There is a story of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15, that every leader who serves God needs to carefully consider at this season. In that story, King Saul did what the Lord told him, but not in its entirety. By George E Markakis, Jan.15, 2024.
God’s perspective:
“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king”
People’s assessment:
Saul has “set up a monument for himself”
King Saul’s self-assessment:
“I have performed the commandment of the LORD”
Before Samuel confronted him, Saul had no remorse for what he had (not) done. He was happy with himself and thought that God was pleased with him. He was in ignorance of his own sin and the state in which he was, as seen from God’s perspective.
We, especially the leaders, may find ourselves in such a place, where we think we are standing upright when we are not. That may be because we have been blinded by our own hidden sinfulness. Only when the prophet Samuel confronted King Saul, did he come to realize what happened.
In this case, (some of) the hidden issues were:
1. Leaders setting up a monument for themselves/ourselves
2. Leaders acting under the influence of the fear of, and wanting to please the people
King Saul had several good things going for him:
1. Called by God
2. Humble, as he thought little of himself, so he was not proud
3. Anointed to serve God’s people
4. Appointed as King
5. In Seat of Authority
6. In his mind, he had obeyed the voice of the Lord and did what he was told to do (but not completely)
7. His motives were good; he wanted his people to be happy
Even though King Saul did most of what the Lord told him to do, the key to the story is that he did not fully obey God’s word. That, for the Lord, meant: “Saul turned back from following Me”!
To grasp the significance of this story we need to think of an aircraft Pilot who must do thousands of little tasks to fly an aircraft; he cannot just say “I did everything right; well, except, I neglected to lower the wheels for landing, no big deal. That is just one little of many things; just a minor detail…”!