Seeking God's Heart

And Samuel said to Saul, “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, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.

1 Samuel 13:13-15

Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). God’s holy word says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Throughout Scripture God urges us to seek Him and to love Him, and to demonstrate our love by obeying His commands. God is King. He is the ultimate authority and power across spiritual and material realms in the heavens and on earth – everywhere. He provides. He protects. He is the One upon whom we should place our trust. He is the One we should bow before in reverence, awe, and trembling, but history shows that we mere humans tend to forget His lordship, lose sight of His light, and stray out into the darkness where we mistake falsehood for truth and improper ideas as God’s holy will.

We all make mistakes. We choose poorly at times. We go against His will and fail to follow His instructions for living a good life. The question is not whether we will act perfectly – as hard as we try, we will not achieve that standard. The question is are we seeking Him, desiring Him, acknowledging our continuous need of Him? Are we people who seek His heart, or do we merely seek the benefits of His blessing? When we realize our poor choices, that we have rebelled against Him or His holy will, do we pridefully try to justify our actions or do we repent, fall before God, and beg for mercy and forgiveness?

Scripture contrasts the first two kings of Israel. Both made bad choices, yet God rejected one and embraced the other. He rejected the one who sought God’s favor purely for personal gain and embraced the one who humbly sought God, not for personal gain, but simply because he recognized who God is.

David made some horrific choices. Among others, he either seduced or raped a married woman, and murdered her husband to cover up the offense. When a man of God called David out for this, David acknowledged his sin and repented (see 2 Samuel 11-12), and threw himself before God begging for mercy. David wrote,

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!…

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:1-2 and 15-17

David made awful choices, yet he sought God’s heart. In contrast, Saul sought the benefits of God’s blessing, not God. God rejected Saul, not because Saul made poor choices, but because Saul did not seek God.

Before looking at Saul’s story, we should each consider our prayers. What is the content of our prayers? What is the ratio of prayers (i) throwing ourselves before God in reverence and awe, crying out to Him, praising Him, worshiping Him, rejoicing in His holy name, seeking Him and His direction with an open heart versus (ii) prayers asking God to bless decisions we made without consulting Him and asking Him to intervene correcting problems in our lives? It involves balance. No prayer is bad, but we may find ourselves seeking the benefits of His blessing without seeking Him. What is our motivation?

Since we are focusing on the books of Samuel today, let’s consider an example of a prayer finding the balance – the prayer prayed by Samuel’s mother in 1 Samuel 1. Hannah weeps bitterly and cries out to God in anguish, praying for Him to grant her a son, and she concludes her prayer saying, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes” (1 Samuel 1:18). After praying, she trusts and knows God is with her. She is no longer sad. She asks God to intervene, but her heart seeks Him whether He does so or not.

With that in mind, let’s consider Saul. The story really begins before God anoints Saul as king. The story begins when the elders of Israel demand that God appoint a king for them. God sees their request as a rejection of His kingship. God created Israel. He delivered them from slavery and provided daily sustenance during the Exodus and delivered the Promised Land to them. He gave them battle after battle. They were His chosen people and He provided for and protected them. He provided everything a king could and more, yet they wanted a human king. God was angry with their demand.

Scripture says this following their plea:

And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” 1 Samuel 8:6-9

God is king, yet His chosen people rejected Him. They rebelled against His authority. They said they wanted a human king, but God warned them. He tried to convince them that they did not really want a human king. He urged them to realize they did not understand what they were asking for. He said a human king would conscript them into involuntary military service, take their daughters to serve him, take the best of their produce and property, demand taxes, and use his military might to enslave them. God concludes His warning saying,

“He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 1 Samuel 8:17-18

But the people would not listen. They continued demanding a king, and God reluctantly granted their request. He chose Saul to serve as the first king of Israel. Out of all His chosen people, God chose Saul and sent Samuel to anoint him.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince[b] over his heritage. 1 Samuel 10:1

Samuel proceeds to explain in intricate detail exactly where Saul should go and who he will meet and what he will experience, and Samuel tells Saul this so when it happens, Saul will believe God has truly appointed him king over Israel. Samuel concludes the prophecy saying,

And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” 1 Samuel 10:5-8

Everything happened exactly the way Samuel said it would (see 1 Samuel 10:9). God gave Saul a new heart and Saul prophesied. Just as God said he would, Saul conscripted an army of 3,000. They defeated a Philistine garrison, and suddenly the full force of the Philistine army, including 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and “troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude” (1 Samuel 13:5), prepared to attack Israel. Saul’s conscripted soldiers were deserting. He was down to 600 soldiers wielding farm implements – there were two swords among them all (see 1 Samuel 13:15-23). The situation was beyond desperate.

Saul knew Samuel had instructed him to wait seven days for Samuel to come to him to offer sacrifices to God. Saul waited seven days, but Samuel did not arrive. Saul knew the Philistines greatly outnumbered his army, and they might attack at any time. He wanted to offer sacrifices to God for protection, so he took it upon himself to offer burnt sacrifices to God. He was not a priest. He had no authority to offer sacrifices. He violated the system God had implemented. As soon as he offered the sacrifices, Samuel arrived. When Samuel asked Saul about his poor choice, Saul justified his actions. Rather than admit his mistake, repent, and beg God for forgiveness, he dug his heels in insisting his actions were justified (see 1 Samuel 13:8-15).

God rebuked and rejected Saul because Saul was not seeking God’s heart. He offered sacrifices, not to worship God, but merely in pursuit of God’s protection. He violated God’s rules and in response to Samuel’s rebuke, he demonstrated his pride-filled heart by justifying his actions without humility, repentance or reverence of God.

Despite this, God continued to protect His people. He delivered them through battles, and Saul continued disobeying God’s word. Ultimately the following exchange occurred:

And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 1 Samuel 15:26

As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tore his clothes, confessed his sin, and begged Saul to stay with him. But God knew Saul’s heart. God had said He wanted a man who sought God’s heart, and He knew Saul was not that man. Two chapters later, David defeats Goliath, starting his rise to become the new leader of Israel.

What are we to learn from these accounts from so long ago? God is king. He is the almighty One who provides, protects, comforts, teaches and so much more. When His people requested a king, He urged them to reconsider and return to His kingship. When they insisted, God relented and wanted to appoint a king who sought God’s heart. Perhaps it is a stretch, but would it be fair to leap from that truth to the thought that God wants to use in His service people who seek Him, and perhaps further, that God favors those who seek Him?

Both Saul and David made horrific choices. In fact, David’s choices look far worse than Saul’s, yet God rejected Saul not David because David sought God’s heart. If God required perfection before humans could taste His favor, He would have only favored one, His unique Son, Christ Jesus. But perfection is not the requirement. According to His holy word, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…” (1 Samuel 13:14). God seeks those who long for Him.

In the account we see the desires of human hearts reveal themselves through actions. After making mistakes, David repented, begged for forgiveness, humbled himself. Jesus says if we love Him we will obey His commands (see John 14:15-24). He does not expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to repent, beg for forgiveness and humble ourselves when our thoughts and actions do not align with His holy will.

We should each ask ourselves, what am I seeking when I reach out to God. Do I genuinely seek Him, or just His blessing? May you truly seek God’s heart, Amen.

Randy AllenMarch 2, 2023