Quick Note – 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 – Looking for Guidance

1 Chronicles 10:13-14 – 13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

In our day and age, information is literally at our fingertips.  We no longer need to go to the library, check out a book, and spend a few days researching to get an answer to our question.  We no longer even need to log into a personal computer, boot up a modem, and google an answer.  Nope!  Nowadays, if we want an answer to our question, we just pull out our smart phones and say, “Hey Siri!”  Then we can get an answer as to how something can or should be done.  And if Siri can’t help, one of our phone apps usually can. 

If we want directions to a location, we use Google maps.  If we are looking for a place to eat and want to get a few reviews, we open up Yelp.  If we want to learn a language, we turn on Rosetta Stone or Duolingo.  And if we want to translate something, we take a picture with Google translate.  Guidance as to how many different things should be done is right in the palm of our hands.  However, one thing that our phones still cannot do is guide our lives in the way they should go.  It can give us suggestions based on our likes and dislikes; it can predict how much we might enjoy something; but it can never provide true guidance as to what is the best way to live our lives.  That guidance can only come from God. 

Our passage today summarizes what happened to King Saul, the first king of Israel, during his reign.  God chose him to be king, and even though he wasn’t sure of himself at first, he did a pretty decent job when he was first started.  However, rather than keeping God’s commandments always, rather than seeking God for guidance, Saul’s pride would cause him to follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God.  Rather than seek God for guidance, he would listen to the advice of his worldly advisors, he would do what seemed practical, and when nearing his death, he even sought out a medium.  None of these things or people would point him in the right direction.  What he really needed to do was to seek God and pray for guidance.  The unfortunate thing was he did not, and eventually when he needed God and tried to seek Him for help, God forsook him.  He eventually died in the hands of enemies.  This was God’s punishment for Saul’s disobedience.

We as Christians should look to God to guide and direct our lives.  When we are at impasse, unsure of how to proceed, rather than looking to the world for answers, we should be on our knees praying to God.  He will listen; He will guide; He will lead, as long as, we humbly come before Him with a heart ready and willing to obey.  When we are confused about our lives, when we feel lost without direction, let us not seek guidance from the world, but let us look to Christ.  Let us spend time reading His Word and reflecting on it.  The Bible is where God provides direction for every Christian.  Our Good Shepherd will lead us to where we need to go.  We need only trust Him. 

Quick Note – 1 Samuel 28:3-6 and 1 Samuel 30:3-6 – God our Comfort

1 Samuel 28:3-6 – 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

1 Samuel 30:3-6 – 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Today, we are looking at two contrasting characters in the Bible during their time of distress – King Saul and David.  Each one had a different type of issue that was troubling them, and both tried to seek the LORD, but only one of them received comfort and an answer. 

King Saul was faced with an attack by the Philistines, who were coming to conquer the land of Israel.  Knowing that the army was great and would be difficult to defeat, Saul was afraid and did not know what to do, so he sought advice from the LORD.  However, because of Saul’s sin when he did not completely destroy the Amalekites as God had commanded him to do and because of his stubbornness and unwillingness to repent, God would not answer him.  It did not matter what method Saul tried to hear of God from, whether dreams or the Urim (a way answers were received at the place of worship) or prophets, none would provide him an answer.  Because he did not receive an answer, he sought a medium to call the spirit of Samuel, a prophet of God, back from the dead to give him advice.  This was another sin that was committed, because God commanded the Israelites not to perform these rituals.  Nonetheless, Samuel did appear to him and rebuked him for his sin.  Though Saul sought God, God was not found, for Saul likely was not seeking God with all his heart.  All he wanted was comfort.  All he wanted was advice.  He did not want a relationship with God – just what God could give him.  So when God did not answer, he tried to achieve the same result in an earthly way by seeking a medium.  He should have repented.  He should have turned back to God.  The lack of an answer should have made him humble himself, but instead, he rebelled even more.  Saul found no comfort in God during his time of distress because of his unrepentant heart. 

Now, let’s take a look at what happened with David.  David was living in the land of the Philistines at the same time.  He was fleeing from King Saul, who was trying to kill him.  In reality, David was supposed to fight with the Philistines against Saul during this time; however, by God’s grace, David was spared from the battle, because the Philistine commanders sent him home.  When David and his men returned to the city of Ziklag, their base in the Philistine territory, they found their city raided.  Their wives and children were captured, and their city aflame.  Due to this big loss and the distress in their souls, David’s men considered stoning him to death.  Obviously, this was hard on David.  Not only did he lose his wives and children, but now, his men were on the brink of rebellion.  However, verse 6 tells us that even during this time of difficulty, David strengthened himself in the LORD.  David found comfort in the Lord his God.  He did not seek a medium.  He did not blame God for the trouble.  Rather, he humbly came before God, looking to know Him more.  It does not say that David found comfort from the Lord his God, but in the Lord his God.  This is an important detail that we must take note of.  David did not seek the comfort alone, but he sought God, who became his comfort.  He was not looking for the result but the One who could give it. 

When we are in times of distress and trouble, where do we run to for help?  Do we go to God just to get relief?  Or do we go to Him, because He is the relief?  God is our Strength, our ever-present Help in trouble.  He is not there just to provide comfort, but He is that comfort.  Knowing who our Holy God is, a loving Father yet powerful Creator, we can strengthen ourselves in His loving arms.  We must only seek Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.  We must not go to Him simply for the result, but for who He is.  Jeremiah 29:12-13 states, “12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”  Our God is a God of comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  God is ready to listen and hear us, but we must come before Him with hearts full of repentance, free from sin, and completely seeking Him. 

Are you King Saul, seeking comfort from God?  Or are you David, seeking God your comfort?

Quick Note – 1 Samuel 15 – Partial Obedience is Complete Disobedience

1 Samuel 15:10-11, 13-14, 18-19 – The word of the LORD came to Samuel:  “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.”  And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night…And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD.  I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”  And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”…And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, “God, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.”  Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD?  Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?

In high school and college, we would sometimes fill out a test question or homework assignment partially.  We knew that we couldn’t get full credit, because we didn’t finish the work to completion, but we hoped that the small amount of partial credit we would get could push us over the edge into the higher letter grade.  Partial work was enough work.  There was no need to put in more effort if the return was so small.  We could get away with this in school; however, it became harder to escape the consequences of half-hearted work as we grew older.  Doing half the dishes still left a stack of them in the sink and caused problems with the roommates or spouse.  Only mowing the front lawn where people could see still left a jungle in the backyard.  Half the work was no longer going to cut it. 

Imagine if you only did half the laundry.  You would wash the clothes but never dry them.  Wouldn’t that just leave a musty pile of wet rags?  Imagine if you were working at an airplane factory and only tightened the bolts halfway.  Wouldn’t that make the plane unable to fly?  Imagine if you turned in an article to a newspaper and only wrote half of it.  Wouldn’t it be unable to publish?  Partial work is truly not enough.  So why do we think that with God, we can give partial obedience? 

The verses shared with you today are excerpts from 1 Samuel 15, which describes King Saul’s disobedience to the LORD.  God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites.  He was supposed to wipe them out completely – everyone from male to female and everything from sheep to oxen.  Nothing was supposed to be left behind.  This was God’s punishment to the Amalekites, because they attacked Israel when they were wandering in the wilderness.  Saul then went out to battle the Amalekites; however, after he defeated them, rather than devoting everything to complete destruction as God had said, he and his men spared the king as well as all the sheep and oxen that were of “good quality.”  They used the excuse that they wanted to sacrifice the good things to the LORD to justify their partial obedience.  God seeing Saul’s partial obedience as complete disobedience was angered and told Samuel the prophet that He regretted making Saul king and would replace him.  Samuel decided to confront Saul about his sin, but instead of, repenting King Saul gladly stated, “I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”  Even after Samuel mentioned how he did not destroy all of the spoils, Saul still clung to the idea that his partial obedience was enough and said, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD.  I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me.”  He did not realize that partial obedience was complete disobedience to God.  Saul was then rejected by God. 

We must realize that partial obedience is complete disobedience.  God does not want half of our hearts.  When we are commanded to do something for Him, we must do it with all that we have.  We must work everything to completion.  We cannot pick and choose what we want to follow and to obey, but we must do what He has commanded from start to finish.  There is no half-credit.  There is no good enough.  God wants us to give our all.  God wants our complete obedience.