I Samuel 13:13,14

“Going After God’s Heart” • 10.9.07 • Autonomy, Authority & The Man Of God, Session #5

Intro.

- We finished last week looking at a pivotal moment in the life of King Saul.

- His enemies were closing in on him, the pressure mounting with each passing moment.

- Samuel was late in coming to Mizpah, which made Saul even more desperate.

- Finally, in an incredibly ill-advised maneuver, Saul takes it upon himself to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, something that was strictly forbidden.

- Moments after this foolish episode concluded, Samuel shows up. He is not at all impressed with Saul’s pretentious piety.

- Even less impressive is Saul’s justification for his activity. He looks at the circumstances surrounding him, his enemies, Samuel’s tardiness, etc., and lists them as understandable reasons to disregard God’s commandment.

- Samuel has the responsibility now to decree how the Lord will choose to handle this blatant transgression.

• I Samuel 13:13,14 : “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done 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 continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.’”

- This week, I wanted to take a session and truly unpack what is being taught here.

- Normally, we would take a larger, more panoramic view of scripture. Today, I want us to focus on these two verses.

- I want to split it into two realms: The realm of man and the realm of God.

- In our realm there is responsibility. In the realm of God, there is sovereignty, authority. They are concepts that are intermingled, as ideally among the people of God, both are working toward the same goal, which is to glorify and lift high the name of God on the earth.

- It’s with this in mind that we take some time to consider what it means to go after the heart of God.

Text

- First, in the realm of men, we can choose wisdom or foolishness.

• I Samuel 13:13a : “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you…”

- It is man’s responsibility, the man who would go after the heart of God, to be consistently under the authority of God’s Word.

- Samuel does not mince words with the King of Israel. He says, “You have done foolishly!”

- The same is true for anyone who would, for any reason, disregard God’s Word.

- Saul disregarded the teaching of Leviticus, ignored Samuel’s rightful place, and offered a sacrifice.

- Again, this seems like such a small thing, but there is no small command with the Lord.

˚ “Men see nothing but Saul’s outward act, which seems small; but God saw with how wicked a mind and heart he did this; with what rebellion against the light of his own conscience, as his own words imply; with what gross infidelity and distrust of God’s providence; with what contempt of God’s authority, and justice, and many other wicked principles and motions of his heart, unknown to men. Besides, God clearly saw all that wickedness that yet lay hid in his heart, and foresaw all his other crimes; and there had far more grounds for his sentence against him than we can imagine.” Matthew Poole

- What Saul did was plain foolish.

- The use of the word “fool” biblically, does not refer to a lack of intelligence or silliness.

- When the prophet Samuel uses it here, it denotes a spiritual lack.

- Samuel is saying here then that Saul is acting like one who does not believe in God!

- What is happening when we knowingly transgress the explicit law of God?

- What this means is that we are making ourselves gods, or ultimate authorities, when we supplant God and His Word. This is practically atheism.

- When I am in this place, I am saying with my actions what my heart is believing, that there is no God, meaning that I believe, that He is not concerned with the action that I am choosing to take.

- What it reveals to me is that my heart is truly not under His authority in those instances.

• Galatians 6:7,8 : “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

- We have, as men, the propensity to act foolishly or wisely. In this context, that means simply, the difference between making the Lord our authority or making ourselves the authority, which is autonomy.

- The next issue then, is that men can take the word personally or disregard it for the sake of convenience.

- Notice that Samuel says, “You have not kept the commandment of the Lord YOUR God, which He commanded YOU!” Emphasis mine.

- Saul entered into a relationship with the Lord that had been well defined.

- He was the representative of God to the people of Israel, subject to God’s law.

- He was the first among equals, but was still subject to the Highest authority.

- When I surrender my life to the Lord, I am saying that He, the Lord, is my God. As such, His Word is my command, personally.

- I make myself subject to Him in every area of my life, whether it be relationships, career choices, or ministry decisions.

- His Word is my decree and I want to live in agreement with His Word in every area of life.

- One might say, “But does God’s word speak to every situation?” The answer is that if there is not an explicit command, there is always an implicit principle that can be applied to every situation.

- I have never found a situation in my life that God’s word did not speak to.

- The point is that as men who are seeking to go after the heart of God, that we seek what His Word might be before we act!

- Sometimes, it might take longer than we like, which generally means that He is more concerned with our character rather than our comfort!

- Before we move onto the next section, let me ask you simply if you are keeping the command that the Lord has given you?

- Is there something pressing on your hearts today that you have been putting off? Don’t be caught in that trap.

- Now we come to God’s part of the bargain, the realm of sovereignty and authority.

• I Samuel 13:13b,14 : “…For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.’”

- Saul’s presumptuous actions had dire consequences.

- Samuel says the Lord “would have” established Saul’s line perpetually.

- The word means to set, to determine or to permanently fix.

- God’s work is to establish His people where He can exercise influence through them.

- He sets us up. He establishes us.

- For Saul, his disobedience would cost him his Kingdom, for the same hand that establishes, also replaces.

- Samuel continues and tells us that the Lord has sought out a replacement, and that this replacement would be “a man after his own heart.”

- Samuel does not know who this person is, but He knows that God has already made a sovereign choice of another man, who we know is David, Jesse’s son.

- Paul comments in

• Acts 13:22 : “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”

- Notice that a man after the heart of God will do all of God’s will.

- The things that please him and the things that are not as pleasant. Either way, the man after God’s heart accepts both as mandatory.

- When we use the phrase about another person, who might be a man after our own heart, we speak to a person who has the same desires and ambitions as ourselves.

- The same is true of God. He seeks out a man, a person who might be passionate about what He is passionate about, who might concern themselves with what He is concerned with!

- I think that it’s worthy to mention something at this juncture. God is not looking for a man who will simply do God’s word because He is obliged to do so.

- “Oh, I’ll do it because I have to!” God will not be a debtor to that person!

- David speaks to his heart towards the word of the Lord over and over again in the book of Psalms.

• Psalm 1:1,2 : “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

- The word “delight” denotes great pleasure in whatever activity is accomplished.

- David uses this terminology in many places in the book of Psalms.

- You can read several examples in chapter 119, which is all about God’s Word and David’s attitude toward it.

• Psalm 119:68-70 : “You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law.”

- This man will be the commander. He will be given the reins of authority to yield before the Lord on behalf of His people, the children of Israel.

- Why? Because the man of God whom would be used the greatest by the Lord, must first be committed to the things found in the heart of God!

Conclusion

- Let’s finish with a few general lessons that this passage teaches us about being a man after God’s own heart.

1) Whole Hearted Devotion To God’s Word Is Essential- No Exceptions! There can be no doubt about where your loyalties lie. If there is a present struggle between money and God’s word, or relationship and God’s word, make sure that starting today, God’s Word wins!

2) We Can Never Believe The Lord Needs Us- No Exemptions! Saul was tall, handsome, talented, militarily successful, and popular with the people. But God did not need Him! His heart disqualified him. We would be wise to humbly remember what a privilege it is to serve the Lord.