In the book of I Samuel, we read about a man whom the Bible describes as a “mighty man of power.” His name was Kish, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, and he owned donkeys. That is all we really know of this man except that he had a son named Saul.

Saul is described in the King James Version as a “Choice young man.”. Chapter 9, verse 2 of the English Standard Version says, “…a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From His shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”

This is the young man God chose to be the first king of Israel. He was tall and handsome. Samuel anointed him and dramatically presented him to the people of Israel in an interesting story in chapter 10 of I Samuel. Samuel said of him, “See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king” (I Samuel 10:24).

This began the rule of Saul as the first king of Israel. He was chosen by God, anointed by Samuel, and praised by the people. But the choice young man was a failure.

Saul had only reigned about two years when he was told by Samuel, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…” I Samuel 13:13-14 ESV.

What caused him to be a failure? In the first place, he was a disobedient king. Saul disobeyed Samuel’s instructions by not waiting the seven days as he was commanded before making a decision about the Philistines, and he offered the sacrifice that Samuel was to offer.

Saul disobeyed God again by not completely destroying the Amalekites, I Samuel 15. He was told, “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” I Samuel 15:3-4.

Those were plain, simple instructions, but Saul disobeyed again. He took King Agag alive, spared the best of the sheep, oxen, calves, and lambs. He kept things he considered good and destroyed everything else.

The second reason Saul was a failure was because he was an untruthful king. When Samuel confronted him about his disobedience he said, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal” I Samuel 15:20-21.

Saul claimed to be obedience, and he wasn’t. He blamed the people, but he was responsible. Later, he confessed his sin, but once again he blamed the people, I Samuel 15:24. This strong and mighty man claimed to be afraid of a nation that did just what he told them to do!

The third reason for Saul’s ultimate failure was that he was rebellious and stubborn. Samuel told him, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry” I Samuel 15:23. His disobedience was stubbornness. He destroyed what he wanted destroyed and kept what he wanted to keep.

Lastly, Saul failed because he was a hypocrite. He pretended to be something he wasn’t. He said he obeyed God, but he really didn’t. He said he was sorry for his sin, but he blamed the people. Saul simply did what he wanted to do regardless of God’s instructions, and he never really took responsibility for his actions.

Now, let’s look at us. How many times are we disobedient and make excuses about why we changed God’s plan? How many times do we lie to others and ourselves about why we did something wrong? How many times do we rebel against God because we don’t like what the Bible says? How many times do we profess our Christianity on Sunday, and live like we want through the week?

Saul appeared to be a choice young man, but he turned out to be a total failure. God said, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Sandra Oliver