Saul, the first king

Saul was Israel’s first king. His story begins with great promise: he was tall, handsome, humble and filled with God’s Spirit. But it ends in tragedy: disobedience, jealousy, paranoia, consulting a medium and a tragic death on the battlefield. Saul’s life is one of the Bible’s most serious warnings about pride, impatience, half-hearted obedience and envy. It is also the story of an extraordinary friendship: that of his son Jonathan with David.

The young man looking for donkeys

Saul was the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of Israel’s tribes. The Bible describes him as “a choice young man, and a goodly… from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:2). One day his father sent him with a servant to look for some lost donkeys. After searching long without finding them, the servant suggested consulting the seer of the town, Samuel.

God had already told Samuel that the next day he would send him a man of Benjamin to anoint as captain over his people. When Samuel saw Saul, God told him: “Behold the man.” Samuel assured him the donkeys had been found and spoke of a far greater destiny. Saul answered humbly: “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least?” The next day Samuel anointed him secretly with oil.

A promising start

God gave Saul “another heart”, and the Spirit of God came upon him so that he prophesied with a company of prophets. When Samuel gathered the people at Mizpeh to present the king chosen by lot, Saul was hiding among the baggage. They brought him out, and the people shouted: “God save the king!”

His first test came when the Ammonites besieged Jabesh-gilead and threatened to put out the right eye of every inhabitant. The Spirit of God came upon Saul, who gathered all Israel and defeated the Ammonites. After the victory some wanted to kill those who had opposed his reign, but Saul answered generously: “There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel.” He was confirmed as king at Gilgal.

Impatience at Gilgal

But cracks soon appeared. In a war against the Philistines, Saul was to wait seven days at Gilgal for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice. The enemy army was huge and Saul’s soldiers were deserting. On the seventh day, as Samuel had not come, Saul offered the burnt offering himself. As soon as he finished, Samuel arrived. Saul justified himself: “I saw that the people were scattered from me… I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.” Samuel answered that he had done foolishly in not keeping God’s commandment, and told him his kingdom would not continue: “the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).

Half-hearted obedience

Later God ordered Saul to destroy the Amalekites, who had attacked Israel in the wilderness. Saul defeated them, but spared King Agag and the best of the livestock. Then he set up a monument in his own honour. When Samuel arrived, Saul greeted him: “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” Samuel asked: “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul blamed the people and said the livestock was for sacrificing to God. Then Samuel spoke one of the best-known sentences in the Bible:

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

1 Samuel 15:22-23

Saul confessed his sin, but seemed more concerned about his image before the people than about his relationship with God: “honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people.” As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the skirt of his mantle and it tore. Samuel told him: “The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day.” Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but he mourned for him.

The troubled spirit and David’s harp

The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit troubled him. His servants looked for someone who could play the harp to soothe him, and brought a young man from Bethlehem: David. When David played, Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed from him. Saul loved him greatly and made him his armourbearer, unaware that this young man had been anointed as his successor.

Deadly jealousy

After David defeated Goliath, the women of Israel came out singing: “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul was very angry: “They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?” From that day Saul eyed David (1 Samuel 18:8-9).

Envy became obsession. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his javelin, sent him into dangerous battles hoping he would die, and finally hunted him for years through the wilderness with his army. Twice David had the chance to kill Saul, in the cave at En-gedi and in the camp at night, but he refused: “I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel 24:10).

Jonathan: the faithful friend

In the midst of this dark story shines the figure of Jonathan, Saul’s son and natural heir to the throne. Jonathan was a brave warrior who had defeated the Philistines trusting that “there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). When he met David, “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” He gave him his robe, his sword, his bow and his girdle, as if acknowledging that David would be king. Jonathan defended David before his father, risking his own life, and helped him escape. It is one of the most beautiful examples of selfless friendship in the whole Bible.

The medium of Endor

At the end of his reign, with Samuel dead and a great Philistine army before him, Saul was terrified. He inquired of God, but God did not answer him. In desperation he disguised himself and went by night to consult a medium at Endor, something he himself had banned according to God’s law. There he received a message of judgment: the next day he and his sons would die.

Death on Mount Gilboa

In the battle of Mount Gilboa the Philistines defeated Israel. Jonathan and two other sons of Saul were killed. Saul, badly wounded by the archers, fell on his own sword. The Philistines fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan, but the men of Jabesh-gilead, remembering that Saul had saved them at the start of his reign, walked all night to recover his body and bury it.

When David heard the news, he did not celebrate. He wept and composed a lament: “How are the mighty fallen!… Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided” (2 Samuel 1:19, 23).

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Lessons for our lives

A good start does not guarantee a good finish. Half-hearted obedience is disobedience. Impatience leads us to take shortcuts God did not approve. Caring more about image than about God is dangerous. Envy destroys the one who harbours it. True friendship does not compete: Jonathan rejoiced in David’s calling. Seek God in time: Saul looked for other voices when he no longer listened to God’s.

On the road to Jesus

Saul was the king the people asked for: tall, strong, impressive to human eyes. But he failed because his heart was not submitted to God. His story prepares the way for the king “after God’s own heart” and, finally, for the perfect King, Jesus Christ, who always did the Father’s will: “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Saul sought his own glory; Jesus humbled himself unto death. Saul persecuted God’s anointed; Jesus, the Anointed One, forgave his persecutors. And the Saul of the New Testament, who also persecuted, found in Jesus forgiveness and a new name.

In the next episode we will meet David, the shepherd who became king and the man after God’s own heart.

Prayer

Lord, guard me from the pride, impatience and envy that destroyed Saul. Teach me that to obey is better than sacrifice. Give me a heart that seeks your approval more than people’s. And give me faithful friends like Jonathan, and let me be that friend to others. Thank you for Jesus Christ, the King who always did your will. Amen.