Sermon – King Saul’s Tragic Downfall

Sermon – King Saul’s Tragic Downfall

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 10:1-10, 13-14 “Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him. Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died. So Saul and his three sons died there together, bringing his dynasty to an end. When all the Israelites in the Jezreel Valley saw that their army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns. The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa. So they stripped off Saul’s armor and cut off his head. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death before their idols and to the people throughout the land of Philistia. They placed his armor in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his head to the temple of Dagon. But when everyone in Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, all their mighty warriors brought the bodies of Saul and his sons back to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones beneath the great tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.” ‘’So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He failed to obey the Lord’s command, and he even consulted a medium instead of asking the Lord for guidance. So the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”

Introduction: The truth is that God chose Saul because he was a good man with a good heart. Young's Literal Translation of the Bible puts 1 Samuel 9:2 like this: “There is not a man among the sons of Israel goodlier than he.” Saul had a good heart but struggled with feelings of inadequacy. Saul’s foolishness and indifferent attitude toward God’s Word contributed a great deal to his tragic downfall. Saul’s story is one of the most shocking stories in Israel’s history. There was not another person with so much promise who failed so far, and so fast.

The rise and downfall of Saul convey both practical and spiritual lesson to every man especially to believers who want to glorify God continually and live up to their full potential. In Saul’s story we see the transformation of a man who was small in his own eyes grow into a man who become proud, arrogant and disobedient. His call to kingship was confirmed by prophecy and a series of supernatural signs. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, he prophesied among the prophets, and he was turned into another man. However, Saul was turned into another man only in terms of his role as king and the boldness in which he exercised that office.

1 Samuel 10:9-11 “As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

God gave Saul a new heart, a transformed mindset, and anointed him for the challenges ahead. Those around Saul could see his transformation. The Lord was with him and Samuel was his advisor, yet Saul fell from grace. Shortly after Saul’s exaltation, his character flaws begin to surface. The man who begins his journey hiding among the baggage at his coronation became a man too proud to obey Samuel or God. Proverbs 16:18 reminds us that “Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Put another way, be humble or you’ll stumble. Pride is the oldest sin in the universe, and if this cancer of the soul is left undiagnosed and untreated, it will destroy spiritual life. And the cure for this deadly disease is humility.

God gave Saul several special victories that caused his reputation and acceptance to rise higher and higher. He seemed to be a good man and a great king. Yet nothing could cover Saul’s feelings of inadequacies. Every applaud, every cheer increased his desire to please the people. All of us want to be celebrated and loved. King Saul wanted to please the people more than he wanted to please God. This was the beginning of his fall. King Saul’s spiritual blunders led him to the place he deserved. He pleased other people but overlooked to please God. There is always the danger of pleasing men because there is a great tendency to ignore the Lord in many ways. It derails believers from their God-given course of service. In Romans 8:1, “it is written, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”