"The Sins of Saul Continue"

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 18-20, Psalm 11, 59

                Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure that Saul had a list of accomplishments a mile long that were good and a blessing to the Lord.  Sadly though, as we continue our study, we seem to only focus on his shortcomings.  Even after the situation with Agag, the King of Amalek, Saul remained King of Israel even though the LORD had already selected David to be his replacement.  Saul knew his reign would end badly, yet he did not know that God had already ordained David.  Shortly after the selection of David, we see his Giant accomplishment of faith (pun intended) in his defeat of Goliath.  Of course, Saul celebrated David’s victory as well because it bought him more time as the King.  However, as time progressed, that would change.  David’s popularity had grown so much that it had surpassed that of the king.  Then the comparisons began; Saul had slain his thousands, and David his ten thousand (I Samuel 18.6).  This made Saul grow jealous and very angry, and from that day on he looked at David with “suspicion”.  Then the very next day, Saul’s anger overtook him as an attempt to pin David to the wall with his spear.  By God’s grace, he missed, but the damage was already done.  The spirit of the LORD had been removed from Saul and was now on David.  Saul’s jealously and anger continue for the next several chapters as Saul continues to seek to kill David.   It doesn’t take very long for us to see the dreadful spiral downward of King Saul, once the LORD’s anointed, now Satan’s pawn.  How could all this happen?  Sadly, it is very simple; the moment when Saul began to think of himself more highly than he ought to think -he fell.  The reason why the proverb of Solomon is true concerning pride going before destruction, is that pride forces us to keep our focus on self.  When we become obsessed with self, we fail to see the traps that Satan has laid out for us and we fall into them.  Sadly, we keep falling repeatedly until we get to the point of no return.  I pray that we never get to that point, but that we continue to strive to maintain a clear understanding of who we are and who God is. 
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