Sermon Tone Analysis

Do you remember I said I was never sure if Saul was a good guy or a bad guy?

Well, most of the time, Saul is a bad guy.

So as we look at Saul this morning, he will be an example to us, but this time we’re going to say *Don’t* be like Saul.

In [[chapter 11|Bible:1 Sam 11]], do you remember that Saul acted urgently to an urgent situation.

Without even pausing for breath, he rescued the men of Jabesh Gilead.

We praised Saul for his urgent action, but its important that we remember that patience is just as much a virtue as urgency.

So today we’re going to see how Saul failed to wait when God required patience.

There are many similarities between the situation in [[chapter 11|Bible:1 Sam 11]] that we looked at last time and [[chapter 13|Bible:1 Sam 13]] today.

In [[verse 5|Bible:1 Sam 13:5]] of chapter 13 we see that again a foreign army is waiting to attack Israel, just like [[chapter 11 and verse 1|Bible:1 Sam 11:1]].

In [[13:4|Bible:1 Sam 13:4]] we see that Saul sends a message around Israel to summon his army together, just like [[11:7|Bible:1 Sam 11:7]].

In [[13:8|Bible:1 Sam 13:8]] we seen that Saul had one week to get everything ready for the battle, just like [[11:3|Bible:1 Sam 11:3]].

In [[chapter 11|Bible:1 Sam 11]] Saul was praised for acting with urgency, and yet in this chapter he is condemned for his impatience.

Why is that?

Is God contrary.

Do he want one thing one minute, and something completely different the next?

Not at all.

And to prove that, we need to look at the text and see what are the *differences* between this chapter and [[chapter 11|Bible:1 Sam 11]].

So let’s go back to 1 Samuel [[chapter 13|Bible:1 Sam 13]], and try and find out where Saul went so badly wrong.

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He lacked fear of God’s power

It’s easy here to see the contrast between chapters [[11|Bible:1 Sam 11]] and [[13|Bible:1 Sam 13]].

Let’s go back to the end of chapter 11 and [[verse 7|Bible:1 Sam 11:7]], where we read ‘the terror of the Lord fell on all the people, and they turned out as one man.’

In chapter 13 and the end of [[verse 7|Bible:1 Sam 13:7]], we have the exact opposite: ‘all the troops with him were quaking with fear’, but it is not the fear of the Lord, but fear of the Philistines that terrifies them.

As a result, instead of turning out as one man, [[13:8|Bible:1 Sam 13:8]] tells us they began to scatter.

A fear of God’s power brings God’s people together, a fear of men’s power drives them apart.

Maybe some of you have felt that fear of God, and it has brought you to God’s side.

I want you to cast your mind back to your school days.

I know for some of you that’s quite a long way, but do your best if you can!

Where you ever bullied at school? - or perhaps you /were/ the school bully!

Can you imagine the school bully saying to you one day: ‘on your way home from school today, at 4 o’clock I’m going to be waiting by the bus shelter next to the chip shop, and I’m going to beat you up!’ Would you be scared?

Well maybe a little bit, but if you’ve got any sense, you’d make sure you weren’t at the bus shelter by the chip shop at 4 o’clock!

You’d take another route home, or make sure someone was with you.

It would be a little bit scary, for a short period of time, but that’s all.

But what if the school bully was to say to you: ‘You better watch out, because I’m going to follow you home every day.

You won’t be able to see me, but wherever you go, I’ll be there too.

There’ll be nowhere to run, and nowhere you can hide.’

Now that’s even more scary!

Why?

Because the biggest fear comes when we don’t know what’s going to happen.

That’s why lots of people are so afraid of dying - they don’t know what’s going to happen to them.

That’s why Saul and the others were so afraid too.

They didn’t know whether the Philistines would attack.

They just didn’t know whether they would win the battle.

They didn’t know whether they’d be able to escape.

And they were terrified so much, they were hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

It’s the same with us, isn’t it?

I’ve often been challenged by people who didn’t know what God was going to do, yet still trusted in him.

Too often we’re so much like Saul and his men.

Let me give you some examples.

Perhaps we’re afraid of telling people about our faith.

If so, what are the reasons you give?

It usually boils down to something like this: What if they reject me?

What if they don’t listen?

What if they don’t understand?

I don’t know what they’re going to do.

Or perhaps your fear is really doing what you believe to be right, even though your family are not Christians.

Perhaps you often say to yourself: What if they think I’m self-righteous?

What if I offend them?

What if I drive them away from the gospel?

What if they think I’m legalistic.

We’re afraid of doing what is right, because we don’t know how people will react.

But there is healthy fear as well as harmful fear.

A healthy fear is not terror and dread, but reverence and respect.

A fear of God springs from love, and prompts us not to offend God and to do everything we can to please him.

Proverbs 29:25 says “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”

Or listen to these words from Isaiah chapter 51, verses [[7|Bible:Isa 51:7]] & [[12|Bible:Isa 51:12]]:

“Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults… I, even I, am he who comforts you.

Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction?

For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

Do you see what God is saying?

Why should you fear men when their lives are so short, and eternity is so long?

Why should you fear men to such an extent that you forget that God is so powerful that he spoke the entire universe into being?

Jesus himself made it [[perfectly clear|Bible:Matt 10:28]]:

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Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

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In some ways, that’s quite a scary verse.

If you’re not a Christian because you’re afraid of what other people might think, I suggest you burn Matthew 10:28 on your brain, and think over and pray about those words tonight.

But the verse isn’t scary for the Christian.

They’re not scary because we know that God cares for us.

Listen to the very next sentences that Jesus speaks:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

But as well as lacking fear of God’s power, Saul also had another problem.

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He lacked faith in God’s promises

Let’s go back and look at chapter 10 and [[verse eight|Bible:1 Sam 10:8]] again:

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Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

Go down ahead of me to Gilgal.

I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.

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Samuel tells Saul that he will *surely* come down to you, but when we fast forward to chapter 13 and [[verse 8|Bible:1 Sam 13:8]], Saul doubts him.

You may think that this is perfectly understandable.

I mean people let you down all the time.

It was hardly Saul’s fault that he started to get worried by Samuel’s absence.

But in order to understand this chapter properly, we need to remind ourselves about of who Samuel was.

So please turn to 1 Samuel [[chapter 3 and verse 21|Bible:1 Sam 3:21]]:

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The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

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Samuel was a prophet, that means God spoke to him, and then Samuel spoke God’s word to Israel.

When people wanted to know what God was saying, they went to see Samuel.

Of course, we don’t need to do that today, do we?