Scripture Daily

Context No. 4033 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

Context · Reflection

1 Samuel 13:1-9: in context

1Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people to their own tents. 3Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was considered an abomination to the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal. 5The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel: thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in tombs, and in pits. 7Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8He stayed seven days, according to the time set by Samuel; but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering to me here, and the peace offerings.” He offered the burnt offering.

With the Philistines massed against him and his own army melting away in fear, Saul waits for the prophet Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice before battle, as had been arranged. But Samuel is delayed, and the pressure mounts: the seven days pass, the people are scattering, and the enemy looms. And Saul, unable to wait any longer, takes matters into his own hands and offers the burnt offering himself, something he had no right to do.

Here is a failure born of impatience under pressure. Saul was not faithless in an obvious way; he wanted the sacrifice offered, he wanted God's favor before battle. But he would not wait for God's appointed way and time; the circumstances pressed on him, and rather than trusting God through the delay, he acted on his own, overstepping what God had permitted. Pressure and delay test our trust. When God seems slow and circumstances are pressing, the temptation is to stop waiting and take control ourselves, doing what seems necessary even if it means overstepping. Saul's impatience, his refusal to wait through the delay for God's way, was the beginning of his downfall.

When God seems slow and circumstances press me to act, do I wait for his way and timing, or, like Saul, do I grow impatient and take control myself, overstepping what he has permitted?

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