Two Kings

Saul

In the Old Testament, we are told of the two lines of Kings that ruled over Israel. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, and David was from the tribe of Judah.

Saul’s appointment is curious, as it was prophesied in Genesis 49:10 that the line of Kings would come from the tribe of Judah. That perhaps is the subject best left for another day.

Saul seemed a humble man at first. The record of his anointing and selection is found in 1Sam. 10.

Saul became a great leader and won significant battles, but it all came undone when he trusted his own gut and feared a drop in popularity rather than obey God. 

The first signs that Saul was unstable as a leader was when he stepped into the role that only a priest could do, and in order to bring order in the military ranks, he offered a sacrifice that Samuel was supposed to offer. When Samuel arrived, this is what he said to Saul.

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted 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. 

But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 1Sam 13:13-14

Later on, God told Saul to obliterate Amalek and to leave nothing. Saul and the people allowed the king of Amalek to live and kept the best of the sheep and cattle. Saul did not obey, and God rejected Saul because of his disobedience and sent Samuel to him to let him know he was fired. After beating Amalek, Saul had got busy and set up a monument to himself. 

When Saul eventually hears what Samuel has to say, he protests his innocence of wrongdoing, to which Samuel replies,

“What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 1Sam 15:14

Samuel refuses to take responsibility for his actions and blames the people. To which Samuel replies, 

“Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

He has also rejected you from being king.” 1Sam 15:22-23.

Only then does Saul admit he has sinned, and after tearing Samuel’s garment then insists that Samuel still publicly honour him by accompanying him to the ceremony they are about to have. He wanted Samuel to pretend nothing was wrong.

So, Saul was a man who interpreted the word of the Lord through his gut instinct, which led to partial obedience, which is never acceptable to God. He built memorials to himself and demanded personal loyalty from those around him, and wanted public honour even when he was wrong. In the Bible, there is no record of Saul being deeply repentant of his sins.

David

David was Saul’s replacement. He was from the tribe of Judah and was selected and anointed as King in Bethlehem whilst he was still a young shepherd. God described him as a man after His own heart in 1Sam. 13:14.

The record of David’s selection and anointing is found in 1Sam 16:12-14

David, although only young, was the man God sought to be king. At the time, Samuel looked through David’s brothers, seeking a new king. Saul noted their height and strength, but God told Samuel,

“Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1Sam 16:7

David’s journey to the throne room was long and arduous, but he never lost sight of the fact that Saul was the anointed King and God would have to take him off the throne before David could rule.

We should be mindful that David was probably about 15 years old when he was anointed, and 30 years old when he became king. So there were 15 years of Saul's poor leadership before God allowed the changeover. Although the spiritual anointing was lifted from Saul and rested on David at the time of David’s anointing,  there was still a journey to be had before temporal reality lined up with spiritual reality. David did not push the point; he waited for God.

Once in power, David had many great victories, but built no monuments to himself.

God saw in David a man who had a heart after Him. When David became King, he was far from perfect, and he made major mistakes and sinned greatly. The most obvious being the affair with Bathsheba, his friend's wife. She fell pregnant, and David tried to cover things up by killing her husband and quickly marrying her, ostensibly to raise up children in his friend's memory. But God saw everything and sent Nathan the prophet to confront David. David acknowledged his sin. God judged him, and the result was the death of the child and the later rebellion of Absalom. David’s repentant response was recorded in Psalm 51.

So David sought the Lord, acknowledged his sin, repented deeply, sought no monument or personal recognition and did not demand personal honouring or loyalty. 

There was also the issue of the census he took in 2Samuel 24.

History remembers David’s reign in a much better light than Saul’s. Saul’s fear of man, his "go with my gut" approach, and his demand for honour and loyalty were his undoing because they took him away from doing what God specifically asked him to do. Any good that he did was overwhelmed by his disobedience to the word of the Lord and his later reliance on the occult to try to hear the word of the Lord. (1Sam. 28:7-10) David is remembered not for his sins, but for the way he retreated to God and confessed his sins when he strayed from God’s path.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered!

How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away

Through my groaning all day long.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;

My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

Selah.

I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;

And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Selah. Psalm 32:1-5

Our governance

Today our governance is elected; it does not come by birthright. We choose or re- choose our ruler every few years. Paul writes in Romans 13:1

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1

So, when our selection, or re-selection, of a leader happens in an election, we need to trust that God, who is greater than any leader of any government, is still in control. Even if the person elected is not the one we voted for. Rebellion is not God’s way of doing things. We can re-choose in a few years' time. Lies and baseless accusations are also not God’s way of doing things. It is how the devil operates; it’s the way the devil used to get Jesus a death sentence, and the devil, according to Jesus, is a liar and the father of all lies. (John 8:44)

We should not be reactionary to political propaganda but rather be looking to God and seeking his will in the situation. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. 

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt.6:33-34

However, all this being said, I think we can say any nation’s leaders can have a tendency to be like Saul or be like David. If you were to look at your nation's leader, how would you rank them as a Saul or a David?