All right, let’s turn to 1 Samuel 8. We are doing a two-part series on a test of the heart. Last week, we looked at a heart that is a too-strong or a too-strong heart, and this week, we’re going to look at a too-weak heart. A too-strong heart obeys forgetfully. As you recall, Rehoboam forgot the law and forsook God’s law. As a result, he had the consequences of the treasures being given back to Egypt and, ultimately, the division of the kingdom, which is pretty incredible. So, a too-strong heart doesn’t trust God but instead trusts itself, forgetting all that God has done. Now, we will see that a too-weak heart obeys fearfully.
That’s the overall theme for today: A too-weak heart obeys fearfully.
In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel sought a king like the nations. Look at 1 Samuel 8. Look at verse 5. They said to him (these are the people of Israel, the elders),
“You have grown old. You’re an old man. Now, your sons do not walk in your ways; your people and heritage are different, and they deviate from how you walk. Therefore, as a result, appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.”
Pause right there. Think about this. Did God promise that Israel would have a king? Yes. He said in Genesis 17 that Abraham would have kings come from him. In Deuteronomy 17, He said that the king is to write the law out every year and understand it to follow it faithfully. And then later in 26, 27, and 28, He says that if you obey, there will be a blessing. However, if you disobey, there’s going to be cursing. And so, when these people come at the end of the judges, the period of judges to Samuel, they ask for a king like the nations. We’ll see what happens.
What are they really asking? They are positioning themselves to have a strong presence among the nations. Let us have a wise king in the horizontal domain: the ways of man and the world. We want a king who judges in the ways of the world.
Right from the beginning of Israel’s desire for a king, we see a lesson teaching us about a heart that is too weak. To examine this lesson, we’ll answer four questions: What does it look like to have a heart that is too weak? What does a too-weak heart look like? Second, what are the consequences of a too-weak heart? Third, is there any mercy amid consequences? And then, finally, how does Christ satisfy us and give us a right heart that obeys, not forgetfully or fearfully, but faithfully? We’re looking for that, and we will see that today.
First point: What does it look like to have a heart that is too weak?
First, a too-week heart looks like the world or nations. In 1 Samuel 8, you see this picture of an individual, or at least the desire for an individual like the nations or world. Okay, so go over to 1 Samuel 10. Saul has been selected. Look at verse 20. 1 Samuel 10:20. What is happening to this individual? We want a king like the nations. What does a king like the nations look like?
He’s insecure. He was hiding. Here, we’re given a first indication of what a king like the nations will look like. The promise has been given to Saul to rule. You are the one put in a position of power. And he runs; he flees the scene. And so, the first thing we see, right from the beginning, is that Saul is insecure. Saul is insecure, and a king like the nations will always be insecure. Why? Because they fear the future. Whose glory is on the line? It’s his glory.
What does it look like to see a king like the nations…whose heart is too weak? First, he is insecure, which leads to his unwillingness to accept responsibility. Isn’t that interesting? A heart that is too weak looks like the world and doesn’t want to take responsibility. He’s hiding. However, there’s another point: A heart that is too weak is also impatient. Go to 1 Samuel 13.
What does it look like to have a heart that is too weak? Well, it looks like the nations. It expresses insecurity by not taking responsibility, and then it becomes impatient. Look at verses 9 to 12. The Philistines are coming against Saul. He’s in power. Saul said in verse 9 of chapter 13, …bring to me the burnt and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet and greet him—verse 11. But Samuel said, “What have you done? And Saul said, “…because I saw the people…they were scattering.”
Now, we know that Saul was not authorized to offer sacrifices. That was Samuel’s responsibility. Samuel said, “I’m going to come at the appointed time. Wait.” Saul is impatient and disobeys. And why does he do that? Because he’s insecure. He’s fearful. He doesn’t wait. He doesn’t hold. What does he do? He advances irresponsibly. He doesn’t want to take responsibility yet advances irresponsibly in fear and impatience because his heart is weak.
Let’s examine Saul’s response more: “I saw that the people were scattering.” What does that mean? He’s losing control. Think about this in your own life. What is it like to be insecure? We’ve all been insecure. We’ve all not taken responsibility. How does it manifest itself? You begin to lose control. Think about that in your own life when things outside your control begin to go against expectations. What do you start doing? What do you start thinking? You had an expectation? The expectation isn’t being met. The control that you thought you had isn’t happening. What do you do? In relationships? How did you respond when things didn’t go your way? Think about what you will do when things don’t go your way.
Saul is losing control, and his expectations are unmet: “…you did not come within the appointed days. Samuel, you told me you were coming; you didn’t come.” What is that? Unmet expectations. Consequently, someone with a fearful heart moves forward irresponsibly and is impatient because control is lost. He’s seeking control in whatever way possible. And next, expectations aren’t being met. “I had an expectation you didn’t meet it.” A fearful heart, what do they do? They’re obeying fearfully. He advanced in irresponsibility. What else do we see here?
“…the Philistines were assembling Michmash.” The enemy is strengthening. Not only am I losing control. My expectations are not being met. What else is happening? What I didn’t want to happen is beginning to occur in a more powerful way than I anticipated. Think about your own life; process that for a minute. You lose control of a situation. Expectations aren’t being met, and the antagonistic side is beginning to grow. Well, what does Saul do? Look at the verse. It continues. The Philistines were assembling. Look at verse 12. “Therefore, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’” What does Saul do now? He manipulates, and he justifies his decision with religion.
Think about that. You’re losing control. Expectations aren’t being met. Adversaries are gaining power. What does Saul do? He manipulates and justifies his decisions based upon a religious notion, a religious idea. Can we do that? “Well, God wanted me to do this. God is calling me to do that.” Is He really? Are you obeying faithfully or fearfully? “I acted that way because of X, Y, or Z.” “I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”
Where does this end? Victim mentality. “It wasn’t my fault.” Think about that—a fearful heart. You lose control. Expectations aren’t met. The opposite of what you thought would occur is occurring. What does a fearful heart do? It uses religion to justify decisions and become a victim. “It’s not my fault. I’m a victim. I forced myself. I didn’t want to do it, but I did it.” Do you see how this is a fearful heart?
In the end, what lies under a fearful heart? Go to 1 Samuel, 15: 24. “Then, Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words.” Because why? What does it say? “I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.” At the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Saul feared the people. Can we do this as well? Can we fear the opinions of others? We do when their approval makes us go against God’s Word and the right way.
Evaluate your own life. When have you done this in the past? When have you let peers lead you into something you knew was wrong? When have you let screens lead you into places you didn’t want to be? And so that voice, as you let that screen lead you, as you let those peers lead you, that voice of, “I deserve, I should, I need,” That’s the voice that Saul listened to. Now, in his case, directly, it’s an army, and it’s his people. In our case, principally and spiritually, it’s the things that draw us away from… what? …fearing God.
Go back to 1 Samuel 12:24. Listen to this at the beginning of being appointed king. “Only fear the Lord and serve Him.” What was Saul’s command? His injunction? His expectation? “Don’t fear the people…fear the Lord.” And, as you fear the Lord, what are you saying? “Your ways are not my ways. You have given me a command, and I express my fear by walking in obedience to that command.” This is the opposite of what Saul is doing. He’s losing control. Expectations aren’t being met. Opposition is gaining strength. And so, he begins to manipulate, using religious overtones, and then finally, he’s the victim. I deserved it. I needed to do it. I forced myself. A fearful heart does not fear the Lord but man.
So what happened? The answer is our second point: What are the consequences of a too-weak heart? Look at 1 Samuel 13:14. What happens? What are the implications? And this is the second point. What are the consequences for Saul with a fearful heart? “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.” Why? “Because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” What did the Lord command him? “Fear me, walk in My ways.”
So what are the consequences? First, Saul’s kingdom will not endure and will be ripped away. Go to 1 Samuel 15:26. “But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord.” So now we know his disobedience. He rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. Now look at verse 28: “So Samuel said to Him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today.”
Second, Saul’s lineage suffers death. Go to 2 Samuel 21. Saul had done something again. Saul acted irresponsibly and impatiently. He was losing control. Expectations weren’t being met, and these Gibeonites had come to David seeking revenge. Look at verse one of chapter 21: there was a famine in the days of David. What can we assume? There’s a Divine judgment resting on Israel. Saul did not lead Israel to become a kingdom of priests to the nations. What were the people of Israel to be to the nations? A mediator between God and them. What does Saul do? He puts him to death.
What happens? In 2 Samuel 21:6, the Gibeonites ask for seven men from Saul’s sons to be killed to avenge the blood from Saul’s poor decisions. And David said, “I will give them seven sons.” Seven of his heirs. His heritage. Those with absolutely no relationship to Saul’s decisions suffered the consequences of Saul’s fearful heart. Let that sink in. A fearful heart not only impacted him individually but impacted his entire heritage, so much so that God never forgot the blood that he had on his hands and said, I will avenge them.
However, there is mercy. This is our third point: There’s still mercy. What is the mercy? Look at 2 Samuel 21:7: David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, which was between them, between David and Saul’s son, Jonathan. Think about that. If you are a king in this era, what you do to preserve your line is eliminate any threat from a competing family. For David to spare Mephibosheth is grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy.
So even Saul, who had a fearful heart, was spared the vengeance for the blood on his hand in killing the Gibeonites. In judgment is mercy. And I want us to see this because we could find ourselves with consequences for our decisions whenever we act in fearful disobedience. When we act in fearful disobedience, we may have consequences, but in the midst of that, God will still show us mercy. He’s still going to show us grace. There’s always the grace and mercy of God ever to be manifested.
To recap, the first point is, What leads to a too-weak heart? It’s a heart that looks like the nation: impatient, irresponsible, and ultimately a victim. What are the consequences? The expectations that you hoped to possess are removed from you. They’re removed from you. But is there still mercy? Amid all of the consequences, there is still mercy. God’s hand is still with the people of Israel. And so, He preserved Mephibosheth and let him eat at his table daily.
We could finish there, right, and kind of be a little bit convicted, but you’re not deployed with the resources of the gospel. And that’s what I want to do, and I want you all to see how the Gospel brings us to see things rightly. Because I know you all know many of the things I’m sharing, don’t you? You understand these things. You can see them. They’ve played out in your own life. You’ve lost control, you’ve not taken responsibility, you’ve been insecure, you’ve acted fearfully, not faithfully.
And so, we need to see how the gospel brings us to see, ultimately, this more incredible story that God is writing. Think about this when Christ goes to the cross. Think about this gospel application when He goes to the cross. What are the Israelites, the nation of Israel, saying to Him? “If You are the Son of God, take Yourself down from the cross.” What do they not understand about the Messiah? He’s not coming with political power. He’s not coming as a military warrior. What is He coming as first? A sacrificial lamb.
Why does he have to come first as a sacrificial lamb? Here’s why: because they and you and I oscillate between a too-strong heart (where we forget God) and a too-weak heart (where we act in fear). Think about this: we go back and forth between forgetting God and fearing man.
When Christ went to the cross, He was misunderstood and misrepresented in man’s eyes, a weakness that none of his followers could imagine. Peter said, “This is not going to happen to you.” Christ said, “This must happen.” Why? Because Christ knew that His death and resurrection would give His followers a right heart—not a forgetful and fearful heart. Christ took the Gibeonite Revenge on the cross so that we would have the Gibeonite blessing. Christ took the curse of Saul so that we would have the blessing of forgiveness.
What is the result? We all have access to a right heart that doesn’t have to be fearful or forgetful. Christ does that by the Spirit of God, through regenerating us (Titus 3:5): in the washing of regeneration, by grace through faith. Thus, grace through faith gives me the heart to want to obey God and follow God’s call to be faithful, fearful, and forgetful.
Ultimately, I see that though I may be fearful at times, I may be forgetful; those two things don’t define me, though I may face consequences. The great mercy is that Christ took the ultimate consequence of being separated from God so that God will never separate from me. The final result is that we, sinful and wretched people, can become God’s beloved, adopted, forgiven, righteous, and chosen sons or daughters by Christ’s sacrifice. Will you embrace that love for yourself and be given a right or renewed heart today?
— December 18, 2024