The Two Stories Of David And Saul

In my private devotions I just finished 1 Samuel. It's a fascinating book every time that I read through it. We see the rise of the age of the kings of Israel. Samuel warns the people that they should not desire a king like the nations, but the thrust of the book of Judges is that Israel needs a king. 1 Samuel is the story of the rise of the king of Israel.

Who Will Save Us?

This last Lord's Day, I was visiting a friend's church. His sermon was on 1 Samuel 13. The theme of the sermon was "Who will save us?" Saul had just been called by the people and installed as king over Israel after the people rejected God as their king and demanded a king like the nations. Saul was the picture of a good king, from worldly standards, but as we saw in the text, his pomp and pride were his undoing. After one victory, he declared his superiority by blowing a horn to signal victory. This incited the Philistines, his enemy, to gather a crushing army and, in fear, the majority of Saul's army fled and hid. The ones who remained by his side trembled, unarmed and afraid. His next misstep was that instead of waiting until Samuel was there to offer a sacrifice and give him the word of the Lord, as he was commanded, he waited until the appointed time and then took the offering of a sacrifice upon himself. When confronted with his sin, he blamed the people, the Philistines, Samuel, and ultimately God for forcing him to sin. As the chapter ends, you are left with a scene where Saul and his son Jonathan are standing with 600 unarmed men (with make-shift weapons) against well over 30,000 Philistines who were marching toward them for battle. Will Saul save the people?