Conversant with Christ
1 Samuel
December 9, 2001
This past Thanksgiving I had occasion to meet a man who had won a monetary settlement of about $400,000. After he was awarded the money he made some interesting decisions. He quit work and began throwing money around as if he had inherited the Oprah Winfrey estate. As you might imagine his finances are a wreck, he and his wife have both gone to work and they are struggling just to get the two ends to be able to wave at each other, much less meet.
My mind was and is flooded with questions that I would like to ask him, but never will. But one that I know that I don¡¦t have to ask is: ¡§did you think that it would turn out like this?¡¨ Obviously not! No one makes a decision thinking it is going to be a bad one. On the frontside, decisions are like ideas; they all seem like good ones. But of course in hindsight we see with 20/20 vision, and we are able to judge our decisions through the clarifying lens of their results. In truth, the only way that we can avoid making bad decisions is if we are able to talk to someone who sees how things are going to turn out. You and I both know that short of calling Cleo, the Jamaican Psychic, we aren¡¦t going to talk to someone who knows the future. Or are we?
For the past 2 weeks we have been talking about listening, and more specifically we have been talking about listening to God. We have determined that there are some disciplines that we can be involved in that will ensure that we position ourselves to hear from God, and we discovered a process that we can engage to determine if the voice we are hearing is the voice of God.
This week we are going to see that the golden carrot of listening to God is the assurance of good decision making. And by listening, I mean being open and honest with God about what we are planning to do, and allowing Him to shed some light on the plan. So many times we think we have heard from God if we just ask him to bless our decisions. But, in truth, hearing from God is allowing him to have a say in our decisions. Jot these verses down and let the truth stand for itself¡K
ƒÞ Proverbs 16:3 ¡V Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
ƒÞ Proverbs 19:21 ¡V Many plans are in a man¡¦s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.
ƒÞ Isaiah 29:15-16 ¡V Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ¡§Who sees us? Who will know?¡¨ You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay.
The truth is that only God really knows the past, present and the future. If you want to live with the assurance of good decision making, if you want to know that your decisions will be verified by the test of hindsight, then you have got to show hospitality to the influence of God. And then when you receive his agenda, you give him glory by allowing his influence to carry more weight than any other voice of influence. That is what C. S. Lewis called the weight of glory. Having heard God¡¦s plan, you give him glory by conforming your life to fit his plans. Refusing to rationalize any disease his plans may have caused you, by manipulating His plans to fit your life or lifestyle.
Today we are going to jump into the shoes of two men who lived about 3000 years ago, and we are going to see the difference that not only hearing God, but listening to God can make.
Who are these two men? Their names are Samuel and Saul. Samuel was the last of the Judges and the Saul was the first of the Kings of the nation of Israel. Ironically, God told Samuel to pass the torch of leadership on to Saul and anoint him as king.
So we have two men with essentially the same high calling. Samuel who was appointed by God to be the leader of Israel, and Saul who was anointed by God to be the leader of Israel. Both men started in the same positions with the same potential and having been equipped by the same call, but ultimately they ended in very different places leaving behind very different legacies. Why, because one listened and responded giving glory to God and the other listened only because he was seeking glory for himself.
Let¡¦s look at the similarity of their starts.
1 Samuel 3:1 (READ). Samuel was living in the Temple and had not yet been called by the Lord, but one evening things changed. The word of the Lord was revealed to Samuel and he demonstrated good stewardship of the word by speaking it truthfully to the High Priest Eli, with whom he lived. As a result¡K
1 Samuel 3:19 says, (READ)¡K The day the Word of the Lord came to Samuel, God was with Samuel. By handling that first word with such dignity, Samuel demonstrated to the Lord that he would be a good steward of his word and scripture indicates that the Lord stayed with Samuel. Listen, Samuel knew and understood the presence of God. They were partners. And one thing we know for sure, is that God was not, is not, and will never be a silent partner. He is the Lord, which means that he calls the shots. Because Samuel accepted the word of the Lord or the influence of the Lord, the Lord never let any of Samuel¡¦s words fall to the ground. He protected his credibility as a prophet by seeing to it that everything that Samuel said came to pass, because everything that Samuel said, he heard from the Lord. The day God¡¦s word came to Samuel his life was changed forever, because he hungered and thirsted for the words and influence of God.
How was Saul called?
Turn over to 1 Samuel 9:25 ¡V 10:1, 9-10 (READ)¡K Saul had essentially the same start as Samuel. Because the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there is really nothing to suggest here that Saul had ever gotten a word from the Lord. But on this day he got a word, and it was a doozie. God said you my child are going to be king over Israel, my chosen people. And then just as God changed Samuel¡¦s life forever with his presence, verse 9 says that God changed the heart of Saul, and astonishingly enough, Saul even began to prophesy just as Samuel did.
Man do you see this? Here we have 2 guys here with incredible callings and literally infused with supernatural potential. They both heard from God, and they would both continue to hear from God. They began in the exact same place. But along the way their paths separated. Samuel listened to God, and Saul didn¡¦t. Or at least he stopped listening to God for God¡¦s sake and the people¡¦s sake. Saul got into listening for Saul¡¦s sake. And when you are listening for only for what you want to hear, you aren¡¦t going to hear a whole lot. Or at least that is what my mother used to tell me.
Regardless of how they started, the end was determined by their listening along the way. So let¡¦s see whose plans stood and whose fell.
First let¡¦s find out what became of King Saul.
As many of you know the story is long and certainly involved, but the first real crisis of Saul¡¦s administration sort of sets the pattern for his reign, and points to its pathetic end.
Turn to 1 Samuel 13:5-14 (READ).
Saul and his troops were assembled to fight, but were afraid and wanted the blessing of the Lord. The problem was that the priest was the only one authorized by God to offer the sacrifice and secure the blessing. So Saul and his guys were waiting on Samuel to come and make the offering. They got impatient; Saul panicked and made the offering.
As soon as he was finished, Samuel show up wanting to know what in the world Saul was thinking.
Saul said, you were late, my guys were walking out on me, and I thought, ¡§We are going to be attacked, and I have not sought the Lord¡¦s favor. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.¡¨ Of course Samuel¡¦s response was, you goof ball. You have not listened to the Lord. You strayed from his commands. If you had kept them your legacy and lineage would have been as King for all time. But because you took matters into your own hands and strayed from the command of the Lord, forget it. He has found someone who is a man after his own heart, someone who will listen to him, and now you just mark it down, you will be replaced.
There are a couple of great insights here that show us why we fail to choose to hear what God is saying and obey his desires.
#1 ¡V WE focus on the circumstances, rather than God. Look at verse 11-12 (READ)... Who called him? Who equipped him? Who raised up an army? Why in the world would God not continue to make the way and provide? Does God get us into things that He can¡¦t take care of? Sure the times get tough and test our endurance. But we must stay focused on God. Saul understandably looked around and saw that everybody was leaving him. He knew 2 things. He knew that in order to fight that battle he needed God¡¦s blessing and he needed his men. His circumstances seemed to dictate that he worry about the men first, and God later. So he took a short cut, hoping that God would understand and throw him a bone of blessing. It doesn¡¦t work like that.
The truth is when tough times come it is very difficult to stop and hear from God. But what we learn from King Saul, is that if we want to make the best possible decisions, and have those decisions stand, then we have got to go to the Lord and find out what course of action will not violate his word, and then move on in faith. But that ingredient for good decision making is not an optional ingredient like coconut, but it is essential. So when the circumstances are screaming for your attention, that is your warning to seek the Lord.
#2 ¡V We allow our feelings to dictate our response, rather than the clear words of God. Look at the end of verse 12¡KSo I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering. What Saul was saying was that when he got focussed on his circumstances, literally his feelings got the glory, and not God. His feelings influenced his decisions more than God did. That is very dangerous because feelings come and go, circumstances change, but God¡¦s word does not change. God¡¦s directions are impervious to circumstances. Regardless of the how much sense something makes in certain circumstances, in the long run those circumstances will not win out over God¡¦s plans. For Saul, everything pointed to what his feelings verified. So he gave into the tyranny of the urgent and violated God¡¦s plan.
Where did he end up? He was deposed. God raised up a leader in David who would steal the hearts and the affections of the people long before he got the crown. Saul became a paranoid schizophrenic whose fits of rage alienated his people and caused his own children to turn on him. He ended as a man who had the position of leader, but he didn¡¦t have the influence. And because he refused to listen to God, Saul lost his kingdom and then was killed in battle. His legacy is as a king who¡¦s potential went unfulfilled.
Samuel¡¦s ending was much different. While he lost the position he retained his credibility and influence as a leader because he always listened to God. This is nowhere more evident than at his retirement speech found in 1 Samuel 12.
Let me set the stage for you. After Samuel has anointed Saul as King of Israel there are some that are excited about it and some that are not. But shortly thereafter, there is a vicious threat against some of the Israelites from a neighboring nation and they are faced with being enslaved by some of their neighbors and having one of their eyes poked out in the process. Word gets back to the newly appointed king and in 1 Samuel 11:6 we learn that the Spirit of the Lord comes on Saul and he begins to rally the troops to follow he and Samuel into battle to fight this injustice. The people come, the battle is fought, and there is a great victory for Saul.
Striking while the iron is hot, Samuel calls for an affirmation meeting to confirm Saul as king in the presence of the Lord. It is at this meeting that Samuel officially steps down and makes his retirement speech.
Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 12:1-5 (READ)
Step into Samuel¡¦s shoes just for a moment, and let¡¦s fast forward to your retirement ceremony. What if everyone that you have ever worked for, with, or around, better yet what if everyone that ever knew you from your youth gathered there? I don¡¦t know about you, but I wouldn¡¦t have the guts to ask those questions or questions like them of the people that have journeyed through my sphere of influence.
I shudder to think what would be said if I stood up and said, ¡§here¡¦s your shot, in the presence of God and these witnesses, set the record straight.¡¨
How could he do that? Because he had a legacy of listening to God. His decisions were sound, and they stood. He was never driven by circumstances or manipulated by his fluctuating emotions. Samuel was always conversing with God for God¡¦s sake and the sake of his people. He saw that as his responsibility.
You can say, well if I was a leader of a whole nation that is what I would do too. What you need to know is that he didn¡¦t do it because he was the leader, he did it because he was a follower. A God follower, and because he did it, because he was committed to God as a disciple, he became a successful leader. You don¡¦t begin listening to God when the assignment outgrows you. You listen to God from the very start and as you grow with Him He will enlarge your territory.
Saul is a perfect example of someone who got in over his head and refused to listen. See listening doesn¡¦t naturally follow with increased responsibility. It is a discipline that may vary in intensity from time to time, but for a follower there can be no listening vacations. A follower must be a listener.
When Samuel¡¦s retired as a leader, he did not retire as a listener. Look at 12:23 (READ). Samuel said, I might be stepping down, but my dialogue with God will not end. I will continue to listen, and I will continue to teach because that is the expectation of any follower of God, regardless or position.
