1 Samuel 12-15, It Is Foolish To Disobey God
1. To Live By Comparison Is Foolish (1 Samuel 12:16-18)
2. To Give Up After Failure Is Foolish (1 Samuel 12:19-22)
3. To Let Urgency Override God Is Foolish (1 Samuel 13:11-14)
4. To Fear People More Than God Is Foolish (1 Samuel 15:18-24)
Well, this morning as we look at first Samuel Chapter 12, we'll be looking at really chapters 12 through 15.
Looking at a couple different passages within there, and as I was reading through these chapters this week, there was a theme that began to develop that I was just the Lord seemed to be highlighting it as I was working my way through the theme that I.
Noticed here in these chapters was disobedience, and so I've titled the message this morning.
It is foolish to disobey God and I would ask us to remember that to consider and to allow the Lord to challenge us in where we're at in our obedience to God and.
To be reminded this morning of how foolish it is to disregard what God has said, now you could define foolishness as having a lack of good sense, good judgment or discretion, discernment, lots of different ideas in the in that regard.
But when I was thinking about.
Foolishness, and the reason why I'm using this word, I'm kind of defining it in my own head of being unaware of the harm that is brought to self or others.
The idea of acting and behaving foolishly is is doing things that are harmful to myself, that that ultimately end in pain or difficulty for myself, or for those around me.
But it's foolishness because, well, I'm oblivious to that.
I'm not paying attention to or thinking through the end results and the harm that will come.
And when it comes to disobeying God, there is those.
Great important reminders that that we need to have that that when we disregard what God has said, it is not just.
Oh, that's unfortunate.
You know there could have been something a little bit better, but but the reality is God has given us instruction.
He has commanded certain things.
He has forbidden certain things he has placed.
Certain things before us and upon our hearts.
For good for our good and for the good of others around us, and when we disregard what God has said, it is damaging, it's harmful.
And although we may not see it immediately, there is negative results that come from our disobedience.
And as we read through these accounts, we get to see a little bit of that.
Their disregard.
Of God and some of the things that resulted from it.
Now as you read through these chapters.
I think for us as believers today, it's very easy for us to read through these chapters and have a little.
A bit of.
Mockery or disdain, or scorn for the nation of Israel?
For King Saul in the the things that are happening in these chapters, and we can easily look at it through a lens of all.
I would never behave that way right.
At the same time I think it's important for us and that's why.
I think it's important for us to.
Spend time in this this morning to realize that it's just as easy for us to behave the way that they do.
We're in a different context, and so it may look differently.
But we still have the same opportunities for foolishness and disobedience to God.
And as you read through these.
Chapters I think it's clear they didn't.
Deliberately set out to disobey God.
There are those occasions are those situations in the scriptures.
There are those times in our lives as well, where there is a I know what God says.
I don't care.
I'm going to do what I want to do.
And of course, that's foolish disobedience as well.
But the examples we're looking at here aren't.
Aren't that pronounced?
They're not like these deliberate rebellious decisions.
They are decisions that were made because of certain circumstances and and I would suggest that it's not so far away for us to make similar kinds of decisions.
It's not so rare, so unusual for us to be influenced by similar things and to make decisions that take us on a path of disobedience to God.
And that's why we need to be reminded.
It's foolish to do that to be.
Challenged really in the things that we're doing and the decisions that we make in the courses that we set for our lives.
And so the first thing we're going to consider is we think about the foolishness of disobedience to God.
It's here in first Samuel, chapter 12, verse 16 through 18.
Here's point, number one to live by comparison is foolish.
To live by comparison is foolish.
Check out verses 16 through 18 again here in first Samuel 12.
It says now.
Therefore stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do.
Before your eyes.
Is today not the wheat harvest.
I will call to the Lord.
He will send Thunder and rain that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord.
In asking a king for yourselves.
So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent Thunder and rain that day, and the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
Here, as we look at Chapter 12, Samuel is announcing to the nation that they have done great wickedness.
Not just a little bit of wickedness, not just made a simple failure of a small fault, but.
They have committed great wickedness, he says.
And what is this incredibly wicked thing that they've done?
He says in verse 17 in asking a king for yourselves the real problem, the great challenge that the great wickedness that they had done was that they had requested a king.
Now, of course, there's a lot of detail in the context surrounding this, that I'm I'm just.
Assuming you've read the chapters right and I'm kind of jumping into the middle of this situation and I would encourage you if you haven't to spend some time reading through these chapters chapter 1213 and then 15 will get to you as well.
But to understand this a little bit, the nation of Israel, of course, has been in a time coming out of the time of the judges, where for 400 years they didn't have a single national leader.
They had Moses leading them out of Egypt. Then the baton was handed to Joshua, who led them into the promised land. And when Joshua's time was concluded.
There was no longer a single national leader in the sense of a a person who was leading the nation.
They went into a time of the judges where the nation was operating under all of the the different tribes and leadership within the tribes and as the nation.
As a whole turned away from God, then there would be oppression that came that different nations around them would come and conquer and attack, and the people would realize they've slipped away in their relationship with God and they would repent and call out to God, and God would raise up a judge or a deliverer.
Who would help them.
As you read through the Book of Judges, you see that they were mostly regional.
They were, you know, in different portions of the nation of Israel.
Responding to and raised up by the Lord to handle those regional threats and regional issues that were going on.
And so for the past 400 years, they've not had a person in charge at the top that the whole nation recognized and would look to for guidance. And So what the nation is asking for here.
It began back in chapter eight of First Samuel.
The nation said you know what we need, Samuel?
You're getting old and your time is about to expire.
Your sons are not great, they're wicked.
They're not doing good.
They're not following your ways.
And So what we have decided we need is a king for ourselves.
And so they request a king.
They said, look, we're a nation we're spread out we need a national leader to look to to guide us to direct us, to help us in navigating the situations that we face.
Now here the Lord through Samuel says this request.
Is a great wickedness.
Why is this a great wickedness?
Is God opposed to kings to the idea or the concept of government or or a monarchy has got?
Opposed to it.
Well, no, God not necessarily.
Opposed to it.
In fact, there is built into the law Deuteronomy Chapter 17 God.
Puts in some.
Instructions for how kings are to behave.
There's instructions, and there was the kind of built into the law.
The accommodation for that role of a king within a monarchy.
For the nation of Israel that God had established.
And yet it's here called great wickedness.
What's so bad about the request?
For a king in the Nation of Israel, if you'll turn back a couple chapters of First Samuel chapter three, you can see a little bit of the motivation that they had in asking for a king for Samuel Chapter 8, verse four and five says then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
And said to him, look, you are old.
Your sons do not walk in your ways.
Now make us a king to judge us.
Like all the nations.
And that phrase at the end, like all the nations, is what I would suggest is the the primary issue here, and that God would call it a great wickedness.
Their logic is sound.
In this they're they're telling Samuel look you're old.
We know that life is temporary life on this earth is temporary.
Samuel, you're a godly man, but godly men grow old and die.
That's that's going to happen.
That's inevitable, and and you've been a great leader for the nation during this time.
But your sons are wicked, and so we don't want to entrust authority to them or for the nation to look to them.
That's going to cause trouble there.
They don't walk in your ways Samuel.
And so.
What we've decided is we need a king.
Now as you look.
At this it's.
You might categorize it as a reasonable request, right?
Like this is not.
Like you would read this and go.
Oh wow, look at how wicked Israel is, right like hey we need some authority.
We need some leadership.
You know, we need some good organization in our nation.
We need some help keeping our eyes on the the things that matter and being focused like you could look at this.
And think that.
This is a reasonable request, but the Lord.
Looks at it and says this is great wickedness.
What's the issue here?
Well, the issue is they are rejecting God as king.
And Samuel makes that clear back in Chapter 12.
He says you made this request.
For a king, when God is your king, the issue is not that you had no king.
The issue is that you were not looking to or submitted to God as King, and instead you're looking at all the nations around you and you're saying.
Look they have.
People, Persons on Thrones that that would be so much better and they've decided boy that method that way is way better than what God has.
Prescribed for us.
Again, the issue is not so much in their understanding of the situation.
The issue is they're looking at nations around them and coming to conclusions based on.
Those other kingdoms, and not what God has said.
To them commentator V Long Phillips says the claim of all the Elders of Israel that Samuel's age and his son's malfeasance present a leadership crisis cannot be denied.
But the elders come not just to state the problem, but also to state what is in their view the solution.
They come in.
State the problem and there's no arguing with the problem.
The real issue is they come and say don't worry God, you don't have to worry about this problem 'cause we've got it figured out.
We've investigated, we've done our research and we've looked at how all the other nations do it, and we've come up with the best possible organization and structure of government for us as a nation.
We've got it figured out.
And as they look at the nations around them, they conclude the best thing for us, the right thing for us.
Here's what we need the most.
We need a king, like other nations have.
All of the other nations have kings.
And all those other nations seem to be doing great.
In fact, they're so great they often come in and impress us and invade us and attack us and are stronger than us.
So hey, that seems to be working.
Out pretty well.
Well, we should have a king.
Like they have a king.
But again, first Samuel chapter 12 verse 12.
This request was made, Samuel says, when the Lord your God was your king.
So this request is based on their comparisons.
They're desired to be like the nations around them, but it's also a rejection of God.
We don't like the system that God has set out.
We don't like the idea of submitting to God asking it's too hard for us.
We need something more practical.
Now again, you could look at this and.
Understand a little bit where they're coming from.
They're saying look this hasn't worked out so great for us. We've spent the last 400 years.
Oppression, deliverance, oppression, deliverance, back and forth back and forth.
Doesn't seem to be working out very well.
Eli was a priest in the nation that was a strong influence and a good leader to look to.
But then his wicked sons kind of messed things up, and Samuel came on the scene's leader, but now he has wicked sons too, and.
OK, So what we need is a king.
We we need to throw away this system that got us set up.
We don't like this system.
We don't like the way that God is doing this.
And we're looking around and we're looking at how other nations are doing it.
And we like that idea better.
To live by comparison.
Is foolish again foolishness says.
The idea of being unaware of the harm that's brought to yourself and others when when taking action that God has not set for you.
As we look at this, we can pretty easily relate to the elders and their requests.
We we can understand where they're coming from.
We can also because we have the whole account understand how some of these things are going to play out.
Understand hey, this was a foolish request.
They should have never made this request.
Why would they be so foolish as to look at nations around them and compare themselves to them and desire to model themselves after them?
And yet, at the same time I would suggest we we need to be open to the idea and recognize that there.
Is easily in our lives, occasions and situations.
Where we follow this example where we live by comparison and we're determining right or wrong, we're determining what we are going to do, our course and our path.
Based upon what other people are doing.
We do this personally.
We do this as a family.
We do this within the church and sometimes we're looking at other people and we're basing OK.
This is what they are doing.
This is what that person does, and so I think it's probably OK for me.
To do it as well.
And we're looking at other people and we're using that as the basis for determining.
What it is that we are going to do?
As a church we.
We'll always have the temptation to look at other churches and say, well, these churches are doing that, and so maybe we should do that all.
So that seems to be working out.
I mean they get a lot of traction.
You know in those services or when they do these kinds of events, and so you know, maybe that's something we ought to do as well and and we can look at other organizations, other churches, other people, other Christians, or their families and by comparison.
Make determinations for our life.
But this can be a very foolish thing to do.
Why is it foolish?
To live by comparison, well of course.
I can't exhaust this subject completely this morning, but here's a few thoughts to throw out there to allow you to kind of pray over your situation and what you're experiencing in life.
Why is it foolish to live by comparison?
Well, here's one thought.
Other people are not the standard that God will use to judge you when you stand before God.
I won't be able to stand before the Lord and say, well.
The reason why I did this was 'cause that's what Josh did.
I just I looked at Josh and he seems to be a.
He's a pastors kid, right?
So like he knows what it's all about.
And so I just.
I just did what he did and if.
The Lord says.
But that's not what I have for you.
Well then.
I can't just use Josh as the standard like he's the standard.
Well listen, this guy watches those kinds of movies, not Josh, another guy, random guy you don't know.
So I can do it 'cause this guy does it.
And and we can look at others and use that to justify the behavior.
The actions we want.
But they're not the standard by which we will be judged by which God will evaluate us.
Now this is not to say that other people have no part in our decision making, right, like, hey, counsel can be really good and it needs to be part of our lives and good examples are often given by the Lord and Paul calls us.
To be good examples to others, right?
So so there is that role there is that need, but it cannot be the the final authority or the basis by which we make our decisions.
And do the things that we do.
Paul says in Second Corinthians chapter 10 when we compare ourselves with ourselves, measure ourselves by ourselves.
He says we are not wise.
It's a foolish thing to do to live by comparison because other people are not the standard that God will use to judge us.
And another thing to consider about this is that what you see in other people is not accurate.
So Israel could look around at the surrounding nations and say, hey, look, they have a king that seems to be working.
They seem to be strong.
Young, let's follow their example, but the example of.
The other nations.
Well, what they see from the outside?
Is not necessarily accurate to what's happening internally within the nation.
And in reality, those nations were far from God.
Those nations had no care, no desire, no concern for the.
Things of God.
Those nations were corrupt and.
Crumbling from the inside out as a result.
There's a saying that is often shared these days in relation to social media.
The thing is, don't compare your insides to other people's outsides.
Don't compare your insides.
How you feel what you're processing internally with all the glamour shots that you.
See on Instagram.
Right?
Like you look at that and you go wow like that's great.
That person never feels the way that I feel right now, right?
'cause I can see all I see is glory, you know.
And people are, you know, posting their photos, posting their thoughts.
Listen and there's like glory and shining and beauty and sunrise.
And you know rainbows and all the good things.
And it can be easy for us to.
By comparison, measure where we're at, make our decisions based on those glamour shots that we see other people posting, but that's not accurate.
That's not a real reflection of their life.
Where they're at.
In the things of God.
What you see in other people is not accurate, so it's foolish to live by comparison.
And another thing to consider is that God works differently with different people.
Even if what you see is accurate, as you look around.
You need to recognize that.
God does not work exactly the same way with every single person.
Of course there's universal things, right?
Salvation is always by faith through grace that that it's going to be a a work of the Lord in our lives, not our works, not anything that we can do and so not suggesting that some people are saved by works.
And some are not right, no, no, there are some universal things.
But there's also so much of life.
Where God has a unique and.
Different plan for each one of us.
You might remember in John Chapter 21 when.
Jesus is restoring Peter after he had failed and fall in and.
The Lord is walking with him and telling him.
Welcome back Peter.
You know there's a great deal of ministry that's ahead of you and you're going to be a witness unto me.
And you're going to die in this manner, and Peter looks back behind him and sees John the Apostle and says what about that guy?
And Jesus very directly tells Peter if I will, that he remained till I come.
What is that to you?
You follow me.
Peter hears I'm gonna be martyred for the faith.
Well, what's gonna happen to John?
Jesus says, don't worry about it.
My plan for John is different than my plan for you.
That doesn't matter.
What my plan for John is, that's that's not going to determine your course or the things that are good for you.
I have a different plan for John than I have for you, Peter.
In the same way, you can look at other families around you perhaps, and try to think OK.
Well, this is what they do, so this is what we're going to do.
You can look at your own devotional life.
You can look at the way that you are in the workplace.
You can look at any aspect of your life and try to compare that with others around you and think, OK, well, other people in this circumstance do this and there can be value in evaluating those things.
But we need to be careful.
To not allow those comparisons.
To override what God desires for us.
Because he works differently with different people, we need to learn to hear God's voice and that's the final.
Thought that I would say why it's foolish.
To live by comparison is because God wants to lead you directly.
He wants to speak to you.
He wants to work in your life in a way that is real to the situations that you're in.
To the conversations that you're having to, to the very specific details of what you're experiencing.
He wants you to learn to hear his voice.
That he could lead you step by step that he could walk with you.
Through life and so sometimes looking at other people is a substitute for our.
Relationship with God.
And God says, that's foolish, don't do that.
I have other plans for those people.
That are different than yours.
What you see in their life is not an accurate representation of the whole picture.
They're not going to be the standard by which I judge you.
You hear my voice.
About your.
Family decisions.
About the direction that you're taking in your personal life, about your career options and and steps forward about your church experience and your service until the Lord like you, you hear from me.
Let me lead you let me direct you.
And to not allow that.
Is foolish, we must hear from God above all else.
While continuing on in verses 19 through 22 here, in First Samuel Chapter 12, we get the second point to consider this morning, and that is to give up after failure is foolish.
Check out verse 19 again.
It says and all the people said to Samuel.
Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die for.
We have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.
Then Samuel said to the people, do not fear.
You have done all this wickedness.
Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
And do not turn aside verse 21. For then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver.
For they are nothing.
To give up.
After failure is foolish here, the children of Israel come to the understanding through the Prophet Samuel.
They have failed.
They have done great wickedness, and they confess we have done great evil.
So pray for us, Samuel.
And Samuel says, take heart, don't fear.
It's good that you've acknowledged your wickedness, it's good.
That you've acknowledged your sin.
Now don't turn aside from following the Lord.
I want to share with you a quote.
From a pasture nobody ever heard of.
Born in the late 70s.
But quite brilliant.
Pastor JB Simmons
Jerry E. Simmons.
The only foolishness more foolish than the initial foolishness.
Is to give up.
I'm trying not to be foolish.
A little silliness, I know.
I'd suggest also really true.
The only foolishness that's more foolish than your initial foolishness.
Is to give up.
Then I was foolish.
And to then just stay in that place.
Of foolishness
Don't be so foolish to give up on.
Trying to not be foolish.
Hear that children of Israel are under the understanding now they've recognized.
We have done great wickedness.
And they go on to say in verse 20.
All right, so he says you.
You've done all this wickedness yet do not turn aside they they acknowledge we've done wickedness, and then we've added to that the evil of asking for a king.
And Samuel says.
Yes, you have done foolishness.
You have done wickedness, but now that doesn't leave you in a state in a condition where you are permanently separated from God with no hope of return or no hope of God working in your life again.
No, he says, do not turn aside from following the Lord.
If you gave up now and just quit in attempting to seek the Lord, that would be foolish.
He says instead serve the Lord with all your heart.
Serve the Lord with all that you are completely and wholly.
And verse 21 do not turn aside.
Don't change course now and abandon any attempt to know God or walk with God or follow his ways you failed in following his ways, but that's not the end of the story.
You still have opportunity to get back up to seek the Lord to hear his voice and to obey him.
And if you give up just because you failed.
Well Samuel says, what would you turn to?
In verse 21, he says.
If you turned aside, you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.
Here's the reality.
This is why it's foolish.
To give up after failure, if you fail in your relationship with God failing hearing from God, fail and walking with God.
Failing doing what God wants for you.
If you fail in that and give up, then on your approach to God on walking with God, then you'll be turning to something else that is empty.
That cannot profit that cannot deliver even under the best circumstances.
Anything else that we would pursue.
Is nothing.
And has no real value for our lives and for eternity.
The Lord speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah Chapter 2.
Says my people have committed 2 evils.
They have forsaken me.
The Fountain of Living waters and hewn themselves cisterns.
Broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Later on in Israel's history, they have completely abandoned any attempt to know God and walk with God.
And follow God's ways.
And so the Lord makes this announcement through the Prophet Jeremiah.
They've committed 2 evils.
Here in Samuel 12 they've committed one evil.
Not literally, but you get the idea right.
They've asked for a king.
But they haven't rejected the Lord altogether later on in their history through the Prophet Jeremiah, we learned they've rejected God altogether.
They have forsaken me, God says.
And what they've done?
Is they've replaced me.
With something that is not.
Helpful, meaningful or valuable.
And God illustrates it with the fountain of living water.
I'm a fountain of living water, and they've left the fountain.
And instead they've carved out cisterns for themselves.
But but they're broken, they're cracked.
And they.
Can hold no water.
And so they're still thirsty.
They've walked away from the true source of water, and they've tried to substitute that with.
Their own reservoirs, but.
The reservoirs are broken.
And do not satisfy their thirst.
Do not nourish them or provide for them.
Later on in Israel history, they gave up.
They gave up trying to know God, trying to walk with God.
And it was foolishness.
On top of foolishness.
They had forsaken the Lord.
And left thirsty.
In verse 22 here first Samuel 12, it says the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake, because it pleased the Lord to make you his people.
Samuel tells the people listen, you've done great wickedness, and God wanted you to know he sent this sign the the Thunder and Lightning in a season that was out of season.
He he wanted you to know you need to know this and recognize it so that you can repent from it.
But this is not God saying I'm done with you.
I'm never going to work in your life again.
That is not what God is.
Saying Samuel says.
The Lord will not forsake his people.
He hasn't abandoned you.
He hasn't left you.
Don't give up.
Even though you failed.
Because God hasn't given up on you.
And he still wants to work in your life.
He still wants to.
Bring about good from the midst of the situation that you're in.
Pastor David Guzik says Samuel wants Israel to know that God loves them.
This is why, despite the sin of their past, they can get on with serving the Lord and still see his blessing.
Because God.
Loves them.
Simon said the Lord, it pleased the Lord to make you his people.
It pleased the Lord.
To make you his people.
In New Testament terms, we are justified.
We are right before God by faith in Jesus Christ and God is pleased with us because we have believed in Jesus even though we have failed, even though we still have issues and are working through many difficulties and things in our lives.
The Lord.
Displeased with us because we have believed in Jesus, the Lord?
Has not given up on you.
And so for you to give up.
On the Lord would be foolish.
To give up after failure is foolish.
Now again, as you read through these accounts, it's.
Easy for us to look at this and think, wow, we wouldn't behave that way.
But the reality is, we just have to look in the mirror for a couple minutes to realize, yeah, I I am that way so often.
I want to give up because.
There has been that issues.
There has been those failures.
There has been those difficulties and it's easy for me to.
Think it's hopeless.
It's never gonna be good.
It's never gonna work out.
And so why should I even bother trying?
To give up after failure would.
Be foolish though.
Why is it foolish?
Well again, here's a couple of thoughts.
Not exhaustive, just maybe to get your mind thinking and to get your heart praying with the Lord over these.
Things a little bit.
It's foolish to.
Give up after failure because chasing empty things is the only other option.
Where else would you turn?
You're going to mess up.
You're going to fall short.
You're going to put.
Other things in place.
Of God in your life.
It's called idolatry that happens to all of us.
You're gonna have your priorities out of line.
You're gonna ask for things that God doesn't want of you.
You're gonna disregard things that God has said.
That's going to happen.
We all sin and fall short of the glory of God, even after we've believed in Jesus.
But we need to get back up embracing the grace of God and continue to walk with the Lord to give up on that is foolish, because what else would you turn to?
What else would you embrace?
It would only be something that is empty.
Something that has no real value.
Reminded me of the words of Peter in John Chapter 6 when all the crowd was kind of fading away.
After some of the hard things that Jesus said, he looks at the 12, he says, do you also want to go away?
But Peter said, where would we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
There's nowhere else to go.
Everything else is empty.
The Lord is the only.
Place for us to find.
What we need.
He's the only way to.
Quench that thirst that we have within.
He's the only one that has the true source of.
And all that we need.
It's foolish to give up after failure.
Because God has not given up on you.
One of those verses that we often.
Look to in R.
Encouraged by is Philippians chapter one, verse 6.
Being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it.
Until the day of Jesus Christ.
He hasn't given up.
He continues to work.
He will continue to work.
In your life continue.
And seek out the things.
Of the Lord, continue to pursue after.
The ways of God to know God.
And to serve him.
And then finally, it's foolish to give up after failure, because God's mercies are new every morning.
Every morning there's a fresh new batch.
Of mercies that you cannot reach the limit of.
God's grace.
And his mercy abounds in our lives.
And yes.
There are times in our lives very often where sin abounds.
But as Paul said, where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.
We cannot reach the end. The limit of God's mercy and goodness in our lives. And every morning we get a new chance. We get a new start.
We we get a new opportunity.
This idea comes from the Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3.
Now, if you're familiar with the history, lamentations is written by Jeremiah the Prophet after.
Judah, the nation of Judah.
Has been destroyed by Babylon because of their defiant rebellion against God.
For many, many many years.
I mean, it's full on. We don't want God. We reject God's word. We're going to do things our way and and as a result they brought upon themselves this destruction.
But even in that case where it was the hardest of hearts and the strongest of rebellions.
Jeremiah writes in lamentations, Chapter 3, verse 21, this I recall.
To my mind.
Therefore, I have hope through the Lord's mercies. We are not consumed because his compassions fail, not their new. Every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
No matter how big or how bad our failures have been.
God's mercies are new.
He hasn't given up on us.
And he still invites us to come back to get right with him.
And to go forward in the things that he has in store for us.
Well, I want to consider two other portions. We're going to jump to chapter 13 here for a moment for point #3.
It's foolish to disobey God the third.
Type of disobedience.
We can look at here is.
Again, point #3 till that urgency override God is foolish. Here in chapter 13 there's a situation in the nation's all has now been presented as King.
He's been established as king.
They've raised an army.
Jonathan has attacks of the Philistines, and the Philistines have responded.
And they've come into the territory there's.
A great multitude of them.
It's a real threat to the nation.
And so the nation of Israel is freaked out.
Now the army is freaked out.
Saul has a few men around him.
And he's waiting for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to God so that they can hear the word of the Lord on what they are to do with this threat that is facing them.
We're going to jump into first Samuel Chapter 13 looking at verses 11 through 14.
What it says.
And Samuel said, what have you done?
And Saul said, when I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash.
Then I said, the Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication.
To the Lord.
Therefore, I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering.
And Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly.
You have not kept the commandments of the Lord your God, which he commanded you.
For now the Lord would have established your Kingdom over Israel forever.
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.
In summary
First Samuel chapter 13 here Saul.
At least with the urgency of the situation decided.
I need to act right now.
And not wait for what God has said.
And as we look at this situation again, I would suggest it's not hard for us to relate and.
Kind of feel a little bit of.
The pressure that he was feeling.
Because there was a real threat the enemy was gathered together, there was a great multitude of the Philistines gathered together in the midst of their land.
Tell us in verse 11.
And the people were scattered from Seoul, his army.
His army was diminishing.
More and more.
Chapter 13 describes people running and hiding in the hills, hiding in caves wherever they can. They've fled. He started out with several 1000 people. There's only 600 left.
With him now.
And so he sees his resources diminishing his defenses, diminishing.
And he's trying to hold out.
Samuel told him, wait seven days.
I'll be there in seven days.
And you can imagine Saul if you.
Put your mind to it right day one not so hard to wait.
It's scary.
People are diminishing.
Threat is there alright?
Day 2.
A little bit.
More tensions are rising a little bit more.
A few more people have left and.
Day three day, four day five.
Right.
By the time D.
Seven hits it's like he's in agony in the waiting he's just like tormented by the waiting.
I think we all have been in situations like that where that that waiting can be so agonizing many times, and so Saul here has reasonable arguments or at least arguments that we can relate to.
But when Samuel comes, he says you have done foolishly, we can relate.
We can understand also.
I I know, I understand why you did what you did, because yeah, there was a lot of pressure.
That was a lot of stress to be under.
But Samuel says that was foolish.
You have not kept the commandment.
You let the urgency, the stress, the pressure of the situation override what God has said.
God told you to wait.
But you've not kept the commandment.
We can relate.
We can also look at this and go.
Oh Saul, come on seven days you know and we can easily kind of mock and scorn.
Saul, in this situation, but.
Again, I would suggest this is not something so foreign to us.
There are many times where.
We just need to wait a little bit longer.
For God to fulfill what he has promised, what he has said and so often.
We are seeking.
To fulfill ourselves to satisfy ourselves.
To accomplish things through our own efforts and through our own strength.
Because we're moved into action by the stress of the situation now, that doesn't mean that.
We're not to ever take.
Any action, but here Saul had a specific command and he allowed the pressure to override what God has said.
It's foolish.
To let urgency override.
What God has declared, why is it foolish?
Again, few thoughts.
To allow you to contemplate and consider.
Where you're at?
The first thought is that your view of the situation is not complete.
You don't have the whole picture.
And that's easily demonstrated in verse 10.
Here first Samuel 13.
Now it happened as soon as he finished presenting the burnt offering that Samuel came.
It's been seven days and Samuel hasn't come and I have to do it.
I have to start right now right now.
How long does this offering take?
How long does this sacrifice say?
If he would have waited 30 more minutes?
If he would have waited one more hour.
Samuel would have been there whatever time frame, right?
That that that took, but but it says as soon as he finished presenting the birds offering.
So it was like right right then, right?
In that moment he just pulled the trigger a little bit too fast because his view of the situation he had given up on Sam it's day seven samples.
Not here.
I need to do something.
But when Samuel showed up, it was still.
Day seven it was.
It wasn't late, it was right on time.
But again, that last day D7 must have been agonizing to wait for that.
His view of the situation was not complete.
Also caused me to think about Naomi.
Remember back in the book of Ruth Ruth chapter one, when she comes back into the land of Israel she says, don't call me Naomi.
Call me Mara.
God has dealt bitterly with me.
She comes back.
Thinking that her life is done, there's no more good, no more goodness, no more pleasantness.
It's all going to be bitterness, and it's just four months later.
That she well has.
Through Ruth being married into the life of married into Boaz has like her, her properties restored.
Ruth comes pregnant.
It's a year later.
Now she has a grandson in her arms.
It felt like the end.
But just a little bit later, there was so much more that God wanted to do.
Or maybe think about the disciples after the crucifixion before the resurrection, right?
That that time where it just must have seemed so desperate, but but their view of the situation was not complete.
They didn't have the whole picture.
It's foolish for us to allow urgency, and the great threats that are before us to override what God has said because.
We're operating under those conditions on a limited perspective, only the things that we can see and understand, but there's so much more that God is doing that we're not able to see.
It's foolish.
Because God is not limited by time and space.
In Isaiah 59, he says is my arm shortened that it cannot save?
I'm able, I'm I'm capable, I'm right there.
I'm not limited by oh I'm gonna be there but it's gonna.
Take me a couple.
Extra hours there's a little bit of traffic here in the heavenly realm, so you know.
Things are backed up no?
He's not limited by time in space.
No matter how much pressure builds.
God can relieve that and resolve the greatest of crises and situations.
In a moment.
If that's what's best for the situation.
And then finally.
It's foolish to allow urgency to override what God has said because you risk sabotaging your future.
In verse 13, Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly.
You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you.
For now the Lord would have established your Kingdom over Israel forever.
Ahead of you, there was.
A path that God had established.
But you've sabotaged yourself.
In disregarding what God has said and you will not get to experience.
That path that God had set before you.
Pastor Warren Risby says until we learn to trust God and wait on his timing, we can't learn the other lessons he wants to teach us, nor can we receive the blessings he's planned for us.
Well, finally, I'll just share this point briefly.
Point #4, found in first Samuel Chapter 15 to fear people more than God is foolish. Here the situation is God has sent us all out.
To defeat
The nation of Amalek.
It was in response to the ways that they had treated Israel on their way into the promised land.
God sent Saul out with specific instruction.
So disregarded that instruction.
Brought back
The livestock that was the best of the best brought back King Agag.
And blamed it on the people. Verse 20 here for 7:15 Saul said to Samuel, but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission which the Lord had sent to me.
Had sent me and brought back Agag, king of Amalek.
I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites but the people took of the plunder, the sheep, the oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to.
The Lord your God in Gilgal.
It's here where Samuel goes on to say.
Does God have his great delight in offerings and sacrifices as he does in obeying the voice of the Lord to obey is better than sacrifice.
Hey, we brought back these animals.
Even though God told us to destroy them all, we brought them back as sacrifices.
And Samuel says God would have preferred you obey him, then to come back with some religious gesture.
Some religious ritual.
Looking at this again, there's a lot of tweaks that we could have on it, there's.
A lot of things that.
We could consider about it, but I'm.
Going to assume that Saul is being honest here.
When he says the people.
Grabbed the best they brought back these animals because in verse 24 Saul says to.
Samuel, I have sinned.
For I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
And you could look at it from a couple of.
Different ways but.
But just assuming let's believe him at face value here.
He really did fear the people.
Picture this that they're victorious in battle and the people are celebrating all the new goods.
Oh wow, this sheep is great and this goat is wonderful.
And oh wow, this is so great.
There's celebration going on.
And solidthinking man, I hate to be the one that comes in like.
You know, every party needs a pooper.
That's why we invited salt, right?
Guys, you gotta deal with this, nobody wants to be that person, right?
Strict adherence to the word to the law.
It's unpopular.
Sulfured the people.
He probably didn't have malicious intent like he didn't intend alright.
God told me to go, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to go and I'm gonna take the best for myself that that wasn't his intention at the start.
He didn't go in to this, intending to disobey, but as the situation developed and the people were excited that people were gathering.
It's always not willing to correct.
Perhaps the people begged him please please.
So let us keep these.
These are so great.
We don't want to destroy them.
And so it's all.
Consented, perhaps the people mocked and said, solving that's silly.
We don't have to destroy everything.
Like why are you so ridiculous?
Don't be such.
You know a nitpicky person like that.
Of course, we can keep these, and we can offer sacrifices to God.
Whatever scenario perhaps played out.
Sulfured the people.
He knew what was right.
But he was not willing to bring himself.
To correct the people to handle the situation.
That was his responsibility.
He feared people.
It's a foolish thing to do.
People cannot do long term harm to you.
And it's easy to contradict this one in our minds.
But Jesus says in Luke chapter 12.
Don't fear man who can.
Only kill your body.
Fear God.
After your body is dead, he has the power to cast you into hell.
That's long term harm.
What happens in this life can be tragic.
Absolutely no disputing that, but at the same time, this life is not eternity.
So don't fear people fear God.
Don't fear people because people don't know what's best for you.
It's foolish, so let them be the final say in your life because they don't know what's best for you and they don't necessarily want what's best for you.
And then finally, it's foolish.
To fear people more than God because what those people that you fear need.
Is your faithfulness to God? You think about Eli sons and Eli's unwillingness to correct them.
What what his sons needed more than anything else, was for Eli to represent God well to them, and to deal with the sin that was going on in their lives.
Their son, his son biggest need was his faithfulness to the Lord in that.
But he feared the Lord told him, you honor your sons more than me.
He feared the people he didn't want to.
Address the situation Israel greatest need from Saul.
Was for him to be faithful to the Lord, even if it meant that he was unpopular.
Even if it meant that you know they didn't get to have all the spoils of the battle that they had that.
What they needed most.
For their sakes.
He should have.
Not allowed the fear of the people.
To make those decisions for him.
And so.
Wrapping it up this morning.
It's foolish to disobey God.
Foolishness, it's when we're unaware of the harm we bring to ourselves and to others in the actions that we take.
And if we're looking around at others and comparing our lives with others and using that as a measuring instrument.
By which we make our decisions by which we make our plans.
It's foolishness.
We need to let God lead us and guide us to give up after failure.
You look at some of these things perhaps this morning, and you go man.
I've blended in that one.
I've blended in that one.
It's easy for us to relate.
But let's not give up.
God is not.
Done with us.
Let's give backup draw near to the Lord, receiving his grace and mercy and forgiveness.
Don't let urgency override what?
God has said that's foolishness.
I know there's a lot of pressure.
I know it's difficult.
It seems like the Lord always comes through at the last minute or maybe.
He's already too late.
Keep waiting, learn to wait and trust in the Lord.
And to fear people more than God is foolish.
Put God first, honor him above all.
Don't worry so much about what other people are doing, what other people say other peoples opinions.
People are valuable.
We need them in our lives at the same time, God has the final say.
And what those people around us need most is for us to know the Lord, to walk with him and be faithful to him 100%.
Let's pray what I pray that you would help each of us to evaluate these things and to hear from you about where we're at.
God, we don't want.
To be foolish.
We don't want to disregard your word and.
Or we can recognize that we easily do that, not intentionally necessarily, Lord, not that we're trying to disregard you, but we're so persuaded.
As we compare ourselves to others around us.
Many times we can rush ahead without seeking you.
Or so persuaded by the urgencies and pressures and and the the stresses that mounts that we have to do something and.
We allow that to push us ahead of you or aside from what you have called us too.
We're so persuaded by the opinions.
And perspectives of other people.
Or that we forget to factor in what you say and what you desire.
And so, God, I pray that.
You would help us.
To be corrected by you this morning to put you back in your rightful place.
But would you?
Be Lord and King in our lives.
Or that you would have the final say, the final authority.
That we would submit to your will.
Your plans and your commands.
We pray this in Jesus name.