Impress Man or Obey God?

 

Many Christians seem to have faith that God loves them but not enough faith to believe that He means what He says about sin. King Saul is a good example of what happens when we dismiss the seriousness of God’s commands.

It’s one of those little statements in an account of a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. They had asked the Prophet/Priest Samuel to give them a king because his own sons “took bribes and perverted justice” (1 Samuel 8:3). The people of Israel decided they would rather have a king like neighboring countries than be responsible to God and His priests.

Saul is proclaimed to be the King who the people expected to “judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20).  Saul disappoints the people and fails to obey God’s commands.

In 1 Samuel 13:14, Samuel tells Saul, “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

As King, Saul probably didn’t expect negative consequences. But, the next verse says, “Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.” (1 Samuel 13:15).

Saul seems almost unaffected by the words of Samuel, though he knew that Samuel was a prophet of God who had given him God’s message. He just carries on with business as usual (for wartime).

Though Saul seems clueless, the worst part of this news is in verse 15, “Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah.” Samuel, the one who had brought the word of God to Saul since he had been king, left. He was gone. No more word from God. Later, in 1 Samuel 15:26, “Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

What Saul is experiencing here is God’s response to his disobedience to what God had told him to do. It was not a one-time occurrence after which Saul repented. It was repeated offenses in defiance of God’s Word. At one point he acknowledges his sin and asks Samuel to speak well of him before his elders (1 Samuel 15:30). He is obviously more concerned with his reputation with men than he is with his standing before the Lord God Almighty. Could that be said of many of us?

How important is it for us to obey the Word of God?

• But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Deuteronomy 28:15
• Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5
• But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

It is a fearful thing to think that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and then look at how He responded to King Saul’s unrepented disobedience.

It’s easy for us to point the finger at others when we see that they are not obeying the Lord’s commands. It is a lot more humbling to look at those times when we have disobeyed God, bringing consequences that we may or may not recognize immediately. These consequences often fall onto others, too.

Samuel confronted Saul about his sin, offering him opportunity to repent. Saul wasn’t willing to search himself, being more concerned of his standing before man.  How can we keep from the doing the same?

It is time to decide, would we rather impress man or obey God?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:9-10