and if
we are not careful and not able to lead a righteous life, fear grips our heart.
Praise God, in the Bible we see that it is written many times ‘Fear Not, Fear
Not’, it is written nearly 366 times
(Someone has counted it). In a year there are 365 days, during leap year one
day is added. So, every day God looks at us and says ‘Fear not my son, Fear not
my daughter.’ Even though Gods word is
encourages us but we still we get fear. Fear for life, fear of future, so many
things will come in our mind and will grip our heart with fear. Praise God, He
has made all the provision so that we could live a courageous and a bold life.
Thirdly, Saul
started his life with Gods wisdom
How we will come to know that he is filled with Gods wisdom?
Because of obedience, when we obey God we get wisdom. Obedience leads us to
have the wisdom of God. Disobedience leads us to have foolishness in our lives.
But when we show forth obedience we can enjoy the wisdom from God. ‘Fear
of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’ when we have the fear of God,
then it leads us to have wisdom from God. Fear leads us to obedience to Lord.
If we don’t have fear in God, we will disobey God. But when we have fear of the
Lord, it leads us to obedience and also to wisdom of God. Of Course, we know
that through the help of Holy Spirit of God we enjoy the wisdom of God. Isaiah
11:2 says, “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the LORD” (Isa. 11:2); Here we see one is linked with
another. Fear of God and also the spirit of knowledge. When we have fear of
Lord and we show forth obedience then we can enjoy the spirit of wisdom. Spirit
of wisdom, spirit of understanding and counsel will be given to us. Saul,
because of his disobedience he became foolish and because of his foolishness he
destroyed his kingdom and his very life itself.
At times we see him, running like a horse before God, but he stops
like a mule. He blamedProphet Samuel and other Godly people even though he made
many mistakes and disobeyed God. On the other hand he never repented or never
blamed himself. Also, he sought the honour from God, he sought honour from the
people, and he sought praise for himself. That is what happened; when people
started praising David he was jealous. In this way he made many mistakes in his
life. And because of that he became foolish and he lost his life, he lost his
kingship. What a pathetic end we see in the life of Saul.
Fourthly, he
started with standing, walking in spiritual life, but at the end he spiritually
fell down
Great fall we see, physically he fell down. 1 Sam 28:20 says, “Then Saul fell straightway all along on the
earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no
strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night” (1
Sam. 28:20). Here we see a pathetic thing happening in the life of Saul,
sad demise of Saul’s life. All these things happened because he fell down and
disobeyed God. Not only he was the tallest man among the people of Israel, he
was well built, but he disobeyed God and he blamed God and people. And he
coveted praise for himself. All these things led him to a great fall. He never
understood, if the people appreciate me there will be a great fall in my life.
When others appreciate us, or talk good about us we should be very careful with
that. Quickly we need to give praise, honour and glory unto God. We should not
covet even an iota of praise or glory for ourselves, whereas Saul failed to do
this. He coveted praise for himself and that led him into a great fall in his
life.
When King David got the news about Saul’s death, he says ‘how are
the mighty fallen?’ Saul was an anointed king, not one timebut he was anointed
3 times. That’s how David respected him. Even though Saul was after David’s
life, David all the time respected Saul and not raised his hand against Gods
anointed one. That’s why he said, ‘how are the mighty fallen?’ Our human life
is not a playground, itis a battlefield. We need to face the battle and win the
battle. We should not only begin our life with standing but also keep walking
with the Lord spiritually.
Finally,
Saul’s life started with great victory but ended with great defeat, a shameful
death.
He died by committing suicide, he was a man of God, anointed by
God but his end was pathetic, utterly shameful death. Hence, we need to pray,
Lord help me to begin my life with light, but also end our life with light, and
with courage, and with wisdom, and end our life with standing. This is what we
learned by the incidents happened in the life of Saul. May the Lord bless this
word and help us to learn this beautiful spiritual lesson in our life.
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Click Here to Download the Message Transcript PDF File or read online
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