The need to please people crippled King Saul's life and purpose. His story sprawls across twenty-two chapters and interweaves with Samuel, Jonathan, and David’s journeys. As is often the case, the Bible provides us with clues for interpreting Saul's life without clubbing us over the head with a sermon. King Saul was a disaster we should learn from.
When we first meet Saul, the text introduces him as "an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others” (1 Samuel 9:2). Unfortunately, his impressiveness was derived from people’s expectations and desires. They wanted a warrior king who was physically and militarily strong. So, God gave the people exactly what they wanted. Saul did provide some deliverance from their enemies. After his inauguration, Saul responded victoriously to the oppression of his people: "The Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger…during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day” (11:6,11).
Saul fought hard battles against God’s enemies, and he was also a great recruiter of young (military) talent. “All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service” (14:52). Unfortunately, Saul’s insecurities led to his demise.
Whose opinions are we concerned about?
At the core of Saul’s character flaw was a craving for the approval of people. This insecurity led him to hide himself in the baggage claim on the day of his coronation (10:22). But after Saul's reputation improved, pride replaced insecurity, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor” (15:12). Samuel had to rebuke him for his insolence, “you were once small in your own eyes” (15:17). At the center of Saul’s concerns seemed to be personal glory, not God’s glory. Samuel delivered the Lord’s indictment, “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” (13:14), thus rejecting Saul.
Saul’s response to Samuel’s rebuke merely feigns remorse. What Saul is really concerned about is his reputation among the people, “Saul replied, ‘I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel’” (1 Samuel 15:30). Similarly, the king's later jealousy of David, the debutant, seemed rooted in his bruised pride of having been eclipsed by this young upstart. It seemed that Saul’s reputation was no longer a head taller than anyone else’s. Now he had a rival.
Whose strength are we relying on?
Early in his career, there was a promising moment when the Spirit of the Lord touched Saul's life. Samuel foretold that “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with (the prophets), and you will be changed into a different person" (10:6). Yet, Saul’s charismatic experience didn’t translate into a transformation or a lifestyle of trusting dependence on the Lord. His insecurity caused him to fear (13:7-10). Instead of waiting for the Lord, he caved in to pressure and self-reliance. As is usually the case, stress reveals what is truly in our hearts, and duress repeatedly exposed King Saul’s dependence on his own strength. The priest had to remind him to slow down and inquire of God (14:36). Contrast that with David, who repeatedly “inquired of the Lord” (22:15; 23:2,4; 30:7) in his military decisions and sought the Lord in his worship (Psalm 27:4).
What is controlling us—emotions or faithfulness?
Even Saul’s son Jonathan exhibited tremendous faith (14:4-15), “the Lord has given (our enemies) into our hands” (14:10). Saul’s focus was always on himself, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” (14:24). Later that same day Saul had to be stopped by his soldiers from fulfilling his irrational vow (14:44-45). He almost killed his own son. It was a terrifying foreshadowing of his violent mood swings to come.
Saul’s pride and insecurity worsened as the young rival David emerged. After the people started praising David, we read, “Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. ‘They have credited David with (killing) tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David” (18:8). Later on, we discover that Jonathan quite willingly relinquished the throne to David and walked in covenant friendship and faithfulness (20:42). Meanwhile, Saul’s emotional derangement and jealousy only worsened to paranoia and violence. “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul” (18:12), “Saul became still more afraid of him” (18:29). Even after attempting to spear David twice to the wall, Saul has the same violent outburst towards his own son Jonathan (20:33).
A Campaign of Evil
Earlier mood swings in Saul’s temperament hardened into an envious quest to destroy all his rivals. The Scripture reads that “an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul,” which can also be interpreted to mean, “Saul became possessed by a foul mood.” Indeed, Saul hardened into an almost single-minded, jealous tyrant. He could no longer distinguish his friends from his enemies or good from evil.
Saul raged in paranoia against his own military leaders, accusing them of conspiracy (22:6-8). He massacred 85 innocent priests whom he falsely accused of knowingly aiding David (22:14-19). Then, in the innocent town of Nob, he massacred everything that breathed (22:19), a shocking reversal of his disobedience (1 Samuel 15); instead of eradicating God's enemies, he eradicated God's people. After that, Saul chased David through the wilderness, leaving Israel’s people defenseless before the Philistine raiding parties (23:26-27). He resorted to consulting witches rather than hearing from the Lord (28:6-7). And at the end of Saul’s kingship, we read of the once brave and proud King, “When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart” (28:5) and “Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone” (28:20).
When Saul became king, there was hope that he'd be the human embodiment of God’s leadership. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit’s gift in his life did not result in a lifestyle of dependent trust but became perforated by his fearful and controlling temperament. If Saul ever expressed a love and fear of the Lord, it was quickly eclipsed by his love and fear of people.
Applicational Thoughts:
A desire to appease people may seem innocent in the bud, but it is rooted in the soil of fear. It will bear the fruit of anxiety, paranoia, control, self-protection, aggression, lack of discernment, divisiveness, and witchcraft. God continually warns us against fear: “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only” (Deuteronomy 6:13). If we are not anchored in the Lord’s power and trustworthiness, we will have nothing solid to stand on in life. People will push us around, circumstances or emotions will bully us. We will become petty, divisive, and dangerous. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9).
You can’t outrun your character; what is in you will come out of you. Fear is an absence of confidence in God and His all-powerful love for us. We are delivered from fear when we seek to know the Lord and walk in His love.
Peer pressure comes in many disguises: a mentor, a political constituency, a business clientele, strong family personalities, or dogmatic religious leaders and movements. But seeking the approval of people instead of inquiring the Lord always produces rotten fruit. In the case of Saul, we witness an insecurity that birthed pride and disintegrated into all-consuming jealousy. By the end of his life, the once-strong and proud king disintegrated into weakness and terror. The one tasked with the job of protecting Israel, unjustly oppressed his friends, and died at the hands of his enemies. King Saul was a disaster we should learn from.
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