SUNDAY February 24, 2019
Confidence in the King
Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.”
1 Samuel 11:12-13
Notice, at this point, Saul had not done anything great as a king. God took Saul and exalted him a little in the battle against the Ammonites. He wanted to show the people Saul was their anointed king. When the people of Israel saw the king’s wisdom, power, judgment and his strategy used against the Ammonites, they become more confident in their king. The people realized Saul had success in battle because the Lord was leading him.
Some of the people wanted the men who opposed and rebelled against Saul being king, put to death. However, Saul did not want the people’s focus to be on the rebels by putting them to death on a day of victory and rejoicing. Saul did not want to overshadow Israel’s time of rejoicing against their enemies, the Ammonites, by shedding more blood.
He showed himself as a king of mercy and directed the people to know salvation belonged to Israel––God had delivered His people. King Saul wisely placed the people’s focus back on the Lord. However, later in his life, Saul would fail in his leadership. His disobedience would greatly influence the people of Israel, and they would lose their confidence in him.
As Christians, our God is King. We place our full confidence in Him and not in man. The Bible tells us: It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes(Psalm 118:8-9). We can be used by the Lord to be a strong influence in people’s lives. We have a responsibility to direct people to the Lord and not to us. If we place their eyes on us, we shall fail them.
When the leader lacks confidence the followers lack commitment.
~John Maxwell~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!