Wages of Saul
II Samuel 1
Here's where Saul's sin, which has been growing up like weeds during most of his reign, finally chokes him. The OT is full of illustrations of the principle of sowing and reaping. The principle never fails. Even if the reaping doesn't come in your lifetime, it comes later. Think of Solomon and his idolatry. Nothing really happened to Israel or to him in his lifetime, but God told him that it was because of HIS sin, not the cumulative sin of thousands of Israelites that were yet to be born, that Israel would be taken into captivity. It took several hundred years, but Solomon's sin bore fruit and Israel was taken into Babylon.
Anyway, here is Saul's sin, which has been pretty fruitful throughout his life...causing him a depressed mental condition, making a rift in his relationships with his own son and his right-hand-man David, ruining the fellowship he could have had with Samuel, separating him from God's leading...now bearing the ultimate wages, death. With him fell his son Jonathan and the best of the Israelite soldiers.
Saul had many sins, but the root seemed to be vanity, a concern with surface things, something I recognize in myself. His personal god was "honor before the people." He forgot even the heinousness of his own sin in light of this god. When he offered the sacrifice before Samuel arrived, he said something like "Sure I've sinned. Sorry. Could you please still honor me before the people? I've got to save face here." The one thing that turned him against David was not necessarily jealousy of David's talents. It was the idea that public opinion honored David more than himself. Saul's obsession with the opinions of others showed up early on, when he hid among the baggage just before being presented to Israel as king. His desire for approval, and fear that he wouldn't get it, led him to hide. In fact the difference between Saul, collossal failure, and David, hero of the faith, was that David repented, not caring who knew. Saul could not let go of his love of approbation.
But to get back to the principle of sowing and reaping...no matter what the sin, it ALWAYS works. It isn't even interrupted by confessing and forsaking. David felt the consequences of his adultery for the rest of his life. Manasseh, even though he repented, still brought down God's judgement on Israel for his deeds. You might say, well, that was the OT. Now we have the NT, where we are not made to suffer the consequences for sin. The God of the New is a lot more forgiving than the God of the Old.
But think a minute...God is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," and it's not like Him to break His own rules. Like the "Deep Magic" in the Narnia tales, His law cannot be changed and must be satisfied. The wonderful truth is that God put his Son in our place to take the consequences. We sowed, Christ reaped. Now whatever consequences come to us from our sin are to discipline us for our own good, not to damn us. That gives me a great feeling of freedom when I am being chastened.
Here's where Saul's sin, which has been growing up like weeds during most of his reign, finally chokes him. The OT is full of illustrations of the principle of sowing and reaping. The principle never fails. Even if the reaping doesn't come in your lifetime, it comes later. Think of Solomon and his idolatry. Nothing really happened to Israel or to him in his lifetime, but God told him that it was because of HIS sin, not the cumulative sin of thousands of Israelites that were yet to be born, that Israel would be taken into captivity. It took several hundred years, but Solomon's sin bore fruit and Israel was taken into Babylon.
Anyway, here is Saul's sin, which has been pretty fruitful throughout his life...causing him a depressed mental condition, making a rift in his relationships with his own son and his right-hand-man David, ruining the fellowship he could have had with Samuel, separating him from God's leading...now bearing the ultimate wages, death. With him fell his son Jonathan and the best of the Israelite soldiers.
Saul had many sins, but the root seemed to be vanity, a concern with surface things, something I recognize in myself. His personal god was "honor before the people." He forgot even the heinousness of his own sin in light of this god. When he offered the sacrifice before Samuel arrived, he said something like "Sure I've sinned. Sorry. Could you please still honor me before the people? I've got to save face here." The one thing that turned him against David was not necessarily jealousy of David's talents. It was the idea that public opinion honored David more than himself. Saul's obsession with the opinions of others showed up early on, when he hid among the baggage just before being presented to Israel as king. His desire for approval, and fear that he wouldn't get it, led him to hide. In fact the difference between Saul, collossal failure, and David, hero of the faith, was that David repented, not caring who knew. Saul could not let go of his love of approbation.
But to get back to the principle of sowing and reaping...no matter what the sin, it ALWAYS works. It isn't even interrupted by confessing and forsaking. David felt the consequences of his adultery for the rest of his life. Manasseh, even though he repented, still brought down God's judgement on Israel for his deeds. You might say, well, that was the OT. Now we have the NT, where we are not made to suffer the consequences for sin. The God of the New is a lot more forgiving than the God of the Old.
But think a minute...God is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," and it's not like Him to break His own rules. Like the "Deep Magic" in the Narnia tales, His law cannot be changed and must be satisfied. The wonderful truth is that God put his Son in our place to take the consequences. We sowed, Christ reaped. Now whatever consequences come to us from our sin are to discipline us for our own good, not to damn us. That gives me a great feeling of freedom when I am being chastened.
posted by Emily at 9:26 AM
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