Jump Start # 262

1 Samuel 13:8-9 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, ‘Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering.”

  Saul is Israel’s first king. He has been anointed by Samuel, the prophet and presented to the people. He has already led Israel to battle against the Ammonites and was victorious. This chapter begins with Saul and his son, Jonathan, leading an attack on a Philistine fort. Israel’s army numbers 3,000 troops. The Philistines prepare a counter attack. They have 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and foot soldiers that equal the sand on the sea shore. When Israel sees what is coming against them they flee and hide.

  Our verse today is what happens right before the battle. Early on, from the days of Moses, and Joshua, Israel learned that it was not the size of the army that mattered. The Lord fought the battles for Israel. The leaders would petition God through prayers and sacrifices. They wanted God’s favor as they went off to war. This is what Saul is wanting to do. Samuel, the prophet and priest, is the one to offer sacrifices. Not Saul. Saul is not a priest. He is the king. These things matter to God. Saul waits. The storm clouds of war close it. No Samuel. The soldiers of Israel begin to scatter and flee, knowing that to stay would be certain death. Saul becomes impatient, so impatient, that he offers the sacrifice to God.

  Immediately, Samuel appears. He says, “What have you done?” (11). We see for the first time, Saul, using excuses and blaming the people to justify his disobedience. Saul’s punishment is that the kingdom would be taken away from him. God would look for another king to take his place. Today, we’d say, “He’s getting fired.” It will take several years for all this to come about, but this is the beginning of the end for Saul.

  Did you notice the great lessons here? Patience, we rightly say, is a virtue. Patience is more than just waiting, it is waiting on the inside. It is not giving up, getting upset or desperate. Saul ran out of patience. When that happens, like Saul, we find reasons to justify disobeying God. Samuel, and more so, God, may have been testing the new king. It’s easy to say, ‘I am a patient person,’ until you are put in the position of waiting. The most difficult is waiting on God. Prayers do not seem to be answered…you look for direction, but you don’t see any. We wait for help. Nothing comes. You seek to do right, but you have to make a decision. Fear, worry, the pressure from others forces you to take matters into your own hands. The easiest, the safest way appears to be the disobedient way. That’s the way Satan paints it. Bailing out of the marriage…walking away from debts that you owe…leaving things to others that you are responsible for…and we find ourselves, like King Saul, offering sacrifices to God, when we ought to have been patiently waiting for Him. Human reasoning always fails next to God.

  We sing, “In His time…” It’s not in my time, nor, when I want things done. How true all of this is, but how difficult when the storm clouds of war are closing in, people are counting on us, we are waiting and nothing is happening, and we are getting scared. We hear our conscience screaming within us, “DO SOMETHING.” And so we do. And often, it’s the wrong thing. There is never a right time, right reason, or right cause to disobey God. Never! The very idea of a test, whether in school, or medically or as in this case, spiritually, is to see. Teachers test to see what the student knows. Doctors test to see why you are not feeling well. And God tests to see if you really believe. Nobody likes tests, but if you are ready and prepared, you can handle them. It’s when we are unprepared that we worry.

  In His time…remember that. It will help you!

Roger

Jump Start # 261

1 Samuel 10:25-26 “Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. But certain worthless men said, ‘How can this one deliver us?’ And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent.”

  Saul had just been appointed king of Israel—their first king. This wasn’t the result of an election, but God chose him. Israel was celebrating. Our verses today show the contrast that has existed in every age and every generation. There are those who support and those that oppose. There are those that are kind and complimentary and there are those that are a stick in the mud. There are those whose hearts have been touched by God and there are those who are worthless.

  The worthless complain and do nothing. They stand in the way and oppose progress. You find worthless employees. They show up, generally late, complain all day long, make the day extra long for everyone else, and do as little work as possible. The very minute the work day is over, they are gone, even when there is still work to be done. Worthless. Some families have worthless members. They bark out orders, make messes, complain and do not help out. Jesus referred to the one talent man, in Matthew 25, the one who buried his talent in the ground, as “good for nothing.” That’s the same as worthless. Earlier in these studies we talked about Eli and his “worthless sons.” What makes them worthless? It’s not that they don’t have a soul that God loves and Jesus died to redeem. That’s not it. It has to do with being a team player, a contributor to life. Some take but never give. And what worthless people take the most is the spirit and energy of everyone else. Israel had the worthless ones.

  But we also read about those valiant men whose hearts God had touched. Awesome statement! Valiant—bringing the idea of courageous, noble and honorable. Men, that God touched their hearts. God does that today through His word. You read a passage and it does something to you. It moves you to be better. It challenges you to do more. It causes you to look inward and make adjustments. It is in this way that the word of God is living and active as Hebrews tells us. It’s not stationary nor dead. It’s more than facts. It’s alive!

  People whose hearts have been touched by God are incredible people. They are the best people on the planet. Because of God, they walk with humility and kindness. They grasp righteousness and clothe themselves with Christ. They love the Lord and all His ways. They busy themselves in the work of God. They support the ones’ God has chosen, like king Saul. They defend what is right. They can be counted on and they have proven themselves dependable.

  You find such people in many places. They may be in your family—and what a difference they make. They remind us, in kind ways, what God would want. Offensive shows, language and behavior is frowned upon. But more than that, these kind of people are always thinking of others. They are the encouragers. They are the ones who go out at night to visit others. They call to see how some are doing. They are there with food in hand, when the occasion calls for it. Valiant and touched by God. They are the heart of a congregation. They praise God and love the Lord.

  Israel had both valiant men who were touched by God and worthless people. Which are you? It’s easy to say who you want to be, but what would your family say? What would your co-workers say? What would the church members say? More than that, what would God say? We can call ourselves valiant, but that doesn’t make us that way. It’s what we do in our actions. That’s the call.

  A heart touched by God—I really like that expression. That’s what I want. More, more about Jesus…let me walk closes to Thee each day…those are more than hymns we sing, they are the way it is for those whose hearts have been touched by God.

Roger

Jump Start # 258

1 Samuel 8:4-5 “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.’”

  In our last Jump Start, we saw where Israel got the ark of the Covenant back from the Philistines. Some of the men of Israel looked inside the ark and God struck down more than 50,000 of them. The men of Beth-shemesh contacted the men of Kiriath-jearim to take the ark. They retrieved the ark and it stayed in that area for the next twenty years.

  In the mean time, Israel is being led by Samuel, who serves as a judge and priest. Samuel has been faithful to the Lord and His ways. He has served for a long time. He’s old and his time left on earth is short. His natural successors would be his sons. But his sons are pitiful and unfaithful. Again, like with Eli, we see a faithful servant of God whose kids have no regard for the Lord. What a disaster! Few things could hurt more than trying to lead a nation, or a church and to know your own children are not following. The tears and prayers at night from this godly man would be enough to make the angels weep.

  The leaders of Israel do not want Samuel’s sons to lead them. The last time worthless sons  took over, in the case of Eli’s family, the nation was punished and lost a battle to the Philistines. History is a great teacher. Not again. So they want Samuel to appoint a king. This news breaks the heart of Samuel. God speaks and tells Samuel that the people have rejected Him from being their king.

  Several things of interest are found here:

1. The people don’t ask Samuel, they tell him. Samuel is the mediator between Israel and God. So, in telling Samuel, they are telling God. Folks do the same thing today in prayer. They don’t ask, they tell. They demand. They expect. And when it doesn’t come about, they pout and get mad. Have we, like Israel, forgotten who is the Lord? Have we gotten so casual in our relationship that we treat God as an equal or one of our buddies? I hate the flippant tone that some talk and write about God today. You won’t find that in the book of Psalms. There you see this great devotion, respect and love for the Lord. There they understood that He is the God of all Heaven and earth. They understood that God was upon the throne. It is a marvel that God even turns His ear toward us.

2. The people wanted a king like the nations around them. Israel had a king—it was God. God was not like the other kings—first and foremost, because He was God. But Israel wanted a king that they could see. They wanted a king who would lead the troops into battle. They wanted a king like the nations around them. And what was that like? Those kings were corrupt, they were immoral, they killed on a rumor or whim, they assassinated one another, they suppressed the people. That’s what the other kings were like. But people are like that. There is an old expression, “Keeping up with the Jones’,” which implies, being like those about you. Financial talk show guru Dave Ramsey, says, “average in America is overweight and broke.” Don’t measure your life by others. I don’t want a church like the churches around us. I want a church that pleases God. I don’t want a marriage like everyone else. I want it to be pleasing the Lord. I don’t want to live like everyone else, I want to live like God wants me to.

  That may mean you do things differently than most others. That may mean that those close to you think you are taking things a bit too seriously. It may mean that they don’t understand why you are doing what you are doing. But they don’t have to. You want to walk with the Lord. You want to please God. There’s more to life than going to work and coming home and watching TV until bedtime and then doing the same thing all over again. You are interested in making a difference in the lives of others. You want to connect both with God and others. Israel failed to see that they were not a nation like the other nations. They were chosen by God. He had led them and protected them. He had given them His law. But Israel fought that and didn’t want that. Leave us alone and let us be like everyone else was their thought. How shallow. How vain. How blind to the blessings that they had.

  Are we any different? I hope so. It is a matter of choice—the very choices you make today.

Roger