The Quiet Hour

Mt Benger Mail, 5 October 1938, Page 4

The Quiet Hour

OBEDIENCE AND SACRIFICE Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.—l Samuel 15:22. Our text is taken from the second account of Saul’s rejection by God from being king over Israel, but it might just as easily have been uttered after the first incident, and indeed as the two accounts are closely intertwined it is probable that it is meant to apply to both. The character of Saul, the first king of Israel, is an interesting study of a man who, because of a lack of an innate sense of reverence, failed in his life’s mission, after a youth of great promise. In studying it we must remember that the story is given to us by one whose admiration for David may have caused him to underestimate the true worth of Saul to his country in a very difficult time. Nevertheless it is Saul himself, who cried, at the latter end of his life, “I have played the fool; I have erred exceedingly.

Now fool in the Bible means much more than it does in our modern speech. That is why our Lord so sternly forbids the calling of a brother “Thou fool,” for it does not mean simply, error intellectually, but it also implies moral obtuseness. Nabal, for instance, was a fool, not simply because he failed to see that it paid him to give food to David and his men, but because in the face of all that they had done for him in protecting his flocks, he failed to see that he was under a moral obligation to David. That is the first lesson we should learn, from the life of Said, and indeed we may learn it from the observation of our fellows—that no man’s life ends in disaster, as Saul’s did, simply through a genuine error of judgment, however grave. Such an error may be costly materially but it does not spell uttter ruin for the man; he may, and usually does rise again. But when a man begins to compromise morally, or neglect,the demands of God for spiritual service, then, no matter how long delayed it may be, Nemesis, in the shape of . some great moral or spiritual disaster, will overtake him. It is, finally, in national and also in individual life, the spiritual factor that determines the final end of a man’s life.

It was just here that Saul so conspicuously failed, although perhaps his failure is not very apparent at first. Before turning to consider the actual situation which caused Saul to lose his kingdom, let us briefly consider what we know of him, prior to this hour of trial.

We see him, good-looking and earnest, setting out from his father’s home to seek for his father’s asses. He is prepared to listen, and seek help from Samuel in the matter of finding the asses. He is anxious to give generously to the prophet, and is humble in his hearing. Nevertheless, he was not deeply religious, and when after his anointing as king of Israel, he joins with a band of prophets to prophesy, the people ask in amazement ‘‘ls Saul also among the prophets ” Yet we note that God sets his spirit mightily upon him, and he might have obeyed God all his days. There are those who think that to be religious means one must be mystical, and some are inclined to dismiss the matter with a light “Oh I am not religious,” in the same way in which they might say “Oh I am not musical.” True we are not all St. Johns, or St. Pauls but there is the Peter, and the James as well as John and Paul. Religion is a matter of the will; we cannot all have the insight of John, but we can all will to servo God wholeheartedly. Now that is where Saul fell short. He willed to serve God, but not utterly.

Nowhere is Saul’s attitude more clearly depicted then in his attitude to the sacrifice at Gilgal. It is impossible not to sympathise with Saul’s situation, yet from it we must learn some lessons. Saul was called to the kingship in a very difficult time. The penalty of responsibility is loneliness. He was the first of the kings, and he had no precedent to guide him. His country was harassed by powerful foes —the Philistines and the Ammonites; the tribes in Israel were divided, and Saul was not at all sure of their loyalty. It was his work of consolidation within Israel that made the prosperity of the two succeeding reigns of David and Solomon possible. At the time of which we are speaking Saul had won two outstanding victories a gainst the Philistines, but even in spite of this, some of the tribesmen had | withheld the support from Saul, And now the Philistines were ’massing up in great numbers to make a final attack upon Saul and his army. The Israelites, seeing they were outnumbered began to lose heart, and to scatter. Samuel had commanded Saul, in the name of the Lord, to wait at Gilgal till he came to sacrifice in the name of the Lord.

Saul waited for seven days and as Samuel still tarried, Saul grew impatient, fearing less he should be left without an army, and so he offered up the burnt offering. Just then Samuel comes and asks Saul what he has done, Saul tells

him that he was afraid that his army would vanish, and he would be overwhelmed. He was anxious, certainly, to please the Lord before he entered the battle, so he offered up the sacrifice. But according to the ideas of the time, he had usurped the power that belonged rightly only to the priest, and so he, in his zeal, had disobeyed God. He had yet to learn that to obey was better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat rams. (To be continued).