“Fear Factor”
1 Samuel 13
Summer Sermon Series: Looking for a
Leader
INTRODUCTION: The story of Saul is a frustrating
one but also very instructive. Saul did so well at the start of these chapters.
He was humble; he was responsible; he relied on God’s Spirit; he was a good
leader. And sadly, everything that happens in these next chapters is completely
unnecessary. What goes up doesn’t have to come down. God gave Saul everything
he needed in order to succeed, but Saul is brought down by his own wrong
choices. And it all began when Saul gave in to fear.
Giving
in to fear can hurt us in so many ways as a Christian. When we are afraid to
step out in faith, we can cripple God’s plans to use us. When we are afraid of
what others think, we can hold back on sharing the gospel. When we are afraid
of the circumstances around us, we can be tempted to do the wrong thing and go
against God’s word. That third one was Saul’s problem in this chapter and it’s
a temptation that we all face as well.
Fear
is a problem for us as Christians, because we are called to live by faith, and
fear is the opposite of faith. So I want to talk with you very frankly this
morning about fear and what happens when, like Saul, you act foolishly out of
fear. And my prayer is that God’s word will strengthen you in your trials, show
you the way out, and encourage you to choose faith over fear in your own life.
So let’s look at some important principles from our passage this morning.
First
of all, know that you will experience times of testing. Every Christian goes
through times of trial. It doesn’t mean that you’ve messed up or that God has
forgotten you. It simply means that you still live here on earth and you
haven’t gone to heaven yet. And it’s during these times of testing that we
especially need to choose between fear and faith. Will I give in to fear and
fall away from God? Or will I trust God to pull me through this situation? Here
are a couple principles from our passage that will help you deal with the times
of testing in your life.
First
of all, prepare yourself for adversity. Look at verses 1-2 in our passage.
Saul was thirty years old when he
became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2 Saul chose three
thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill
country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The
rest of the men he sent back to their homes. (1 Samuel 13:1-2)
Saul
was king over Israel for a long time, which meant he was going to have plenty
of battles as king. So he chose three thousand men to form an initial standing
army. He sent the rest of the men home, but they were still on call in times of
need.
Saul
divided the troops between himself and his son, Jonathan. This is the first
time Jonathan’s name appears in Scripture. We are not told that he is Saul’s
son here, but any good Israelite reading this account would already know this
is Saul’s son.
Saul
was realistic. He knew there would be battles coming, and he prepared for them.
As a Christian, the Bible tells you also to be ready.
Ephesians
6:10-11says this: “Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can
take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
You
will experience seasons of difficulty in your life, so you need to prepare
yourself for adversity.
Another
important principle to learn from this passage is that you must advance against
the enemy. Look at verses 3-4:
Jonathan
attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it.
Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land…
According
to verse 3, it was Jonathan who attacked the Philistines first. You would
expect it to be Saul, not Jonathan, and so this is perhaps the first clue that
all is not right with Saul as king. We’re told Jonathan attacked the Philistine
outpost at Geba. Geba originally belonged to Israel, so this was an attack
aimed at recovering land that the Philistines had taken away first.[1]
Jonathan
attacks in verse 3, but notice that Saul gets the credit in verse 4. “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost,
and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.”
I
love that phrase “Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.” As long as
the Israelites were passive and not fighting, the Philistines could care less
about them. But as soon as the Israelites attacked, they became a stench to the
enemy.
Which
raises the question: is that true of you? Are you a stench to the enemy? Are
you living for Christ so boldly and fully that you are a stench to Satan and
his forces? As long as you are passive and not growing in your Christian life,
the enemy could care less about you. But once you start growing and having an
influence for God, you also will become a stench to the enemy. You may never
have thought about it this way, but one of your goals as a Christian should be
to stink real bad to Satan! You should smell so bad to the enemy that he can’t
stand it.
Notice
Saul summons the people to Gilgal. This was the place where Saul was confirmed
as king. (1 Samuel 11:15) It is also the place that Samuel warned Saul about
back in 1 Samuel 10:8, when he gave Saul a prophetic warning about the incident
which would eventually mark the beginning of Saul’s fall.[2]
Ephesians 6:12 says: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
It’s
been said: “The devil won’t bother you while you’re living in sin… Only when
you’re trying to get out.” You will experience times of testing. So prepare
yourself for adversity. And advance against the enemy.
Which
bring us to our second point this morning. Because you will experience times of
testing in life, that means you will be tempted at times to give in to fear.
There are many reasons why you may be tempted like this, and we find several of
them in our passage this morning.
First
of all, your problems may seem overwhelming. Look at verse 5:
The Philistines assembled to fight
Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as
numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east
of Beth Aven. (1
Samuel 13:5)
You
think you’ve got problems? How would you like to have Saul’s problems! Saul had
three thousand men in his standing army. The Philistines had three thousand
chariots! Plus six thousand charioteers to drive them. Plus soldiers as
numerous as the sand on the shore. Saul is outnumbered and outgunned, and so we
can see how easy it was for him to give in to fear.
Notice
the text says the Philistines went up and camped at Micmash. Well Micmash was
where Saul and his men were camped back in verse 2. The Philistines have
displaced Saul and his men from their own camp! In other words, Saul and his
army have already lost ground in this battle.
Sometimes
we lose ground in our spiritual life. We make so much progress in an area, and
then we find ourselves falling back into old habits. That’s the way the
Christian life is sometimes. Chuck Swindoll once wrote a book on the Christian
life called Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. The Christian life isn’t easy.
It’s not supposed to be. It’s a battle. And sometimes it feels like you’re
taking three steps forward and two steps back. But the important thing is to
keep moving forward, to keep making progress!
Sometimes
the problems we face in life seem overwhelming. We don’t know the way forward.
We don’t know how we can cope. We don’t know how we can get up and face another
day. The apostle Paul certainly felt that way at times. Listen to his testimony
from 2 Corinthians 4:
“We are hard pressed on every side,
but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed.”
(2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
When
your problems seem overwhelming, you will be tempted to give in to fear. That’s
what Saul was facing in our passage, and it’s what each of us faces at various
times in our lives.
A
second reason you may be tempted to give in to fear is that everyone around you
may be responding in fear. Look at verses 6-7:
When the men of Israel saw that their
situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves
and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even
crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and
all the troops with him were quaking with fear. (1 Samuel 13:6-7)
Poor
Saul. Not only was he losing ground to the enemy, he was losing the support of
his people as well. Instead of standing strong together against the enemy, his
men are hiding in the rocks and thickets. Some of them are climbing down into
the bottoms of wells to hide. Not only that but he is also struggling with
deserters. A number of his men go A.W.O.L across the Jordan to escape the
battle.
Proverbs
28:1 says: “The wicked flee though no one
pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
It’s
hard enough to fight the battle when you have your support system in place. But
when everyone around you is responding fear, it is very tempting to join them.
A
third reason you may be tempted to give in to fear is that God may not deliver
you right away. Look at verse 8:
He waited seven days, the time set by
Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. (1 Samuel 13:8)
Samuel
had told Saul to wait seven days for him at Gilgal. Seven days may not seem
like much, but every day is difficult when you are under the gun. And as each
day passed and Samuel still didn’t come, Saul was getting desperate. The enemy
was pressing, his men were beginning to scatter, and Samuel still didn’t come.
I
don’t know why God sometimes makes us wait. Part of it, of course, is to
strengthen our faith. Part of it is because God’s plan is bigger than us, and
so he is working in other people’s lives as well. However, I do know that God
is sovereign and that he is good, and that I can trust him with the details of
my life.
We
need adopt the same attitude David did when he wrote in Psalm 31:14-15, “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are
my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those
who pursue me.”
God may not deliver you right away, but he
will deliver you. Your times are in his hands. He is your God. He is your Lord.
You can trust him even when he does not deliver you right away.
And
then the fourth thing we learn about fear in this section of our passage is
that fear can lead you to do the wrong thing. Look at verses 9-10:
So
he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and
the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as
he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet
him. (1 Samuel 13:9-10)
Saul
ran out of patience. The enemy was pressing, his men were scattering, so he
took matters into his own hands. Instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive, he
began to offer the sacrifices himself.
If
only he had waited just a little bit longer. He waited seven days, but the
seventh day wasn’t over yet. Saul had only made the burnt offering, he hadn’t
even started the fellowship offerings yet, when Samuel finally arrived and Saul
went out to greet him.
Proverbs
29:25 says: “Fear of man will prove to be
a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”
Actually
fear of any kind will prove to be a temptation and a snare, but you are always
safe when you trust in the Lord. You will experience times of testing in life. And
when you do, you will be tempted at times to give in to fear. That’s when you
especially have to choose faith over fear, because as with Saul, fear can lead
you to do the wrong thing.
And that
leads us to our third point this morning. It is foolish to let go of God and
his word in your time of need. Are your problems overwhelming? Is everyone else
around you responding in fear? Is God not delivering you right away? Are you
tempted to give in to fear and do the wrong thing? Then that’s when you need
God the most! It is foolish to let go of God and his word in your time of need.
There
are a couple things we can learn about this in the final section of our passage
this morning. First of all, don’t try to justify your wrong actions. Look at
verses 11-12:
“What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not
come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I
thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have
not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” (1 Samuel 13:11-12)
Samuel’s
opening question cuts right to the heart of the issue. No greeting. No small
talk. No discussion of the battle and how it is going. Simply: “What have you
done?” Samuel is aghast at Saul’s actions. Saul had disobeyed a direct command
from God through Samuel to wait the full seven days until Samuel arrived to
offer the sacrifice. And now it is Samuel’s unpleasant job to confront Saul
with his wrong actions. And so Samuel asks Saul: “What have you done?”
Now
the correct answer here would be: “I have sinned.” Saul has an opportunity here
to confess his sin and repent. But instead of confessing, Saul chooses to blame
everyone else. He blames the Philistines for getting ready to attack. He blames
his own men for scattering. He even blames Samuel for not getting there
earlier! What is Saul doing here? He is trying to justify his wrong actions. He
is putting his own justifications over the word of God.[3]
Notice
Saul says: “I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” Let’s set the record
straight here. You are never forced to do the wrong thing. You can be tempted,
and the temptation may be strong, but you are never compelled to sin. You
choose to sin.
Saul
thought he could seek the Lord’s favor through an act of disobedience. But you
can never please God by disobeying his word. Here’s a great principle to hold on to: It’s not the will of God if
it goes against the Word of God.
Proverbs
21:2 says: “All a man’s ways seem right
to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
We
are so good at justifying ourselves and our sin. I can’t tell you how many
times I have confronted someone with their sin, and they will even agree with
me that what they’re doing is wrong, but then they will go on and explain to me
why their situation is different, why they don’t really have a choice, whey
they’re the exception to the rule.
Jesus
said to the Pharisees of his time: “You
are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your
hearts.” (Luke 16:15)
Notice the emphasis in both of these verses
about justifying yourself is that God looks at your heart, God weighs your
heart, God knows your heart. It’s a heart problem, and this will become an
important part of Samuel’s response to Saul’s justification.
Folks,
when you’ve done something wrong, don’t add to your sin by trying to justify it
as well. When you’ve done wrong, it’s time to confess, time to own up to your
sin, time to take responsibility for your actions. Don’t try to justify your
wrong actions instead.
Secondly,
understand there may be long-term consequences for your actions. Look at verses
13-14:
“You acted foolishly,” Samuel said.
“You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would
have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom
will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and
appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s
command.” (1 Samuel
13:13-14)
Samuel
told Saul: “You have acted foolishly.” There it is – it is foolish to let go of
God and his word in your time of need. As a result of Saul’s disobedience, Saul
will no longer have a lasting dynasty. God has chosen someone else – “a man
after God’s own heart” – as opposed to Saul who was “a king like all the other
nations.”
Saul’s
problem is not that the Philistines are assembling for war. God was going to
take care of that anyways. His real problem is disobedience to God’s commands.
He did not listen to the word of God as given through Samuel. As we said
earlier, it is a heart problem. He has placed himself as the authority over
God’s word instead of making God’s word his authority. And so Saul loses the
opportunity for his family to remain on the throne. It’s a shame, because as we
will see next week, his son Jonathan would have made a fine king.
Remember, this all happens at Gilgal,
so Saul is rejected by God in the same place where he was initially made king. Talk about losing ground! It may seem
like a harsh penalty to us for such a little sin, but as John Wesley once said,
“There is no [such thing as a] little sin, because there is no little God to
sin against.” At this time, only Saul’s dynasty and family is rejected.
Remember, this is only the beginning of Saul’s fall. Saul will still remain on
the throne. It is not until chapter 15 that Saul himself will be rejected as
king.[4]
When
you sin, God will forgive you, but understand that there may be long-term
consequences. We looked at Galatians 6:8 last week: “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will
reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will
reap eternal life.”
There
are always consequences to our actions, but we must learn to seek God’s
forgiveness, accept the consequences, and move forward with our life.
Which
brings us to our final point this morning. Depending on the severity of the
consequences, you may need to start all over again. Look at verse 15:
Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to
Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered
about six hundred. (1
Samuel 13:15)
Saul
started off this chapter so strong. He prepared himself for battle. He had a
standing army of three thousand. He waited almost the whole seven days for
Samuel. But then he acted foolishly out of fear. And the consequences were
devastating. The loss of Samuel was a crushing blow. Not only that, when he
counted the men remaining, he was down to only 600 men. Saul basically had to
start all over again.
When
you make wrong choices in life, you may find that you need to start all over
again, too. And that’s okay. It’s hard to start over, but praise God he gives
us the grace to start over! Our God is the God of second chances, third
chances, of many chances! God is never through with you.
Proverbs
24:16 says: “Though a righteous man falls
seven times, he rises again.”
If
you fall down, get back up again. If you need to start over, start over.
Sometimes it’s three steps forward, two steps back. But the main thing is you
keep moving forward.
Probably
no one has ever fallen harder or hurt Jesus more severely as the apostle Peter
did when he denied Christ. And yet even Peter was given grace to start over
again. Jesus said to Peter:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift
you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
In
fact the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about starting over. When you put your
faith in Christ, God forgives you of all your sin and gives you a brand new
start. You become a brand new person in Christ with a new direction, a new
goal, new power for living, and a new eternal destiny. The good news of the
gospel is that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and you can start over by
coming to him today.
So
when you’ve done wrong, don’t try to justify your actions. Understand there may
be long-term consequences. Know that you may need to start all over again. And
that’s okay. God will take you back. He will forgive you. He will strengthen
your faith. He will use you again for his kingdom and his glory.
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