Saul's Second Stage Of Battle- Hesitation Series

Series: Israel’s 1st King [#7]

SAUL’S SECOND STAGE OF BATTLE- HESITATION

1 Samuel 14:16-23

Introduction:

King Saul’s 1st defeat came because he ran ahead of the Lord. His 2nd defeat came because he hesitated and failed to act promptly when God was ready to give him a great victory. As you read chapter 14, you find that Jonathan is the real hero, not Saul; and yet at the end, Saul would have had his own son killed. When a Christian isn’t following the Lord, he treats his friends like enemies. That’s what Saul did. God gave a great victory that day; but King Saul wasn’t really a part of the victory. Why? Because he was out of fellowship with God. There are 4 stages in this battle, and we are going to see how King Saul responded in each stage. We will see what happens when a person’s fellowship with God is broken. This morning, we are going to look at the 2nd stage of Saul’s battle.

1 Samuel 14:16-17

In the 2nd stage of the battle, Saul hesitated. We see in this passage that there are 3 kinds of people.

There are those who…

1. Watch things happen.

In stage 2 of the battle, Saul was watching the battle. Saul’s lookouts were watching the Philistine army, and they saw the enemy soldiers falling. The watchmen told Saul that the Philistines were dying, and Saul wondered why. Then he discovered that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. He was just watching things happen. There are many who are spectators- They are always watching and giving opinions; but they are never doing anything. It is like watching a sports team play and talking bad about the coach. It is easy to find fault; but it is challenging to get involved.

1 Samuel 14:18-19

There are those who…

2. Don’t know what is happening.

Saul asked the priests to bring the Ark of God. Maybe, he wanted to carry the Ark into battle, or maybe he wanted to inquire about the will of God. I believe that Saul wasn’t sure what was happening and wanted God to tell him what to do. It’s interesting that he waited until the battle was being won to ask God what he should do. It seems that Saul was wanting to make a popular decision, not an obedient decision.

1 Samuel 14:20-23

There are those who…

3. Make things happen.

Jonathan and his armor-bearer were making things happen because they had faith in God. Saul was watching things happen; he was a useless spectator. Are you a spectator that is hesitating to make decisions? Are you allowing others to fight the battle for you?