Author: Calleen Hough

Made in God’s image

David was the sort of man that when he walked into a room, all eyes turned to him. For the most part, everyone loved David. He was admired and respected. Even Jonathon, king Saul’s son had an especially close attachment to David. When he found out his father planned to kill David, Jonathon interceded on David’s behalf and warned David about his father’s intentions.

It says in 1 Samuel 18:12 that “Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him.” The word translated afraid, yârê’ (yaw – ray´) means to stand in awe. Yare’ is not simple fear, but reverence, whereby an individual recognizes the power and position of the individual revered and renders him proper respect” (3372). Yare’ is most often used to describe the fear a person has of God and represents having an appropriate attitude toward his authority.

One of the things about creation that is sometimes forgotten is that man was created in the image of God. After sin entered the world, the image of man became tarnished and his separation from God led to a diminishing of the spiritual aspect of his personality. I think David is an example of what happens to a man when his relationship with the LORD is restored and his spiritual growth takes precedence in his life.

Like Jesus, not everyone appreciated David’s spiritual superiority. Saul was jealous of David and could not help wanting to get him out of the way so that the people would continue to worship him instead of God. The difference between Saul and David was that Saul wanted fame and thrived on the special attention he got from being king. His desire to kill David was similar to that of the Pharisees who wanted to kill Jesus because he gave glory to God and acknowledged that what people saw in him was the goodness of God.

God is faithful

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most well known of the Bible probably because it is taught in every Sunday school classroom and used as the primary example of courage in the Old Testament. David’s battle with Goliath was really not so much about courage as it was about faith. David believed that God would protect him if he went up against a giant because he had already been delivered from a lion’s mouth and had rescued a lamb from a bear that was about to eat it.

David’s explanation for defeating Goliath was that he had defied the armies of the living God. “David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with you” (1Samuel 17:37). The reason David was able to defeat Goliath was that the LORD was with him, but what is more important is that the LORD was with him because David was carrying out God’s will which was for the Israelites to drive out their enemies from the Promised Land.

The Philistines were hard core warriors and Goliath was not the only giant among them. When the Promised Land was spied out while the Israelites were still living in the desert, the giants in the land had caused the spies to give a bad report and basically caused the Israelites to have to spend 40 years wandering in the desert because of their lack of faith in God. Fear was the main thing that kept the Israelites from taking on the Philistines and Saul was just as reluctant as the rest of the people to face Goliath in a one on one encounter.

David’s defeat of Goliath not only made him famous, it made him courageous. After defeating Goliath with a sling and a stone, all the Philistines fled from David. The table had been turned and David was the one instilling fear in his enemies. The word defy or châraph (khaw – raf´) in Hebrew means to pull off and by implication to expose or defame (2778). When Goliath defied the armies of the living God, he exposed their fear, but he also exposed their lack of faith. David was the only Israelite who truly believed God was greater than any man that would stand against him. He not only was willing to put his life on the line, but David testified to God’s faithfulness before he took on Goliath so “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45).

The story begins

When my children were young, I tried to teach them everything they needed to know to be able to take care of themselves, like how to cook, clean, and do laundry. Although there were many things they were able to do for themselves, there were some things I had to do for them because they couldn’t handle the responsibility. For instance, I had to pay the bills because they had no concept of earning a living, having a budget, or being responsible for debt.

God tried to teach the Israelites how to be holy, but they did not understand the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness was the only way the Israelites could be holy because they, like all humans, had a sin nature and could not live a perfect life. When forgiveness occurs, it is like wiping the slate clean, there is no more evidence of the offense. But in order to do that, there has to be a departure or taking away of the sin. Sins do not magically disappear just because they have been forgiven. The sin is removed and placed on the sacrifice where it is atoned for.

The spirit of the LORD departed from Saul because of his disobedience, but the underlying problem was that his sins were not forgiven. Saul was not aware that he was carrying his sins around with him, that the accumulated weight on his spirit was making it impossible for the spirit of the LORD to function in his life. It wasn’t until the spirit of the LORD departed that Saul knew he was in trouble.

Saul sought out a man to soothe his spirit when he was troubled and the man he selected was the man God anointed to replace him. David is described as a man “that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18). David was the great grandson of Ruth and Boaz. At the time he was called to serve Saul, he was a shepherd responsible for tending his father’s sheep. The only thing he had in common with Saul was that he was also anointed to be king.

No one’s perfect

The law is a harsh taskmaster because it requires perfection. The purpose of the law given to Moses was to enable the Israelites to attain God’s standard which is perfection. God said to Abraham, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Gen 17:1). It is a mistake to assume that your standing with God will improve by keeping some aspects of the law while ignoring others or by being a religious person that attempts to keep all the law. Unless you keep all the law perfectly your entire life, it does you no good to attempt it.

Saul assumed that he would gain favor with God my making all of his men fast while they were fighting the Philistines. It says in 1 Samuel 14:24 that he adjured the people which means he bound them with an oath or made a covenant with them making it a law that no one could eat any food until evening under penalty of death. By doing this, Saul was using his authority as king in an inappropriate way. It was as if Saul was adding a commandment to God’s law and was expecting God’s standard of perfection to apply to it. In other words, if they kept the commandment then they would be blessed and if not, they would be cursed.

Unfortunately, Saul’s son Jonathon was not aware of the command to not eat food and he ate some honey while he was away from the rest of the army. When it was discovered that Jonathon had eaten something, the people convinced Saul not to kill him. It would have been better for Saul to have never made the oath than to make it and not keep it. It says in Leviticus 5 that when an oath is made, a man is guilty if he breaks it even if he is unaware of the oath.

Whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hidden from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. (Leviticus 5:3-4)

The next time Saul received an instruction from the LORD, he and the people conspired to disobey the LORD and took it upon themselves to decide who should live or die among their enemies, the Amalekites.

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. (1 Samuel 15:9)

Only God has the “complete, sovereign freedom to liberate human beings” (6299). Saul’s decision indicates that he was usurping God’s authority and allowing the people to dictate his behavior rather than God. The LORD spoke to Samuel saying, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (1 Samuel 15:11).

One of the key characteristics of human beings is free will. God does not force us to obey him and he will not take our freedom away even if it causes us to interfere with his plan for our lives. Saul was transformed into another man, but he still had a sin nature and was able to exercise his free will.

When it says that the LORD repenteth that he made Saul king, it means that he turned to a new course of action (5162). God’s plans cannot be thwarted, he is able to correct the course of events and does so whenever we choose to go our own way. The thing that we need to be aware of is that we will be left behind if we become useless to God’s efforts.

An act of faith

The purpose of having a relationship with God is so that he can communicate his will to us. Most people don’t understand or choose to deny that God’s will is the force that governs our universe. When we align ourselves with God’s will, we have the benefit of his help. He is like the wind that drives a sailboat along its course. If we try to go against the wind we won’t get very far.

Many people struggle to determine God’s will as if it is a mystery or something that is counter intuitive. Determining God’s will is as simple as looking to see which way the wind is blowing. The problem is usually not that we don’t know God’s will, it’s that we don’t want to do it.

Saul’s son Jonathon understood that God wanted to deliver the Israelites from the tyranny of the Philistines and he was willing to do his part. Jonathon was looking for an opportunity to do God’s will. Rather than waiting for the Philistines to attack them, he wanted to take an offensive position even though the Philistine army far outnumbered the Israelites.

“And Jonathon said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). Jonathon was familiar with God’s way of working and when he discovered an opportunity to attack, he did not struggle with the situation, he assumed God would help him defeat the Philistines.

In order to confirm his belief, Jonathon determined a way for God to show him if it was his will for Jonathon to go forward with his plan. The sign that Jonathon established for the LORD to reveal his will was an act of faith because it meant that Jonathon believed God could make the Philistines answer one way or another when they discovered Jonathon and his armourbearer outside their camp.

The interesting thing about the sign that Jonathon established was that if it was not God’s will for Jonathon to attack the Philistines, then he and his armourbearer would be killed by the Philistines. Jonathon was so confident that the LORD would use him to defeat the Philistines that he risked exposing himself to them before taking any action.

And the men of the garrison answered Jonathon and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathon said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. (1 Samuel 14:12)

We all need Jesus

“And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever” (1 Samuel 13:13). If Saul had been able to live a perfect life, if he had obeyed all of God’s commandments, then there would have been no need for Jesus to come and die for the sins of the world. Even though God made Saul another man and gave him another heart, Saul was still a man and he had a sin nature like everyone else. Even though I am born again and love God with all my heart, I still sin, I make mistakes and screw things up. That’s why I need Jesus, why you need Jesus, why we all need Jesus.

A two step process

When Samuel addresses the people of Israel, he refers to King Saul as the LORD’s anointed. The word translated anointed in 1 Samuel 12:3 & 5 is mâshîyach (maw – shee´ – akh). “The New Testament title of Christ is derived from the Greek Christos which is exactly equivalent to the Hebrew mashiyach” (4899). What King Saul and Jesus have in common is they were both anointed for a special role as God’s chosen one. The difference between the two is that King Saul was only able to save the Israelites from physical death at the hands of their enemies, Jesus delivers God’s people from a second death which is a spiritual death that results from sin.

I believe the reason why God gave the Israelites a savior to deliver them from their enemies in the Promised Land is because they needed to realize that being saved from physical death was not enough. The problem of sin was still there and had to be dealt with also. When God saved me from overdosing on sleeping pills, all my problems did not go away. My problem with sin still had to be dealt with in order for me to have eternal life and to be able to go to heaven when I die. The important thing about God saving me from the overdose is that it gave me a chance to hear the gospel and to give my life to Christ. Otherwise, I would have died in my sins and gone to hell for eternity.

I think salvation is a two step process. The first step usually goes unnoticed because in essence, nothing happens. We don’t die before we get to step two which is accepting Jesus as atonement for our sins. God keeps his children alive until they are secure in Christ. If King Saul had not been put in his position, it is possible the Israelites would have been wiped out by the Ammonites. After defeating them, Saul said, “to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel” (I Samuel 11:13). Just before Jesus died, he said “it is finished” (John 19:30).

The making of a king

“And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart” (1 Samuel 10:9). King Saul was a different person after his encounter with Samuel. God not only changed his outward appearance when he turned him into another man (1 Samuel 10:6), but the inner man was transformed also.

“The heart includes not only the motives, feelings, affections, and desires, but also the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of man. In fact, it embraces the whole inner man” (3820). After God turned Saul into another man, people that knew Saul before would have said, you’ve changed, you seem different to me. After God give him another heart, Saul would have said, I’ve changed, I am different person than I was before. Saul underwent a complete transformation before he became king of Israel.

The inner spiritual and moral transformation that Saul experienced resulted in a single-minded commitment to the LORD and his will. It is comparable to the change described in Ezekiel 36:26 where it was prophesied ” A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

Saul was God’s chosen instrument to establish his kingdom in the Promised Land. In the same way that the Israelites were his chosen people, on an individual level, Saul was God’s chosen man to be king of his people. God’s choosing or election is a part of the process that results in Christians being born again. Saul is an example of God performing the process even before Christ was born.

The interesting thing about Saul’s experience is that he had no say in the matter. God did not ask Saul if he wanted to be king nor did he do it because Saul deserved to be king. Saul’s transformation was necessary so that he could function effectively as king. God made Saul into a king because the Israelites wanted a king and Saul was the man God selected.

Another man

King Saul is the only person in the Old Testament of the Bible that was “turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). The word translated turned, hâphak (haw – fak´) means to change, transform. Prior to Jesus’ death, people were not able to change. Whatever kind of person you were when you were born was the kind of person you would be until you died.

Saul was a Benjamite. He came from the tribe that was wiped out because of their immorality. The six hundred men that hid in the mountains were the only ones that survived. Saul’s father Anhiah is described as “a mighty man of power,” (1 Samuel 9:1) he was very violent and known for his oppression of others. Today we would say that Saul came from an abusive home and his father would likely have been described as an alcoholic. The Benjamites were probably bitter and resentful about what happened to their tribe and became rebels using extreme violence in order to survive.

It did not make sense to Saul when Samuel said “And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?” (1 Samuel 9:20). Saul’s reputation did not match up with what Samuel was saying about him and he was most likely thinking Samuel was talking to the wrong man.

In order to convince Saul to go into a city that had been taken over by the Philistines, Samuel said “And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee” (1 Samuel 10:7). The primary name of Christ, the Messiah, is Emmanuel which means “God with us” (1694). One of the meanings of the word haphak is converted. It appears that Saul had a conversion experience and was transformed as Christians are today. This would have been a miraculous event prior to the death of Jesus, which probably explains why it only happened one time.

He’s still listening

“And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long: for it was 20 years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD” (1 Samuel 7:2). There are periods if time specified in the Bible that it took to accomplish certain things. It took God seven days to create the world. It took 150 days for the waters to subside after the flood and 14 years for Abraham and Sarah to have a child after Ishmael was born.

The word translated long in 1 Samuel 7:2, râbâh (raw – baw´) means to increase or become great (7235). Jacob spent 20 years in the home of his uncle Laban acquiring wives and flocks. Joseph spent 20 years in Egypt, starting out as a slave and ending up as second in command to Pharaoh. Rabah is used in other instances to mean being in authority, growing up, and the process of time.

Another way to interpret the word rabah would be to make a name for oneself, to establish a reputation or become famous. During the time the ark of God was in Kirjath-jearim, David was being transformed from a shepherd into the king of Israel. The reason why the ark of God was not in the Tabernacle during that time was its importance had diminished. The Israelites no longer lived according to God’s commandments and had made a mockery of his sacrificial system. It wasn’t until David set an example of how to worship and honor God properly that the people began to value the ark of the Testimony.

The ark had a twofold purpose. First, it was a container for the tablets on which the Ten Commandments had been written by God. Second, it was where the mercy seat existed so that God could commune with his people. The mercy seat was not an actual seat, it was the lid of the ark. “This slab of gold represented the throne of God and symbolized His real presence in the worship shrine” (3727). The ark’s 20 year absence from the Tabernacle indicated that God was not speaking to his people during that time period. Although God was not communicating as he had previously, he was still conveying messages through his prophet.

The ark’s 20 year absence from the Tabernacle is significant because it shows that even though God was not speaking to his people, he was still listening. It says in 1 Samuel 7:2 that all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD which means they were crying aloud (5091). During that time period, God was developing David into a leader and a true worshipper that would set a good example for his people. Not only was David the greatest king that ever ruled over Israel, he was a man after God’s own heart who was also loved by many people including Saul’s son Jonathon from whom David took the throne.