Nov. 16, 2025

Saints & Sinners

Saul - Rejected as King

Primary Text: 1 Samuel 13:1, 5-14         

1)  Saul’s Foolish Haste 

1 Samuel 13:1, 5-14:  Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- two years….  The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore….  Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.  He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.  So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.”  And Saul offered up the burnt offering.  Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.  “What have you done?” asked Samuel….  “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said.  “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.  But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 

DQ 1) What was wrong with Saul’s burnt offering to the Lord?  

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2)  The Lord Rejects Saul as King

1 Samuel 15:10-12:  Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”  Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.  Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel.  There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” 

1 Samuel 15:19-26:  “Why did you not obey the Lord?  Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”…  But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”  Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned.  I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions.  I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.  Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”  But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you.  You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”  

DQ 2) What were the primary reasons for Saul’s downfall and rejection as king?

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3)  Saul’s Replacement

1 Samuel 16:1-2, 6-13:  The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.  I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”  But Samuel said, “How can I go?  Saul will hear about it and kill me.”…  When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”…  So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”  “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”  Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”  So he sent and had him brought in.  He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.  Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”  So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. 

DQ 3) What does it mean that, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”?

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4)  Saul’s Jealousy

1 Samuel 18:5-9, 15:  Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.  This pleased all the people, and Saul’s officers as well.  When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes.  As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”  Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him.  “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands.  What more can he get but the kingdom?”  And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David….  When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.  

DQ 4) Why is jealousy a dangerous sin to harbor? 

DQ 5) What causes jealousy to lead to other wicked sins, such as murder?

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5)  Saul’s Demise

1 Samuel 31:1-6:  Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.  The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.  The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.  Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”  But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.  When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.  So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. 

DQ 6) How did Saul’s death reflect the course of his life?

DQ 7) What was Saul’s legacy?

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