Sermon Tone Analysis
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If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) turn with me to 1 Samuel 13. Keep your Bible open in front of you this morning as we continue to work our way through this part of God’s Holy Word.
Look in your Bible at verse 1 of 1 Samuel 13.
Well, there you have it.
It’s an odd start to the chapter.
The translation of 1 Samuel 13 is famously problematic.
It seems as if someone swiped the numbers from the original text.
But the Bible does speak elsewhere about the length of Saul’s kingship:
The apostle Paul, as he’s preaching in Pisidian Antioch, mentions the length of Saul’s kingship (perhaps rounded to the nearest ten) as part of the history of Israel.
It doesn’t really matter how long Saul served; it’s not a crucial detail as far the story is concerned.
What we know is that Saul is king.
He was a certain age and he reigned for a while.
It’s one of those questions we’ll know the answer to someday.
Saul’s age isn’t the issue here; it’s his foolishness (and foolishness is no respecter of age or position).
Anyone can act a fool, this we know.
Here’s the beginning of the saga that shows Saul to be a foolish king:
We don’t know exactly when all of this occurs in the course of Saul’s life and reign as king, but we know how this looks.
It has the appearance of pride or arrogance.
What it is, is foolishness.
Foolishness Masquerades as Arrogance
Saul gives the impression that he has it all together.
He’s only going to take 3,000 men with him to fight the Philistines?
And he’s going to divide them up—2,000 with him and 1,000 with his son Jonathan?
He had more men, but he sent them back home.
Why?
It looks like arrogance.
Behind the mask, however, it’s foolishness.
Saul, foolish as he is, is going to poke the bear that is Philistia.
He’s kicking the hornet’s nest, and we all remember how that turned out for Macaulay Culkin.
This is a bad idea.
Saul is arrogantly, foolishly attacking the Philistines.
Actually, he doesn’t attack; Jonathan does.
Saul takes the credit for Jonathan’s initiative.
Jonathan and the 1,000 men with him attack.
Saul gets the credit.
All this manages to accomplish is making Israel obnoxious to the Philistines.
Whoopsie-daisy.
Saul has poked the bear.
The bear is awake and is itching for a fight.
It’s 3,000 Israelites verses all the assembled Philistines.
The author enumerates their force: three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
Israel realizes their mistake.
I have to wonder what foolish king Saul is thinking at this point.
“I immediately regret this decision.”
It’s panic and chaos in Israel.
They realize their situation is critical.
And so they hide.
Some even cross the Jordan.
Instead of fight, it’s run and hide.
The foolish king has landed his people in a pickle.
They will soon be surrounded by the enemy.
Pride comes before a fall.
And a fool is in the driver’s seat.
This is what happens when God’s people don’t seek the Lord’s wisdom and rush headlong into whatever it is they feel is right.
What appears to be arrogance is, in all actuality, just foolishness.
Yes, the enemy Philistines have to be dealt with.
But it doesn’t have to go like this.
Saul and his best laid plans aren’t going to take care of the Philistines.
There are far too many of them, and Saul is too fool-hardy to accomplish such a task.
The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Saul before they took on the Ammonites.
It was the Spirit of the Lord that empowered Saul to lead his people to victory.
That’s 1 Samuel 11.
Here in 1 Samuel 13, there’s no mention of the Spirit of the Lord.
This is Saul’s doing.
Saul believes he has it handled.
Saul can do it; Saul can take care of it.
How often God’s people believe—arrogantly and foolishly—that they can handle all on their own whatever it is they’re up against!
It might look like arrogance or a belief in our own capability, but like with Saul, it’s just a bit of foolishness.
Foolishness is Often Caused by Misplaced Faith
Saul is impatient.
He’s taking matters into his own hands.
This is the “I can do it myself” mindset found in most toddlers and foolish adults.
Like petulant children, we often insist on our own way; we believe we’ve got it handled.
Self-sufficiency might be the most dangerous belief of all.
Self-sufficiency is deadly, it’s destructive; it’s faithless or, at the very least, misplaced faith.
Samuel had given Saul instruction about this; Saul just doesn’t listen or remember or care.
This is that time; this is what Samuel was referring to.
This is a pivotal moment and Saul, instead of acting in faith, acts a fool.
Saul sees his men hiding, some of them running away.
We read that Saul’s men began to scatter.
You, too, would probably scatter after an entire week of hiding.
Samuel hadn’t come to Gilgal just yet, so Saul steps up to do what Samuel said he was going to do.
Saul takes matters into his own hands.
Saul loses faith in Samuel, the Lord’s prophet, but has plenty of faith in himself.
Foolishness is the product of misplaced faith.
Faith in the Lord, faith in what the Lord had said through His prophet, Samuel, would have prevented Saul from doing what he did.
Foolishness, on the other hand, sped ahead with this ill-thought-out plan.
What Saul does here is foolish.
It’s senseless, stupid.
There’s a lack of understanding in the actions that lead Saul to this decision.
When Samuel arrives and asks Saul, “What have you done?” we see where Saul’s faith is (I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s misplaced).
He’s walking by sight and not by faith.
All Saul can see is his men scattering.
That, and Samuel didn’t come at the set time.
Plus, the Philistines are all assembling.
Saul tells Samuel, “All of this was happening and I realized I had not sought the Lord’s favor.”
It’s formulaic.
It’s almost like he thinks it’s magic.
“You know how it is; I had to seek the Lord’s favor.”
It’s manipulation, voodoo.
The end of verse 12 is probably the most alarming.
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