Verse 8: Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?"
Saul started out humble; almost embarrassed that he was chosen king. But the humility didn’t last long. As power got its’ claws into Saul, humility melted away. Over the last chapters we have seen a shift in Saul from amazement at ‘what the Lord can do through me to it’s mine and I have to protect it.’
As David, Saul’s general, meets with more and more success, Saul grows more and more jealous. The underlined sentence above makes it clear that preservation of “his” kingdom is now Saul’s ultimate concern. God? Where is God in this picture? No where to be seen.
I have seen this tragedy play out in life more times than I care to recall. A church hires a youth director whose program grows to be wildly successful. Instead of rejoicing, the lead pastor grows suspicious and eventually the youth pastor gets ushered out the door. Sadly a number of my seminary contemporaries felt the wrath of an envious Sr. Pastor.
I have seen it in business where a young Jr. Executive begins to make a name for him/herself. Somewhere along the rise up the ladder, the other-centeredness of the executive is replaced with ‘watch out for #1’ and her/his best qualities are boiled out of their life by the heat of success.
Life is a gift; received and lived as such. We can do our best without letting our egos and self-preservation get in the way. God, after all, is in control. It is His favor, His connections and His blessing that allows us to succeed in the first place. When we forget this and fall for the lie that it is all about ME, we are doomed to the pitiful life of Saul…
Think about it…
O, God, keep me ever mindful that You control the world, that You invite me to work in this little corner of it, and You provide the successes. It is about You, O Lord, and following Your lead and living for You. It never has and never will be about me. Teach me this lesson, O Lord, as many times as it takes for it to sink into the fabric of my life… amen.
I appreciate your thought about life and GOD. It is true that if we want success with true soul then God helps us to succeed in the first place. Otherwise....GOD teach us a lesson....Thank you!
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