Insight for Living

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Guest (Male): It's one of life's most critical questions, and one many leaders fail to answer correctly: How do we finish well? King Saul had everything going for him: talent, opportunity, God's anointing, and a nation's support. Yet his story ended in tragedy. So, what went wrong? And more importantly, how can we avoid the same pitfalls?

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll examines the sobering lessons from Saul's life. Lessons about maintaining integrity when pressure mounts, staying humble when we're successful, and taking God seriously when circumstances scream for compromise. Chuck titled today's message "Saul: The King Who Refused to Bow."

Chuck Swindoll: The study of people is a fascinating study. I'm engaged in it pretty much every day of my life, and so are many of you. I'm intrigued with the fact that no two lives are ever identical. Every story is different. However, I have observed that lives seem to fall into categories. Lifestyles seem to be similar, much more so than the individual details of the pilgrimages of life.

Let me explain. Some lives, it seems to me, fit the word picture of an oval speedway, sort of like the Indianapolis 500. They seem to be moving along at a very rapid clip. They're active, they're involved in many things. They seldom stop, except briefly to gas up, to eat, to sleep, and they're back on the track again. But what is interesting in studying those lives is that they accomplish very little. They're quite involved in activities, but when the final tale is told, very little was accomplished, though they might have lived many years.

And then there's another word picture that describes lives, and I think it's like a meteor in the sky. Perhaps the prodigies of our lives are like that. Right from the beginning, they seem to hit the world with a flash or with a splash, and they're on their way to a life of well-known, famous even, a life of publicity as they are engaged in a number of different things. And yet their lives, though short-lived, seem to sort of phase out, and we never know much of what happened to them in their later years.

And then there are lives on the contrary that are like deep and quiet rivers. These are the lives of people who are faithful and consistent and giving and supportive. It seems as though it's their delight in life to help other people reach their destinations. You perhaps had a parent like that; I certainly did. Or maybe you have a friend like that. They will never make the headlines, they will never be known by the folks around the world, but like a deep, quiet river, they're moving like a solid current toward a destination, and their lives are supporting others as they get them to help them reach their final purposes for living.

And then, without going on and on with this, let me give you one more, and that's a life that is lived like a rooftop, like a tent top. They're out of the starting blocks rather early in the Christian life, if we might use that term now. These are early Christians who are on their way to living a fulfilled and delighted life. God's blessed them, God has gifted them, they have capabilities, they have what it takes, we would say. And they move rather rapidly into leadership circles, and before you know it, they are well on their way to making a significant contribution.

And then, right at the peak, something happens, and they turn on a pivot, and the latter part of their lives is altogether different from the former part of their lives. They have great promise at the beginning, and yet they conclude in disgrace and sometimes surrounding a scandal, a failure, or as Paul calls it, a shipwreck.

The Bible includes stories of all these different kinds of people: those who are on the racetrack accomplishing very little but moving fast; those who are meteoric in style and they are off and running only to fizzle out before they've hardly reached middle age; and then there are through the scriptures those deep, quiet rivers, lives that continue to minister to others selflessly as they help others reach their destinations. But I am intrigued with how many times I come to the scriptures and find a life that is like a rooftop.

A life that begins well but ends poorly. Such a life was Saul, the king who refused to bow. What an interesting, interesting study. He teaches me, if nothing else, that life cannot be determined until it has run its full course. We who are so quick to give opinions about certain individuals and seldom willing to wait until the final tally is told can learn a lesson from this. You really don't know a life in full until it has lived itself out. To borrow from a woodsman's proverb of the 19th century, a tree is best measured when it's down.

And now that the life of Saul has fallen, we are able to examine it in all of its disappointment as well as its splendor. I think maybe the reason the scripture includes so many rooftop-type lives is to give us the message it can happen to anyone. That's why I often say to graduates when I have the privilege of bringing a commencement message: "Don't show me your honors today. Come back in 20 years and show me your life. Don't tell me how well you graduated from this school in four, five, or maybe six years of time. Come back in 30, 40 years, and let's talk about what you have made of your life, and then I will applaud."

J. Sidlow Baxter, in his book *Mark These Men*, describes Saul this way: "Saul, the first king of Israel, is one of the most striking and tragic figures in the Old Testament. In some ways, he is very big and in others, very little. In some ways, he is commandingly handsome; in others, decidedly ugly. All in one, he is a giant and a dwarf, a hero and a renegade, a king and a slave, a prophet and a reprobate. A man God anointed and a man Satan possessed. He began so promisingly, yet deteriorated so dismayingly, and ended so ignominiously as to make the downgrade process which ruined him monumental forever afterward to all who would read, mark, and learn."

To jump ahead in his life, let me show you the epitaph that would fit, and these words come from his own lips: 1 Samuel 26:21. Just to jump ahead, we will do that first to give you a picture of how he would describe himself toward the end of his days. 1 Samuel 26:21, "Saul said, 'I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold,'" look at the epitaph, "'I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.'" Those five words would fit the tombstone of Saul: "I have played the fool."

As we get underway in this interesting story from the Old Testament, let me immediately say that I never quite know why God leads me to speak on some subject at one time and another subject at another. I have no skywriting, I hear no voices, I see nothing visible, and I hear nothing audible. And yet I always sense that there is a special reason He directs me to speak on a subject or on a life or on a truth because I think He fits truths to certain ears. And for all I know, someone right now hearing this message is at the pivot point on the rooftop of your life. You are just about to make a decision that will turn everything, and maybe this life as it is portrayed in scripture will be sufficient to stop you and to help you see what could become the ruination of the rest of your days.

Go back from 1 Samuel 26 to 1 Samuel chapter 8, will you? 1 Samuel 8 will sort of set the stage, do a brief study of Hebrew living before Saul became the king. The nation, by the way, had never had a king at this particular juncture. They were not a monarchy; they were what theologians call a theocracy. The nation looked to God for His leadership. He spoke through people: prophets and priests and judges. In fact, Samuel seems to be the last man in transition before the nation demanded a king. God had always been their king. And they were unlike all other nations in that they could claim their leader was the invisible creator Yahweh, their God. And that made them unlike all other peoples.

But they wearied of that. 1 Samuel 8 tells us why. Verse 1: "It came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, the name of his second Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and they said to him, 'Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.'"

Well, there you have it. Those are the three reasons they wanted a king. First, Samuel was old and no longer able to keep pace with the demands of the nation. Second, his sons had disqualified themselves. They were men who had lost the respect of the people. By the way, isn't it interesting how often we find in life as well as in scripture, great people of God whose families do not walk in the way of the Lord? And Samuel is like Eli. You would have thought Samuel would have learned the lesson from his childhood when God awoke him at night and told him of Eli's boys, but it didn't change the way Samuel raised his family, and these boys are now reprobates. They have forfeited the right to lead, and so the people are saying, "Not only are you old, Samuel, but your sons are disqualified."

And thirdly, "We want to be like all the nations." Their request was displeasing to Samuel. We're told that in verse 6: "It was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt, even to this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.'"

So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked of him a king. And he said, "This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you." Now watch how he warns them. You want a king? Let me tell you what he will be like. "He will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots." So they will be involved in a mandatory military service. "He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants."

Verse 15: "He will take a tenth," he's already into taxes by now, "he will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards to give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work." Verse 17: "He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants." Did you notice how many times he will take? Verse 11, "He will take your sons." Verse 12, "He will appoint for himself commanders from your sons." Notice he will appoint them for himself. "He will take your daughters," verse 13. "He will take the best of your fields," verse 14. "He will take a tenth of your seed," verse 15. "He will take your male servants." Verse 17, "He will take a tenth of your flocks."

He will take, he will take. The king will be known as a taker, not a giver. And it will become a kingdom that revolves around him, not around you. You'll learn a lesson, Israel, that you've never known before. You will discover what it's like to have a man reign over you, and you will regret the day you did it. But we'll do it. In fact, verse 18: "You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day." Nevertheless, verse 19—does this sound like one of your teenagers?—the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, and we'll be like all the other nations."

By the way, anytime you make a decision to be like someone else, you lose. You lose your distinctive, you lose your security, you lose your direction, your identity, your God-given purpose. God never made any one of us to be mirror images of anyone else. He has created for His own distinct, unique messengers. One of the most freeing days of my life came when I decided to stop being like anybody else and stop being intimidated because I was not like someone else and become who I am—good and bad, strength and weakness—but to be authentic.

They want to be like all the other nations. They're tired of having the nations mock them and talk about their God whom they cannot see and serving a monarch who cannot be worshipped. There can't be a crown on his head, and there can't be a scepter in his hand or a throne beneath his seat. They want to be like all the other nations. You will regret it. And also, you will notice there are times the Lord will let us go right on and do our will knowing we will be hurt, but that's the only way we will learn the lessons. You'll find out.

Now, chapter 9, we meet the king, the king-elect. He doesn't know it yet. He's on his way up the rooftop, okay? We're on the upswing of his life, and what a great first impression. Verse 1: "There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul." This is the first mention of this man we're studying. A choice, of that term suggests in the prime of manhood, virile, young, strong. "And also," it says, "and handsome man." *Tob* is the word. It means good-looking, a specimen of masculinity. He was—in fact, there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel, and to make matters even more impressive, from his shoulders and up, he was taller than any of the people.

He was tall, he was dark, he was handsome. Nothing wrong with that—it isn't fair, in my opinion—but nothing wrong with it. Here is this handsome leader. By the way, I heard a statement many years ago from a good friend of mine who referred to an excellent young preacher, and he said, "My only fear for him is that he is cursed with good looks." There's a lot of wisdom in that. He is not only capable in the pulpit; he is extremely handsome. That's Saul. When you first looked at him, you got your impression of him: "Wow, what a man." Most people I know would like to be taller. There's something about height that gives you a sense of commanding presence. How many people have said to me when they, for some reason, want to come look at what I look like, they'll say, "We expected you to be taller." And I say, "What you see is what you get. This is me."

And Saul, they would never have said that. There is this mystique about looks, about image, about style. People want to see, they want to see size, they want to see mannerisms. And Saul ranked high in every one of those. On top of that, he was genuinely modest. 9:21, after Samuel has addressed these things, Saul answered and said when he hears of being the king, he said, "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way? I'm not your man."

He's genuinely modest. 10:1, look across the page: "Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on his head, kissed him and said, 'Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance?'" If we were to take the time, which we will not, we could find in these chapters that he was a man of discretion, he was interested in waiting on God, he's a man of generous spirit, he is one who spoke for God, he is energized and inspired of God. Look at verse 6 of this 10th chapter: "The spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, Saul, and you will prophesy with them and be changed into another man. God's hand is on your life. It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you."

Can you imagine being told that by Samuel in a day when the visible presence of God rested and it became a miraculous series of events? "God's hand is on your life." What a prediction. Now, all this leads Samuel to present the new king to the nation. You're going to smile when I read something to you. Go back to chapter 9, verse 16: "About this time tomorrow, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. You shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have regarded my people because their cry has come to me."

Now, 10:17, look at that next: "Thereafter, Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah, and he said to the sons of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you. But today, you rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and all your distresses, yet you have said, "No, but set a king over us." Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.'"

Thus, Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken, and Saul, the son of Kish, was taken. But when they looked for him, he could not be found. This is the day of his coronation; they can't find him. And they inquired further of the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?" And the Lord said, "Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage," wherever that was. He is so modest, he is so genuinely timid, he's shy, he feels uncomfortable standing before all the people.

Guest (Male): Well, place a bookmark right here in 1 Samuel because there's much more that Chuck Swindoll wants to show us. These technical elements to the story are important because they're weaving a plot that culminates in a life-changing application. You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck titled today's message "Saul: The King Who Refused to Bow."

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What's the path to holiness in a world that's morally corrupt? I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll provides the answer Thursday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "Saul: The King Who Refused to Bow," was copyrighted in 1990, 1992, 2006, 2012, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.