“Why the Defeat?” – FBC Morning Light (4/10/2024)

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you. I hope your week is going well, and here we are in the middle of it already, and middle of this week, we're approaching the middle of April, and time marches on.

Well today, in our Bible reading, we're in 1 Samuel 31, so we're ending the book of 1 Samuel, and then beginning 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel 1, but then we're also jumping to 1 Chronicles chapter 10, and getting a review, if you will, of what happened in 1 Samuel 31, and then reading Psalm 5.

Saul’s Death in 1 Samuel and the Review in 1 Chronicles 10

I want to zero in on what the Lord tells us in 1 Chronicles chapter 10. As I said, 1 Chronicles 10 is like a review of 1 Samuel 31. 1 Samuel 31 tells us the account of the death of Saul, how the Philistines had overcome the Israelites in this battle, and Saul ends up getting wounded, and he ends up dying, and so does Saul's son, Jonathan, and other son as well, and it's just a tragic, tragic ending.

And if you're just reading the account of this battle between the Israelites and the Philistines, you would likely conclude that, well, you know, the Israelites, they were just overpowered. The forces of the Philistines were just too strong for them, and that's why Saul died, that's why he was defeated in battle.

But that would be really a misunderstanding of what happened here. It's a logical conclusion, but as is often the case in these biblical passages of battles and so forth, we're given some behind-the-scenes looks at what really happened here.

Saul’s Unfaithfulness and the Lord’s Judgment

Why did Saul lose this battle? Why did he perish? Ah, for that, we get the answer in 1 Chronicles chapter 10 and in verses 13 and 14. Here it is. It says, So Saul died, not because the Philistines were too strong for him, Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.

Now, we didn't talk about that, but back in 1 Samuel, the end of 1 Samuel, we have that account of Saul going to the witch of Endor, trying to, you know, find out what's going on, how can I get, you know, how can I get victory over the Philistines and so forth.

And that's, you know, the witch brought up the spirit of Samuel, she thought, and it's the way it seemed, and the spirit of Samuel told Saul, you're gonna die tomorrow in the battle, and that just sent Saul in a tailspin, understandably.

And that's exactly what happened, exactly what happened. But, that was horrible transgression against the Lord, to go visit a medium to try to bring up the dead. So, Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, on the one hand, and secondly, because he consulted a medium for guidance.

And verse 14 gives us some further explanation about that seeking of the medium. It says, he did not inquire of the Lord. So, rather than repenting for his sin and getting right with the Lord and seeking the Lord's forgiveness and the Lord's guidance and favor, Saul persisted in his disobedience, he persisted in his animosity against David, he persisted in defying the will of the Lord, and therefore, when he did try to get God to give him some answers, God wouldn't give him.

There was no repentance on Saul's part, so there were going to be no answers. So Saul turned to a medium, to a witch, for guidance. This was the basis for Saul's defeat in battle. And the end result, the last part of verse 14, says that the Lord turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

The very thing that Saul was working so hard to prevent, the Lord guaranteed that it would come to pass. So, Saul's death was not because of an overwhelming army, but because of woeful spiritual weakness and sin.

Keeping Short Accounts with the Lord

Oh, let's again, even as we ended yesterday's challenge, let's be sure that we keep short accounts with the Lord. Let's not allow sin to root itself in our minds and our hearts and fester and grow and hold on to it tenaciously.

There's no good end to that. So Father, again, challenge us with this today, and encourage us, encourage us to have a heart that is eager to turn from sin and to be right with you, we pray. In Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday. Lord bless you in it.