Self-Exaltation, The Spotlight Thief

Selfishness and pride will lead us away from God.   ~~~   What is it, what is motivating King Saul? What makes Saul such a bad leader?There is trouble in the land when the King is motivated by self-exaltation. We see self-exaltation in 1 Samuel 14:24 “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” Verse 24 tells us that the fighting men had been “hard pressed that day.” The fighting had been intense and long, and the men had grown tired and hungry. But Saul lays on them a burden of continuing the fight, chasing the Philistines far out of the country, and also that no one should eat anything until the fight was over. We are not explicitly told what the concern is of Saul and why he wouldn’t allow the soldiers to eat, but I think it is a fair assessment to surmise that his concern was that if the Israelite soldiers stopped to eat, then the Philistines would escape into the night or the victory would not be as dominating as it could be. And all of this is motivated by Saul’s lust of self-exaltation. He wanted his name to be avenged. He wanted his name to be associated with complete victory and domination. What is important to know at this point, especially as we make our way into the David narrative, that fasting before a war, or even during the war, is not unheard of, but the reasons for the fast are different. Saul’s command is for his own good, not the men’s, not in order to keep the men lean and mean. He simply did not want the enemy to escape; he wanted the his name in the headline above the fold. Saul did not start the fight, but rather was content to be lazy, sitting in the shade of a tree, but when he opportunity presented itself to be in the spotlight, he jumped right in, and by doing so, put his army in jeopardy. He was leading with godless rules in order to secure vainglory, and it brought weakness on the people. All of these are works of the flesh; all of these we need to be on the hunt for in our own lives as we walk with the LORD day by day.