Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.” Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.” Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.” Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected Yahweh’s word, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.” As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.” Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.””
(1 Samuel 15:20-30)

“Avoid a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a one is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned.”
(Titus 3:10-11)

In verse twelve (1 Samuel 15:12) Saul erected a monument to himself. When Samuel catches up to him, it is clear that Saul did NOT fully obey the Lord’s command. AND he blamed the people for it. In essence, Saul wanted to have an exalted place. He wanted to be viewed and remembered. And he was afraid that he could not hold the affections or loyalty of the people unless he gave them whatever it was they wanted. Saul willfully disobeyed. He was willfully insubordinate. He willfully rebelled. Not just once. This was the SECOND time he did not do as he was instructed. The second time he put himself before the Lord. The second time he chose to rely on himself and his own actions instead of relying on the Lord.

The Lord is VERY patient with us. He waited over four hundred years to deliver the judgment they deserved from their actions, words, and hearts (Genesis 15:13-16). That’s a LONG time. All throughout that time He was giving them a chance. A chance to turn back to Him. To repent. We all get chances. More than one. Saul lost his position as the Lord’s anointed king, but he was given chance after chance to repent – his whole life, in fact. He would not have been reinstated as the chosen anointed king, but his life could have been very different when it came to the Lord. It is a very sad line of scripture when in 1 Samuel 15:30 Saul refers to God as SAMUEL’s God. Not his. When someone willingly sins and willingly harbours sin in their heart, they KNOW they are separating from God. They KNOW they are doing wrong. Because they are doing it ON PURPOSE in FULL KNOWLEDGE that it is wrong. This is a DANGEROUS place to be. That’s why we talk to our fellow believers when they are willingly sinning. That’s why we support each other, encourage each other, and bless each other. We do it from LOVE in order to KEEP people from WILLINGLY choosing to sin and rebel.

Summary

One of the worst decisions we can make in any given situation is to decide we have it. That we know what to do. That we are the ones who are in charge. That our strength, our intelligence, or our creativity is enough. It is not (2 Corinthians 3:5). We need the Lord. That also means that we need to LISTEN to Him. There is no sense in relying on Him for something if we’re not going to do what He says (Luke 6:46). The state of our heart matters. Doing the WHOLE of what He tells us to do matters. Choosing to rely on Him instead of on ourselves matters. There is real value in humbling ourselves before God in spite of the circumstances we are in or what we are perceiving. Whole-hearted obedience and the sacrifice of what we might think is best or relying on ourselves is what the Lord desires. It shows that we trust Him. It shows that we’re thankful for what He’s done. It shows that we know His place and love Him for it.