11/06/2025
Good Wednesday morning. From Pastor Gary
If you were going to make a list of men in the Bible who were blessed by God such that you would want to say 'I hope you are blessed as this man was blessed', would you put King Saul on that list?
The picture that I have of Saul is a man filled with jealousy that produced rage and mental anguish. He had everything handed to him on a silver platter and his shortsightedness and selfish ambition tore it all away.
But wait -
His son, Jonathan, saw a different picture. When he saw his father, Saul, he saw a man blessed by God. Look at his statement to David in 1 Samuel 20: 13.
"And may the Lord be with you as he has been with my father."
Jonathan looked at the life of his father and saw the blessing of God. When I look for what Jonathan saw, I come to the same conclusion.
The Lord lifted Saul out of obscurity and made him King.
He was Israel's first king. There had been pretenders before but Saul was the first sanctioned by the Lord and accepted by the entire nation. There would be many to follow, but there was only one who was first.
David considered Saul to be the anointed by God - not to be touched without consequences.
God had given Saul personal assurances that he was the right choice. Read 1 Samuel 10: 1 - 7 and see how God bolstered Saul's confidence that he was chosen. See how God 'turned him into another man.'
There was unity in Israel through his entire reign. He was the last - and only - king to see that. Not even David and Solomon were without opposition.
He was, for the most part of his reign, successful against Israel's worst enemy - the Philistines. For a time David was a large part of that, but Saul had his successes too. When Saul took 3,000 men and went after David, he did it after he was finished 'following' the Philistines. He had them on the run.
In his eulogy to Saul, in 2 Samuel 1: 17 - 27, David reflected on how Saul's reign brought prosperity to Israel.
There is more, but this is enough to demonstrate that the Lord had blessed Saul. Yet it is undeniable that things ended miserably for Saul and most of his family.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. 2 Timothy 3: 16.
How does this profit me?
First, the goodness of God is to lead me to repentance. Romans 2: 4. When I am prone to sin and rebellion I need to look at the good way that God has treated me and repent. How could I act in any other manner considering his goodness to me?
Second, the value of a man is not seen in either his own ability or his failures. It is the touch of God on a person's life that gives he or she value. As David wrote, "What is man that you are mindful of him". Psalm 8: 4. Blessing should drive me to humility.
Third - we have a God whose desire is to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. To this end, Christ went to the cross. I am no more deserving of the blessing of God than Saul was. On the cross, Christ showed me the end that I deserve and then He took it for me.
And that makes this Wednesday a good Wednesday to reflect on the blessing and goodness of the Lord.
Have a good Wednesday.
