1 Chronicles 10:14 And inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. This topic is suggested by the expression, "Therefore he slew him." This passage gives the reason for the death of Saul, as viewed from a later standpoint; amoral is pointed from it that might serve as a warning to the returned captives of Babylon. Saul came under judgment, and we must see that it was Divine judgment. It may be well to form a careful estimate of Saul's character and reign, so that the Divine dealings with him may be worthily apprehended. "It is impossible not to recognize elements of good in him. David's lament does but express the national admiration for one, who, in his best days, must have been both prudent in counsel and mighty in war. We cannot fail to see the evil taint of self-will making sinister marks across the entire record and utterly darkening the closing chapters." There is little bat warning to be gathered from the story of King Saul; but we should receive those warnings humbly, for "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." I. GOD'S JUDGMENTS FIND EARTHLY SPHERES. One of the great objects for the sake of which the Old Testament histories are preserved to us is to convince us that God visits sins now, and lets his judgments be executed here on earth. Judgment, in Saul's case, came on a battle-field; it may come on a sick-bed or a ruined home. Our tendency is to call earthly troubles accidents, and to shift the idea of Divine judgment into the world that is to come. We think that God will judge, condemn, and execute his judgments there, and so we too easily separate him from the calamities of our life. It is to be impressively apprehended that Saul had his judgment in this sphere. No man can be sure of postponing the Divine judgment to the next life. Whosoever "transgresseth" lies under this exceeding peril; the Divine indignation is over him now, and he has no security as to how or when it will fall. II. GOD'S JUDGMENTS AND HUMAN AGENTS. This needs to be set forth so as to correct a common fallacy and self-deception. Men may be willing to admit that fire and tempest, famine and pestilence, are executive agents of God, and work out his judgments, but they are less willing to see that their fellow-men, even in doing wrong, may be used by God as his executioners. Even the Philistines, in their violence and wilfulness, became the executors of the Divine wrath on Saul. See how much larger and more comprehensive a view of the Divine administration this gives; and it may afford some very humbling revelations of some misunderstood passages of our lives. Maybe we thought ourselves only wronged by men; through the wrong we were punished by God. III. THE EARTHLY AND THE HUMAN JUDGMENTS MUST NOT HIDE THE DIVINE IN THEM. As we see things, the Philistines defeated Saul and he ultimately slew himself. But we must not thus obscure the Divine. The deeper truth is that God slew him. So of the incidents of our lives; nothing should hide the Divine meaning of them. IV. THE EARTHLY AND THE HUMAN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONFUSE OUR VIEWS OF THE FUTURE AND ETERNAL JUDGMENT. No judgment, limited to the earthly spheres, can be properly said to exhaust the Divine sentence. God wants the next life for the adequate vindications of his righteousness. The fact of a man's having suffered in this life gives him no security against judgment to come. V. THE EARTHLY AND THE HUMAN FIND THEIR COMPLETE MISSION, NOT IN THE SUFFERER, BUT IN THE WARNING OF THOSE WHO MAY HEAR OF THE JUDGMENT. This is illustrated in the preservation of the records of the Flood, the destruction of Sodom, the ruin of Balaam, the miserable end of Saul, etc. Deal with our Lord's teachings concerning "calamity." Distinguish "calamity" from "judgment." We call a thing a judgment when we can connect together ? as in Saul's case ? the sin and the suffering. Otherwise we say, "It is a calamity, and it may be a judgment." Plead for a real and practical belief in God's present rule, and solemn vindications el his will and authority, both in national and individual spheres. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. |
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