“And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace
offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.”—1 Samuel xiii. 9.
We are all on our trial. Every one who lives is on his trial,
whether he will serve God or not. And we read in Scripture of many
instances of the trials upon which Almighty God puts us His creatures.
In the beginning, Adam, when he was first created, was put upon his
trial. He was placed in a beautiful garden, he had every thing given
him for his pleasure and comfort; he was created innocent and upright,
and he had the great gift of the Holy Spirit given him to enable him to
please God, and to attain to heaven. One thing alone he was
forbidden—to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; this
was his trial. If he did not eat of the fruit, he was to live, if he
did, he was to die. Alas, he did eat of the fruit, and he did die. He
was tried and found wanting; he fell; such was the end of his
trial.
Many other trials, besides Adam's, are recorded in Scripture, and
that for our warning and instruction, that we may be reminded that we
too are on trial, that we may be encouraged by the examples of those
who have stood their trial well and not fallen, and may be sobered and
put on our guard by the instances of others who have fallen under their
trial. Of these latter cases, Saul is one. Saul, of whom we have been
reading in the course of this service[1], is an instance of a man whom
God blessed and proved, as Adam before him, whom He put on his trial,
and who, like Adam, was found wanting.
Now the history, I say, of this melancholy and awful fall is
contained in the chapter which we have been reading, and from which the
text is taken; and I will now attempt to explain to you its
circumstances.
Saul was not born a king, or the son of a great family; he was a man
of humble birth and circumstances, and he was raised by God's free
grace to be the ruler and king of His people Israel. Samuel, God's
prophet, revealed this to him, anointed him with oil, and after he
became king, instructed him in his duty: and, moreover, put him on his
trial. Now his trial was this. God's people, the Israelites, over whom
Saul was appointed to reign, had been very much oppressed and harassed
by their enemies round about; heathen nations, who hated the true God
and His worship, rose and fought against them; and of these nations the
Philistines were the chief at that time. They overran the country, and
brought the Israelites into captivity. They tyrannized over them, and
to make sure that they should never be free, they even took away from
them the means of forging weapons to fight with. “There was no smith
found through all the land of Israel,” says the chapter, “for the
Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews (i.e. the Israelites) make them
swords or spears. But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines,
to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his
mattock.” Saul was raised up to throw off this heavy yoke, and to
destroy the cruel oppressors of his people. He “chose him three
thousand men, and with a third of them Jonathan, his son, smote the
garrison of the Philistines which was in Geba.”
Upon this, as was naturally to be supposed, these powerful enemies
the Philistines became highly incensed, and assembled together a great
army to chastise the insurgent people, their subjects as they would
call them, who were making head against them. They had “thirty thousand
chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on
the sea-shore in multitude.” On the other hand, Saul on his part, “blew
the trumpet through all the land,” and summoned all Israelites to him.
They came together to him at Gilgal. And the Philistines came with
their great host, and pitched over against him. Thus the two armies
remained in sight of each other, and then it was that Saul's trial
began.
Before Saul went to battle, it was necessary to offer a burnt
sacrifice to the Lord, and to beg of Him a blessing on the arms of
Israel. He could have no hope of victory, unless this act of religious
worship was performed. Now priests only and prophets were God's
ministers, and they alone could offer sacrifice. Kings could not,
unless they were specially commanded to do so by Almighty God. Saul had
no leave to offer sacrifice; yet a sacrifice must be offered before he
could fight; what must he do? He must wait for Samuel, who had said
that he would come to him for that purpose. “Thou shalt go down before
me to Gilgal,” says Samuel to him, “and behold, I will come down unto
thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace
offerings; seven days shalt thou tarry till I come unto thee, and show
thee what thou shalt do[2].” Saul, you see, was told to wait seven days
till Samuel came; but meanwhile this great trial came upon him. The
people he had gathered together to fight against the Philistines were
far inferior to them in military qualities. They were not even
soldiers; they were country-people brought together, rising against a
powerful enemy, who was used to rule, as they were used to subjection.
And, as I have already observed, they had no regular arms: “It came to
pass,” says Scripture, “in the day of battle, that there was neither
sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with
Saul and Jonathan.” No wonder, under these circumstances, that many did
not come to Saul's army at all; many hid themselves; many fled out of
the country; and of those who joined him, all were in a state of alarm,
and numbers began to desert. “When the men of Israel,” says Scripture,
“saw that they were in a strait, then the people did hide themselves in
caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead;
as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him
trembling. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that
Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the people
were scattered from him.”
What a great trial this must have been! Here was a king who had been
made king for the express purpose of destroying the Philistines; he is
in presence of his powerful enemy, he is anxious to fulfil his
commission; he fears to fail; his reputation is at stake; he has at
best a most difficult task, as his soldiers are very bad ones, and are
all afraid of the enemy. His only chance, humanly speaking, is to
strike a blow; if he delays, he can expect nothing but total defeat;
the longer he delays, the more frightened his men will become. Yet he
is told to wait seven days; seven long days must he wait; he does wait
through them, and to his great mortification and despair, his soldiers
begin to desert; day after day more and more leave him: what will be
the end of this? Yet does he govern his feelings so far, as to wait all
through the seven days. So far he acquits himself well in the trial; he
was told simply to wait seven days, and in spite of the risk, he does
wait. Though he sees his army crumbling away, and the enemy ready to
attack him, he obeys God; he obeys His prophet; he does nothing; he
looks out for Samuel's coming.
At length the seven days are gone and over, those weary wearing
days, that long trial of a week, through every hour of which he was
tempted to advance against the enemy, yet every hour had to restrain
his fierce and impatient spirit. Now then is the time for Samuel to
come; he said he would come at the end of seven days, and the days are
ended. Now at length is the time for Saul to be relieved. For seven
days the Philistines, for some cause or other, have not attacked him; a
wonderful chance it is; he may breathe freely; every hour, every minute
he expects to hear that Samuel has joined the camp. But now, when his
trial seemed over, behold a second trial—Samuel comes not. The prophet
of God said he would come, the prophet of God does not come as he said.
Why Samuel did not come, we are not informed; except that we see it
was God's will to try Saul still further; however, he did not come, and
now let us observe what was Saul's conduct.
Hitherto he had acquitted himself well; he had obeyed to the letter
the command of God by His prophet. He had waited in faith though in
fear; he feared the Philistines, but had faith in God. Oh that he had
continued in his faith! but his faith gave way when his trial was
prolonged.
When Samuel did not come, there was no one of course to offer
sacrifice; what was to be done? Saul ought to have waited still longer,
till Samuel did come. He had had faith in God hitherto, he should have
had faith still. He had hitherto trusted that God would save him from
the enemy, though his army was scattered, in God's own way. God fights
not with sword and bow; He can give victory to whom He will, and when
He will; “with His own right hand, and His holy arm,” can He accomplish
His purposes. Saul was God's servant, and therefore he might securely
trust in God. He had trusted for seven days; he might go on trusting
for eight, nine, or ten. And let it be observed, that this fresh trial
was hardly a greater trial than before, for this reason—that his faith
hitherto had met with its reward. Though the Philistines were in his
front, and his own men were deserting, yet, strange to say, the
Philistines had not attacked him. Thus he had had proof that God could
defend him from them. He who had kept him so safely for seven days, why
should He not also on the eighth? however, he did not feel this, and so
he took a very rash and fatal step.
That step was as follows: since Samuel had not come, he determined
to offer the burnt sacrifice instead of him; he determined to do what
he could not do without a great sin; viz. intrude into a sacred office
to which he was not called; nay, to do what he really could not do at
all; for he might call it a sacrifice, but it would not be really such,
unless a priest or prophet offered it. You know how great a crime it is
for persons now to become teachers and preachers, or to baptize or
administer the Lord's Supper without authority; this was Saul's crime,
he determined on sacrificing, without being an appointed minister of
God. This is a crime often denounced in Scripture, as in the case of
Korah, and Jeroboam, and Uzziah. Korah was swallowed up by the earth on
account of it; Jeroboam had his hand withered, and was punished in his
family; and Uzziah was smitten with leprosy. Yet this was Saul's sin.
“And Saul said,” in the words of the text, “Bring hither a burnt
offering to me, and peace offerings; and he offered the burnt
offering.” Now observe what happened immediately afterwards. “And it
came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt
offering, behold, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him, that he
might salute him.” You see, if he had waited but one hour more, he
would have been saved this sin; in other words, he would have succeeded
in his trial instead of failing. But he failed, and the consequence
was, he lost God's favour, and forfeited his kingdom.
Let us observe what Samuel said to him, and what he answered; “And
Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the
people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days
appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together to
Michmash; therefore, said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me
to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced
myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering.” Such was his excuse;
and now hear what Samuel thought of it: “And Samuel said to Saul, Thou
hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy
God, which He commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established
thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not
continue: the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and the
Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou
hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.” Such was the end of
Saul's trial: he fell; he was not obedient; and in consequence he
forfeited God's favour.
How much is there in this melancholy history which applies to us, my
brethren, at this day, though it happened some thousand years ago! Man
is the same in every age, and God Almighty is the same; and thus what
happened to Saul, the king of Israel, is, alas! daily fulfilled in us,
to our great shame. We all, as Saul, have been raised by God to great
honour and glory; not, indeed, glory of this world, but unseen
spiritual glory. We were born in sin, and the children of wrath; and He
has caused us to be baptized with water and the Spirit in the Name of
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and as Saul, by being anointed with oil by
Samuel, was made king of Israel, so we, by baptism, are made kings, not
kings of this world, but kings and princes in the heavenly kingdom of
Christ. He is our head, and we are His brethren; He has sat down on His
throne on high, and has been crowned by His Eternal Father as Lord and
Christ; and we, too, by being made His brethren, partake His unseen,
His heavenly glory. Though we be poor in this world, yet, when we were
baptized, we, like Saul, were made strong in the Lord, powerful
princes, with Angels to wait upon us, and with a place on Christ's
throne in prospect. Hence, I say, we are, like Saul, favoured by God's
free grace; and in consequence we are put on our trial like Saul—we
are all tried in one way or another; and now consider how many there
are who fall like Saul.
1. How many are there who, when in distress of any kind, in want of
means, or of necessaries, forget, like Saul, that their distress,
whatever it is, comes from God; that God brings it on them, and that
God will remove it in His own way, if they trust in Him: but who,
instead of waiting for His time, take their own way, their own bad way,
and impatiently hasten the time, and thus bring on themselves judgment!
Sometimes, telling an untruth will bring them out of their
difficulties, and they are tempted to do so. They make light of the
sin; they say they cannot help themselves, that they are forced to it,
as Saul said to Samuel; they make excuses to quiet their conscience;
and instead of bearing the trial well, enduring their poverty, or
whatever the trouble may be, they do not shrink from a deliberate lie,
which God hears. Or, again, in like circumstances, they are tempted to
steal; and they argue that they are in greater want than the person
they injure, or that he will never miss what they take; and that they
would not take it, were not their distress so great. Thus they act like
Saul, and thus they tempt God in turn to deprive them of their heavenly
inheritance. Or further, perhaps, they both steal and lie also; first
steal, and then lie in order to hide their theft.
2. Again, how many are there who, when in unpleasant situations, are
tempted to do what is wrong in order to get out of them, instead of
patiently waiting God's time! They have, perhaps, unkind parents, and
they are so uncomfortable at home, that they take the first opportunity
which presents itself of getting away. They marry irreligious persons,
not asking themselves the question whether they are irreligious, merely
from impatience to get out of their present discomfort; “Any thing but
this,” they say. What is this but to act like Saul? he had very
little peace or quiet all the time he remained in presence of the
enemy, with his own people falling away from him; and he, too, took an
unlawful means to get out of his difficulty. And so, again, when
persons have harsh masters and employers, or troublesome neighbours, or
are engaged in employments which they do not like, they often forget
that all this is from God's providence, that to Him they must look up,
that He who imposed it can take it away, can take it away in His good
time, and without their sin. But they, like Saul, are impatient, and
will not wait. And, again, are not some of us tempted to be impatient
at the religious disadvantages we lie under; and instead of waiting for
God's time, and God's prophet, take the matter into our own hand, leave
the place where God has put us, and join some other communion, in order
(as we hope) to have clearer light and fuller privileges?
3. Again, how many are there who, though their hearts are not right
before God, yet have some sort of religiousness, and by it deceive
themselves into an idea that they are religious! Observe, Saul in his
way was a religious man; I say, in his way, but not in God's
way; yet His very disobedience he might consider an act of
religion. He offered sacrifice rather than go to battle without
a sacrifice. An openly irreligious man would have drawn up his army and
fallen upon the Philistines without any religious service at all. Saul
did not do this; no, he wished that an act of worship and prayer should
precede the battle; he desired to have God's blessing upon him; and
perversely, while he felt that blessing to be necessary, he did not
feel that the only way of gaining it was seeking it in the way
which God had appointed; that, whereas God had not made him His
minister, he could not possibly offer the burnt offering acceptably.
Thus he deceived himself; and thus many men deceive themselves now; not
casting off religion altogether, but choosing their religion for
themselves, as Saul did, and fancying they can be religious without
being obedient.
4. Again, how many are there, who bear half the trial God puts on
them, but not the whole of it; who go on well for a time, and then fall
away! Saul bore on for seven days, and fainted not; on the eighth day
his faith failed him. Oh may we persevere to the end! Many fall away.
Let us watch and pray. Let us not get secure. Let us not think it
enough to have got through one temptation well; through our whole life
we are on trial. When one temptation is over, another comes; and,
perhaps, our having got through one well, will be the occasion of our
falling under the next, if we be not on our guard; because it may make
us secure and confident, as if we had already conquered, and were safe.
5. Once more, how many are there, who, in a narrow grudging
cold-hearted way, go by the letter of God's commandments, while they
neglect the spirit! Instead of considering what Christ wishes them to
do, they take His words one by one, and will only accept them in their
bare necessary meaning. They do not throw their hearts upon Scripture,
and try to consider it as the voice of a Living and Kind Lord and
Master speaking to them, but they take it to mean as little as it can.
They are wanting in love. Saul was told to wait seven days—he did
wait seven days; and then he thought he might do what he chose. He, in
effect, said to Samuel, “I have done just what you told me.” Yes, he
fulfilled Samuel's directions literally and rigidly, but not in the
spirit of love. Had he loved the Word of God, he would not have been so
precise and exact in his reckoning, but would have waited still longer.
And, in like manner, persons now-a-days, imitating him, too often say,
when taxed with any offence, “Why is it wrong? Where is it so said in
Scripture? Show us the text:” all which only shows that they obey
carnally, in the letter, and not in the spirit.
How will all excuses, which sinners now make to blind and deaden
their consciences, fail them in the Last Day! Saul had his excuses for
disobedience. He did not confess he was wrong, but he argued; but
Samuel with a word reproved, and convicted, and silenced, and sentenced
him. And so in the Day of Judgment all our actions will be tried as by
fire. The All-knowing, All-holy Judge, our Saviour Jesus Christ, will
sit on His throne, and with the breath of His mouth He will scatter
away all idle excuses on which men now depend; and the secrets of men's
hearts will be revealed. Then shall be seen who it is that serveth God,
and who serveth Him not; who serve Him with the lips, who with the
heart; who are hypocrites, and who are true.
God give us grace to be in the number of those whose faith and whose
love is without hypocrisy or pretence; who obey out of a pure heart and
a good conscience; who sincerely wish to know God's will, and who do it
as far as they know it!
[1] Fourth Sunday after Trinity.
[2] 1 Sam. x. 8.