Who was King Saul?
Here's the answer:
King Saul's disobedience brought destruction.
"What pleases the Lord more? Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying him? It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).
Long ago, the nation of Israel rejected God as their King and asked for a human king. God chose a man named Saul to become the first king, and the prophet Samuel anointed Saul to show he was king. Saul came from a wealthy family, was "the most" handsome man in Israel, and stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else. He was the perfect picture of what a people thought a king should look like.
Sadly, even though Saul started out as a good king, he disobeyed God when he was instructed to go to the city of Gilgal and wait there for seven days for Samuel. They were both supposed to sacrifice burnt offerings and get more instructions from God about a coming battle with the Amalakites. But when Samuel was a bit late, Saul went ahead and sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on his own. Saul was also told to completely destroy the Amalakites, including all the cows, sheep, and goats, but Saul disobeyed God and brought the king of Amalek home with him along with the best sheep and cattle. In fact, Saul only destroyed what he thought was worthless and then lied about it to Samuel by blaming the disobedience on his men.
Since Saul proved that he couldn't be trusted, God removed His Holy Spirit from him and replaced it with a spirit of torment that brought nothing but sadness and fear. From this point on Saul couldn't find peace. Saul’s servants suggested some beautiful music to soothe his tormented soul and brought him David, son of Jesse, to play the harp for him.
David played for King Saul for several years. Saul noticed that God's Spirit was on David and that the townspeople loved him, and Saul became jealous. So one day while David was playing the harp, Saul threw his spear at David to kill him. Saul missed David, but this began Saul’s obsession to kill David. For years, David ran and hid from King Saul until David was finally made king in Saul's place..
This story shows us that obedience to God is more important than sacrifice! It also tells us that even though someone may look good on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts in God's eyes (1 Samuel 16:7).
Bible Truth
For more of King Saul's story, read 1 Samuel chapters 9—10; 13:1–14 in the Old Testament.
