Real People- Real Problems
Part 12
“Waiting on God”
1 Samuel 13: 8-14
As we continue our sermon series on the great book of 1 Samuel
And our look at Real People with real problems
We come to a problem that is so common to almost every person in the world
Waiting
Or better yet
Not waiting
I know that I am not alone when I say I hate to wait
We all want what we want
And we want it now
Right?
Patience is a virtue and often times it is a virtue that we lack
Sometimes I think I was out buying snuff when the patience was handed out
All kidding aside
We also know from out prior studies that patience is a fruit of the spirt
So that means we have within us the ability
The gift of patience
If we are believers
If we have received the Holy Spirit in our hearts
But
like any of the amazing gifts of the spirit
We must first open them and then learn to use them
Listen
Waiting is tough
As a matter of fact
In the culture we live in
Being people who typically make things happen
Waiting on someone else is very difficult
Many times, in my own life
On a personal level
If I had waited until someone did what they said they would do
I would have grown old and gray—er
And quite possibly what I was waiting on would no longer be needed by the time they got around to it
So- believe me when I say
The problem for today affects me just as much as it does some of you
Saul
Also had a problem waiting
In today’s passage
Samuel has stepped aside
And Saul is now the official leader of the people of Israel
But
Samuel has not gone away
He is still serving as the spiritual support for the nation
He has changed roles as we covered last week
In the days of Samuel and Saul
It seems as if ever body in the world wanted to beat up on Israel
Every time they turned around
The Philistines
Or the Moabites
Or some other group
Was trying to take their freedom
Their land
Their lives
Their identity in God
And so today once again the army of Israel is about to engage in battle
Please open your bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 13
Throw your bulletins in there as we will go back there quite a few times this morning
Reading from 1 Samuel 13
Beginning in verse 1 down through verse 7
Saul was thirty[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years.[b]
2 Saul selected 3,000 special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took 2,000 of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other 1,000 went with Saul’s son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin.
3 Soon after this, Jonathan attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba. The news spread quickly among the Philistines. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Hebrews, hear this! Rise up in revolt!” 4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had destroyed the Philistine garrison at Geba and that the Philistines now hated the Israelites more than ever. So the entire Israelite army was summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines mustered a mighty army of 3,000[c] chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore! They camped at Micmash east of Beth-aven. 6 The men of Israel saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. 7 Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul as we have studied was selected by God
Anointed in private by Samuel
Accepted and appointed by most of the people
Then accepted by all when he started doing what he was called to do
And now in this passage he is serving as their king
In those days warfare was common
And one of the biggest responsibilities that a king had was to lead the army
According to scripture is was against God’s plan for a King to serve as priest
So
The king had military leadership
Official leadership
But the spiritual leadership was still to be carried out by a man of God
In this case it was still Samuel
So
let me paraphrase this passage just a bit
The Philistines were intent on conquering the nation of Israel
If you will remember Israel had taken the land from them as well as others when they crossed into the Land God had promises
And they wanted it back
And they wanted revenge
As a result of that they gathered a huge army to fight against Israel
Saul and his army had won a huge battle against King Nahash of the Ammonites and they were feeling their oats a bit
And both sides had come to battle
Fired up
But
The Israelites never
Never
Went into battle without the blessings of the Lord
These blessing included prayer
And sacrifices
Which could only be done by the spiritual leader
Samuel
So here they are on the front lines
Waiting on Samuel
The Philistines are growing bolder
The Israelites are growing discouraged
As each day passes their confidence wanes
And soon they start leaving
They Runnoft
And Saul is quickly losing his army
This is where we come to today
Saul
Tied of waiting
Takes matters into his own hands
And in doing so
Disobeys God
And sets the bar for the rest of his rule as King and for the generations of his family to come
Open back to 1 Samuel 13
Let’s pick up in verse 8
Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.
Saul waited
And waited
His men were turning yellow
And leaving
7 days passed
And
I can hear Saul
Because I have been in similar situations
Not war with the Philistines
But spiritual battles
Emotional battles
And even Physical battles
So he says
“ I have got to do something”
And he makes a terrible mistake
He tells his men
Bring me the burnt offering
“ I’m tired of waiting”
Nothing is happening
So I’ll take care of it myself
And that is what he did
He stepped into the role of priest
And sacrificed to the Lord
Against the will of God
You see
God as we have studied in scripture over and over again
Wants our obedience as a sacrifice
Not meaningless sacrifices—it is obedience that he most desires
Verses 10-11
10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11 but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”
Samuel had told Saul to wait
He never gave him a time line
He said wait
But Saul could not or would not wait any longer
Took matters into his own hands and just as he was finishing
Samuel showed up just as he had promised
Saul when called on what he had done --started making excuses
Verses 11b-12
Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the LORD’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
I can hear Saul once again in my mind
“You weren’t here “
“We were fixing to get stomped”
“ I had to make a decision”
And so I just went ahead without you
He kind of tries to blame Samuel for not being there shifting the blame- passing the buck
He tries to blame the enemy for not waiting till they were ready
What I want you to notice here is he never takes the blame for himself
Verse 13-14
13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. Had you kept it, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
Samuel whacks on him a bit here
He says in real common terms
Hey knot head
You had one job to do
Just one
Keep the army together till I got here
And then We would have gone into battle
With 100% of the Lord’s blessings
Had you done this
The army would have won quickly
And your family would have experienced the blessing of God for many generations
But
Since you took it upon yourself to disobey God
You will lose your position as king and your family will lose its place of royalty.
The rest of Chapter 13 and into 14 tell the details of the battle
And give us a great story of Saul’s son Jonathan and his courage
This is another sermon for another day
For today
I want to focus on the problem of not waiting for God
Not waiting on his timing
Not seeking his will in our lives
Saul made a decision
And he went with it
He refused to wait
Which is disobedience any way you slice it
And it cost him plenty
We will see in future studies the torment and trouble that Saul dealt with as a result of his disobedience
But
Listen
We are just as guilty as Saul
We often have trouble waiting on God
And many times, refuse to do so
Sometimes not even realizing that we should have waited
So
You may be asking
Preacher
Just how do we not wait on God
And why is this such a big deal
As I have said many times
God does not want sacrifice
He wants obedience
1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
God desires our obedience
In fact, if we want all that he has for us
All that he planned for us even before we were born
Then it is imperative that we obey him
Jesus said
If you love me, obey my commands
Do what I say
There are many areas in our lives where we don’t wait on God
Today we will look at just a few
Guys I am preaching to us
Not you
I have the same problems myself
I am tempted just like everyone
One area where we fail to wait on God is in our relationships
This is so common in the world today
God designed sex to be an amazing experience that is to be enjoyed by two people who have come together in holy matrimony
Two married people – male and female
As he designed
But we as humans
Living in a wicked society that places little value on God or his word
Have decided that marriage is just old fashioned
That sleeping with someone is simply like trying on a pair of boots to see if they fit
So we fail to wait on God and his timing
In today’s world the term dating and sleeping together often mean the same thing
And we have the free will to do as we please
But
It we do as we please
Why do we cry so loudly when we don’t get the blessings we want?
We can’t put the cart before the horse and expect to get where we are going
Or should be going
And listen to me
I’m not judging
I’m am simply preaching truth from God’s word
God does not bless the cart before the horse
If this applies to you and your life is in a mess and you can’t figure out why
Look at your choices
Look at your obedience
Make a commitment to wait on God’s timing
His plan
Then you can find his blessings
How about money situations?
When we don’t seem to have enough
We simply work harder
Work more
God says that when we are obedient we will be blessed
And he says that we should give our tithes and offerings with a joyful heart
He does not say” if” you give
But when you give
So have to mash hard here
What part of not tithing do we consider to be obedience?
God simply allows us to use his money and possessions
And when we charge full steam ahead
Acting like those things belong to us
Or that we deserve them
Like he has no part in them
Why would he want to bless us?
Listen to me
And you will just have to trust me
You can disagree if you like- but I am still only the messenger
--Not tithing is not trusting God--
God loves a generous obedient heart and he loves to bless that heart
But we try and do it our way instead
We kick and shove our way through life
Instead of waiting for him to make the way
Let me ask you
What possible chance would the nation of Israel have had in crossing the red sea and escaping the army of Egypt
Had they not waited for him to part the sea?
Finical wrecks can be as overwhelming as the red sea
And as scary as the Egyptian army
If they waited on God
Should we not as well?
How about matters of
The plans we make for our lives and our futures
How about dealing with conflict- in relationship and in the church Conflict
Discipline- doing it our ways or God’s way
I could go on and on
But here are just a few more areas where we must learn to wait
Work
Play
Health
Worrying about things- when we worry we are telling god we don’t trust him to keep his promises
Trying to fix things ourselves- doing God’s job
Even salvation
Before Jesus we try desperately to save ourselves
After we try desperately to save others
We can’t do either
It is in God’s timing and his plan that anyone comes to salvation
Most
Listen to me
Most people
Christians included make decisions in their life as if God does not exist
Most
People do not seek God’s will
Or advise
Or even his opinion on any area outside of their church life
Many don’t even seek those things in that area
They just run out ahead of God
Dong what feels good
Or what the world says is right
Or what someone told them was right
Listen we fail to wait on God in so many areas of our lives
And failing to wait on God is disobedience any way you slice it
God desires to be Lord of your life 24-7 -365
He desires to be part of your major decisions
He desires to be part of your minor decisions
He desired to be part of the things that you may consider insignificant
He wants us
You and me
To get still
Get quiet
Listen to his voice
Know he is God
And rely on him in all situations and circumstances
He wants us to trust in him fully
To seek his will for our lives and those we have an impact on
We fail to wait on God in so many ways
We seek peace
Contentment
Fulfillment
Love
Understanding
Security
Acceptance
In all the wrong places
Trying desperately to fill the hole in our hearts
With something
Anything
Instead of waiting for God to fill it
Disobedience will only even bring pain
So what’s the big deal preacher
Why do I need to wait on God?
Well not waiting builds a wall between you and God
Not waiting causes, us to rely on ourselves
Focus on ourselves
Even worship ourselves
Not waiting can cause a distancing from God
Not waiting causes further disobedience on our part
Not waiting costs us plenty
--Not waiting is not trusting---
And not trusting can lead to a loss of a chance at salvation
We must get to a place of surrender in order to cry out for salvation
When we try and save ourselves
Not waiting on God
We will lose
We can lose rewards
Not waiting on God equates to taking what we can get
Instead of receiving the great things God has for us
We must learn to wait on God
He has the right answers
He has the right plan
And it is amazing
Close from the heart
Pray
