“And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou has rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected thee from being king over Israel.
“And Samuel turned about to go away, and Saul laid hold upon the skirt of Samuel’s mantle, and rent it. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and has given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.”[1 Samuel 15:24-28]
Yesterday we saw how God wants us to love and obey Him. He wants our love and obedience to His voice more than all the sacrifices we could offer Him. We saw that God dwells in our praise and in our thanksgiving. We saw that He lives in a broken and contrite heart. We saw He wants us to do good and be just more than any sacrifice we could offer Him.
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice when He died for the sins of the world and no other sacrifice is needed. But God does expect that we in turn offer our lives as a living sacrifice unto Him, so that He can use us to in His goal of loving and helping others into His kingdom.
In today’s reading we see the sad story of King Saul who did not love the Lord His God with all His heart, mind, body, and soul. Instead of having a fear of God, which Solomon later would say was the whole duty of man, Saul had a fear of the people. He did not love the Lord, nor obey His voice, nor cleave to Him as the Lord had commanded. He let power, popularity, position and positive results go to his head. He forgot that it was God that gave him all things and thought it was his own arm that had saved him.
He confesses to Samuel the prophet, “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”
How could he be God’s man if he refused to obey God’s commandments through His chosen mouth piece – the prophet? How could he be God’s man when he feared the voice of the people more than God Himself? In the proverbs we read,
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoso puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”
Do you want safety and security? Then put your trust in God, not in the voice of the crowd, the voice of the people, the voice of man. Listen to that still small voice of God and obey His voice. That’s what will make you a man and bring you ultimate safety under His wings even if men rise up against you.
Saul was afraid of his peers. He was afraid of the opinion of the world. Jesus has told us that we are not of this world, but He has chosen us out of this world to be His Ambassadors of love and truth. We cannot be His Ambassadors if we love the world and the things of the world.
The Apostle John has told us that, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever.”[1 John 2:16-17]
The Apostle James states plainly that if we are friends of the world, then we are enemies of God.[James 4:4] Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and Mammon.”[Matthew 6:24] What is “Mammon” but the wealth, and the things of the world that money can buy. You cannot say you love God first, if you love money and the things that money can buy, above God. You cannot say you fear God and keep His commandments, if you in fact fear man and keep his commandments. Jesus said,
“Fear not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”[Matthew 10:28]
In the first Proverb we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”[Proverbs 1:7] King Saul despised God when he embraced the fear of man. His prosperity and success deceived him and he chose not to keep the fear of the Lord. But God promises that those who hearken unto Him, who keep their fear of the Lord, “shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”[Proverbs 1:33]
Do you want to "dwell safely...from fear of evil?" Then do as Apostle Paul has admonished, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate.., and I (the Lord) will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."[2 Corinthians 6:17-18] We need to be separate in spirit and in action, and in our thinking and world view from the unbelievers.
We need to realize we are different because we have different initial belief systems. Because of our initial beliefs, we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Jesus said it.[John 17:16] He prayed that God would separate us from the world through His truth, His word is truth.[John 17:17]
Ultimately the fact that we believe God's revealed truth found in His word separates us from those who do not believe. That is why we end up coming to different conclusions on many issues. Some accept man's reasoning as the ultimate authority. Others accept God and His word as the ultimate authority. But never the twain shall meet. We read in the Gospel, "So there was a division among the people because of Him."[John 7:43] Jesus causes a division.
Some believe and want to follow Him, others, no. Some have fear of man, like King Saul. Some have fear of God, like King David. Each man must give account for himself.[Romans 14:12]
Tomorrow we will look at some other political and religious leaders who feared man rather than God. Please do not let that be you. “Fear God and keep His commandments for : for this is the whole duty of man.”[Ecclesiastes 12:13b]
If you would like to read my online book Where is America in Bible Prophecy? click on the title.
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