1 Samuel 13: Farmer Saul Charges Ahead, ☧ Waits & Submits

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Irvine, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Samuel 13. “The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” This one act of disobedience in chapter 13 forever ends the line of Saul in favor of the House of David. Is this unfair to Saul? Like Adam & Eve in Eden, Moses at Meribah, or Nadab & Abihu in the Tent of Meeting, it rather fits a well-established pattern in Scripture of man’s impatience with God’s Word. It doesn’t make Saul any worse than Moses—even the best of us let our fears and desires get the better of us. Saul’s own reign came about the same way from Israel’s fearful impatience, and their king was like the sharpened plowshares they took into battle, man’s hasty improvisation. Only Christ possesses the patient heart of God, always willing to wait and submit, for our sake and our salvation.