READ: 1 Samuel 18
The contrast between good and
godly leadership that the writer of 1 Samuel intends to display becomes even
clearer in this chapter and in the ones to follow. Saul continues to harden his
heart and work against the Lord and His anointed. Everyone seems to be aligning
themselves with David – even Saul’s own son becomes David’s dearest friend.
Saul cannot handle this growing allegiance. When he first met David, he was
captivated by him; he was soothed by David’s skillful playing and intrigued by
David’s courage and confidence. After David defeated Goliath, Saul wanted him
moved full-time into the palace and from then on David served the king as both
musician and military leader. But at the centre of Saul’s heart was not love,
but hatred.
The end of Saul’s kingship was
already prophesied, yet we see him making choices now that are setting him up
for eternal destruction. At the centre of Saul’s heart are some very common
sins that he chooses to go unchecked, and therefore they develop into something
very dangerous. We see roots of jealousy and envy – Saul cannot handle the
success of others; he cannot handle that David is being uplifted by the people.
He envies David’s popularity, success and Godly favour. We see a root of anger
– it angers Saul that David would get credit as a leader and warrior while Saul is the king of Israel. Unchecked,
this spirit of anger grows into a murderous spirit and Saul makes two blatant
attempts to take David’s life. Saul’s jealousy also is combined with
manipulation, warping his mind; he becomes fixated on David’s demise, even
using his own daughter as a pawn, in hopes of seeing David die at the hands of
the Philistines.
Think back to the Saul we met
in chapters 9 and 10 – the young man who respected his father, who was shocked
to be anointed king, who cowered behind the baggage at his coronation, and who
was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and empowered for service. If you had
told that young man about the man that is coming out in chapter 18, he would
have been shocked – and this is only the beginning of Saul’s murderous deeds!
Saul was not a murderer when we met him! Neither was he randomly possessed by a
murderous spirit. This developed in his heart; it grew from the “simple” seeds
of jealousy and anger. And this is a true picture of what happens to those who
live in unrepentant sin. Repentance – confessing our sin to the Lord and to
others and then turning away from that sin, asking the Holy Spirit to fill and
transform us – is so necessary to keeping a soft heart. God loves when we hate the sin in our
hearts. He loves to hear our humble confessions because it means to Him that we
desire His heart. Remember, when rejecting Saul, Samuel said that God was
looking for a man after His own heart, and He chose David. This was not because
David was a perfect fellow, but because David desired God’s heart, and when he
stumbled in sin, He sought to realign himself with the Lord. Saul, on the other
hand, resented the Lord for rejecting him as king. And to set oneself up
against the Lord is to set oneself up for destruction. For the Lord is a
righteous and victorious God, the sovereign King of the universe who WILL reign
in power and glory for ever and ever and ever!
JOURNALING AND PRAYER
1. Spend
some time interceding for the Canadian church. The character of Saul shows us
how unrepentant sin can open the door to the enemy, enabling him to set up
strongholds. And if we leave these strongholds, they become fortresses of the
enemy and we can end up moving from the kingdom of light to the kingdom of
darkness. Pray for the Canadian church, for believers in Canada to see the
strongholds of sin in their hearts and to be delivered by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Pray for a spirit of repentance to move across our land.
2. Ask
Jesus to reveal to you any strongholds of sin that the enemy has erected in
your heart. Confess this sin to the Lord and in the name of Jesus, bind up
these spirits and cast them away. Declare to them that you are covered in the
blood of Jesus, and that they have no hold over you anymore.
3. Take
time to pray for a filling of the Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill and
transform you – to fill the space where the enemy had a stronghold. Ask Him to
empower you to do God’s work today. Ask Him to develop more of the fruit of the
Spirit in your life today (see Galatians 5:22-23)!
