Q. I always felt sorry for Saul. God chose him to lead His people, and he did a good job at it. Saul only made one mistake and God sent David to replace him. I think David did much worse, yet God said, “He’s a man after my own heart.”
These are excellent questions. In this post I’ll look at why God rejected Saul as king. In my next post I’ll consider how God could call David a “man after my own heart.”
Kingship in Israel was supposed to be different from kingship in the surrounding nations. Israel’s king was not to be considered divine. In the law of Moses, God carefully distinguished the priesthood from the kingship and gave future kings careful instructions that put them under the law.
So it was vital that Israelite kings not usurp any priestly or divine prerogatives. The precedent that Saul set as Israel’s first king would influence all of his successors (like George Washington declining a third term). So he was held to a strict standard.
At one point during Saul’s reign, he was campaigning against the Philistines and waiting for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices to seek God’s favor. When Samuel didn’t arrive as soon as he expected, Saul offered these sacrifices himself, assuming the prerogatives of a priest. When Samuel did arrive, he told Saul, “You have done a foolish thing,” using the Hebrew term for people who act without regard for God. Samuel warned that Saul’s kingdom would not endure, meaning that his family would not establish a dynasty. He’d be succeeded on the throne by someone from a different family.
Some time later, however, God gave Saul a new assignment in his capacity as king. Samuel introduces this assignment by saying, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel.” So perhaps this was intended as a “second chance.”
God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites. (This is one of those episodes of total destruction in the Bible that are very difficult for us to understand; I’ve shared some thoughts about them here.) One thing we can recognize in such episodes is that the Israelites were never to take any plunder because weren’t in the war for themselves; they were considered agents of divine judgment.
But Saul and his army spared “the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good.” They only destroyed what they thought was undesirable and worthless. They spared King Agag because in this time captured kings were a prized trophy of war. By conducting this raid as if it were ordinary warfare that he was directing, Saul once again usurped a divine prerogative and misrepresented the character of divine judgment, which doesn’t privilege the powerful and the beautiful.
It seems that God gave Saul a second chance, but this only showed that he still hadn’t learned to respect the limits of his authority as king. And so, to prevent Israelite kingship from being established on the model of the divine kings or priest-kings of surrounding nations, God didn’t allow Saul to establish a dynasty.
Nevertheless, even after Samuel announced this judgment a second time, he granted Saul’s request, “Please honor me [as king] before the elders of my people and before Israel.” Saul reigned for 42 years and throughout that time he was acknowledged as the rightful king. David, even though promised the kingship himself, respected and protected him as the “LORD’s anointed.”
One of the last things we hear about Saul in the Bible is David’s tribute to him after he was killed in battle. Acknowledging how Saul had made Israel secure and prosperous by defeating its enemies, David laments,
Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.
How the mighty have fallen in battle!
So even though Saul wasn’t able to establish an Israelite royal dynasty on the right principles, the Bible acknowledges the benefits Israel received from his long reign.
Good Question 
Saul got a raw deal. He didn’t want to be King to begin with – God forced it on him.
In 1 Sam 10:7, Samuel tells Saul to do “as occasion serves him, since God was with him.”
In 1 Sam 10:8 Samuel tells Saul to wait seven days.
In 1 Sam 13:8 Samuel was late – Saul waited seven days – then made a sacrifice – to God!
In 1 Sam 13:13 Saul violated a command the Lord had given him – but no reference as to what the command was – maybe God had communicated privately with Saul or Samuel told him something that isn’t relayed to the reader.
In 1 Sam 13:14 Samuel didn’t even have to think about it or communicate with God – Samuel told Saul he was finished. Either Samuel knows God’s mind or God had communicated with Samuel before he lollygagged his way to Gilgal.
Something seems fishy – God didn’t want Saul for some reason and goes out of his way to badger him for the rest of Saul’s life, even so far as sending evil spirits to torment him.
Commentators often say that Saul’s treatment of Amalek is what sealed his fate – but God had abandoned Saul long before this.
I too feel sorry for Saul.
Yeah. I also feel sorry for Saul. The people wanted a king and in the end Saul had to pay the price for it because he wasn’t able to do it. In fact he wasn’t supposed to be able to do it… nor any other king. All of Israel history pointed to the coming Messiah and his kingdom. So then the question is. Can we really point fingers at someone like Judas for doing God’s work? Betraying Jesus? I mean, someone had to pick up that burden.
Regarding Judas, I share some thoughts in response to a question similar to yours in this post: Was Judas set up to fail?
A lot was expected of Saul, he was a king after all. This also wasn’t one small mistake, it was rather serious. You can’t think that he didn’t deserve this because we deserve eternity in hell but Jesus Christ saved us of our sins. Also if Samuel was late, that was God’s will.
Thanks so much for this. God bless you sir. You already answered my other questions by telling us how many years he reinged.
In my approach, i the best way to tackle this is by examining the behavior of the two kings, how they differ in obedience, and how they behave after recognizing their sins. While David always repented for his sins and asked the LORD to forgive his transgressions, king Saul did not make a single attempt for repentance. He ended up practicing necromancy or consulting a medium. How many sinners are forgiven by God daily when they repent sincerely. We are all sinners, even worse than Saul, but how many of us take time to recognize our transgressions and repent. We continue in sin after sin. The two kings provide a perfect classroom for modern Christians. If we repent from our sins and kneel before the LORD of hosts, He surely forgive us and renew His covenants with mankind. On the other hand sinning and sinning without repentance is the way to a similar ordeal that Saul faced. Remember also the blasphemy that Belshazzar committed and hand of God humbled him immediately. Let us learn to repent in tears. God is holy and righteous
Good analysis, very nice of you, God has blessed you with His Divine Wisdom please continue to use it for His Glory thank you very much,
God bless you sir, for the great work. I am Bible school student in Nigeria, am Greatfull Sir.
I’m so glad to hear that this blog is helpful to you. May God bless you in your studies as you prepare to serve Him.
can the clay tell the potter how to mold him ?.
very inspiring message God bless
Very interesting
More of it
God vehemently rejected the offering sacrifice of Saul because it was not intended for him to perform. It was Samuel that suppose to do it as required. Though Samuel was late 7 days, it was not the reason for Saul to perform it otherwise.
With regard to David and Solomon, they did it (offered sacrifice) because of heart’s desire to honor God with their personal thanksgiving. Besides there’s no instruction from God in the first place that it should be done by priest.
Thanks for this discussion, I googled “Why did God reject Saul” and this popped up, I found it very helpful. I still sort of feel like Saul got a “raw deal”, like the brother above expressed, but I do feel like I understand the situation a bit better and why the rules Saul broke were more important than I had perhaps considered.
Saul consulted a familiar spirit through a witch, for Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, for by so doing he rebelled against God. This is a serious offence that angered God.
Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft & rebellion the very cause of mans fall. Even as is prophesied “For he will deceive the whole world through Sorcery” read witchcraft, & Saul’s indulgence says much to this.
God left Saul for acting priestly, but a few chapters later, while moving the ark. David sacrificed a bull and wore priestly garments. What’s the difference?
Please see these other posts, which I believe will address your question:
Why did God reject Saul for offering sacrifices, but not David or Solomon?
How could David’s sons have been priests?
Thank you.
God called David a man after his own heart, but he also called him a worm. The former in terms of the Spirit, & the latter in terms of the Sin ( in flesh)
did God love or had favour on David???
In the biblical narrative, God seeks out and chooses David, calling him a man after his own heart, only after King Saul disobeys. So the reason for God’s rejection of Saul isn’t God’s favor for David.
You indicate that God rejected Saul for taking spoils from battle and not destroying the Amalekite king and all the livestock. What about David in I Samuel 27:8-9 when he attacked the Amalekites and destroyed every person so they wouldn’t “inform” on him by revealing his multiple deceptions (vs. 11) but spared animals and clothing, presumably for his own benefit? In the process, he even lied to Achish, king of Gath, about where he obtained this plunder, just like Saul manufactured reasons for his disobedience. Didn’t he know about Saul’s sin in this regard? Or does David get a pass because he didn’t receive “direct” instructions from the Lord? We are told that “such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory”; so he lived a lie for 16 months, calling himself Achish’s servant. And as far as his wives are concerned, he had accumulated 6 wives before he even became king over all Israel, one of whom was the daughter of a king. How many wives does a king need to assure that he has “heirs”? Wasn’t it God who assured David’s dynasty and not his production of multiple sons? And his demand for the return of Michal from Ishbosheth in II Samuel 3 can only be seen as a political move. According to the law of Moses, the fact the Saul had given Michal to another husband after David did not send for her to join him (but he could take two other wives while he was fleeing) suggests that Michal could not be his legitimate wife. She was married to another! The only explanation that makes any sense to me for the difference between God’s treatment of Saul and His treatment of David is God’s sovereign grace: God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Just like all the rest of us, David did nothing to deserve God’s mercy, including God’s choice of David to be king. Why do we as humans work so very hard to find reasons for David to be different from Saul or from the rest of us? It is because of His great mercy that we are not consumed, and that includes David! We diminish God’s mercy when we cannot accept that David does not deserve it any more than Saul does. That he was a man after God’s own heart says everything about who God is and nothing about who David is. If it’s anything else, then there is no hope for any of us.
Interesting point about David. Also, after Solomon married a Egyptian princess and started trading with them (which was strictly forbidden) God even asked him if there is anything else he wanted… I Kings 3. I find it pretty strange.
God doesn’t like people who rely on themselves or that believe in themselves. Hard to hear, but it is true. David always prayed before fighting; against the bear, the lion and Goliath, and before every battle. He actually cried, sang, danced and praised to God and wrote him many psalms.
He made a tremendous mistake, but God forgave him because he cameback to the right path. He cried and praised God.
Those are the 2 points that God wants in everybody, and they are so difficult: He wants yo to cry to Him and to praise Him. That is why God made a distinction between David and everybody else.
We, Men, that want to take the justice on our own hands and beat down our adversaries, are hated by God.
Great breakdown Christopher. I have a question, when you said, “When Samuel did arrive, he told Saul, “You have done a foolish thing,” using the Hebrew term for people who act without regard for God.” Where do you find that Hebrew term breakdown at? Is there a certain reference book you use? I’ve always wanted to know when I’ve heard other pastors say the same.
In seminary I learned to read Greek and Hebrew so that I could prepare sermons on the Bible from the original languages. But I think that without learning those languages, you could get a commentary on a given book of the Bible or group of related books, such as 1-2 Samuel, and it would explain this kind of thing. There are commentaries written for pastors and professors, and also commentaries written for a more popular audience. Look around online or in a Christian bookstore and see what you can find.
Thanks for your response. Ah I see, I did find something about a BDAG and BDB. Are those hard to learn on your own? And thanks, I’ll look around and see what I find. In your opinion, what’s the closest version of the Bible to those original languages?
BDAG and BDB are excellent Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, respectively. To use them you need to be able to recognize the Greek and Hebrew words in their own alphabets. The New American Standard Bible is designed to be as close as possible to the actual wording of the original. The American Standard Bible of 1901 was designed in the same way and I personally feel it does an excellent job of reflecting the original words and structures. It’s my go-to for that purpose. You can read it on bibleGateway.com.
The mistake Saul.did was consult with the witch. That’s not a small mistake .
Moses was not allowed to enter into the promised Land because of ANGER,he got angry that he hit the rock with his rod so hard, when God actually told him to just touch the rock with his rod, he never knew it was Good he hits, the Isrealites got him so angry,so he took this anger to the place.
In the episode you describe, God actually told Moses just to speak to the rock. God did not tell him to touch it rather than to strike it. Perhaps you are mentioning this episode in a comment on this post to suggest that Saul also got carried away by emotion and that was why he disobeyed God.
God is so wonderful and mysterious in all His ways that we will never be abl e to comprehend some of the things He does or even to get the satisfactory answers to our ‘ Why ? ‘
thank you for giving me this information,now I know why Moses could not enter the Promise Land thank You
Nice blog thanks for posting