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Saul began his reign well, but
very soon he became tired of doing right. His heart had not been
made new by the Holy Spirit: so he did not wish to please God, nor
care for holy things, nor pray for help to rule his people rightly. One
year passed away. The Philistines were very busy making ready to
fight against Israel again; but Saul did not try to prevent them. At
last, the Philistines came together in great numbers, and then Saul and
the Israelites began to be very much frightened. Saul went to Gilgal,
and he told all the people to follow his there, and they came trembling
for fear. Was Samuel with
them? No, he did not go to Gilgal directly; but he told Saul to wait
there seven days, and then he promised to come and offer the sacrifice,
and pray for God's blessing. Saul and the people waited till the
seventh day; then they looked for Samuel, but they did not see him
coming. At last, Saul became very impatient, and he would not wait
any longer. He commanded the people to bring the offering, and he
sacrificed it himself, without waiting for Samuel. Was
this right? No; Saul was not a priest, nor a prophet, he had no
right to offer sacrifices, and he disobeyed the command of God and of
Samuel in doing this. Samuel had not forgotten his promise; Saul had
just finished offering the sacrifice, when he looked up, and saw Samuel
coming. Then Saul ran to meet Samuel; for he was not sorry nor
ashamed of the wicked thing he had done. But Samuel said to the
king, "What hast thou done?" Saul answered, "I saw
the Philistines coming, and thou want not here, and therefore I offered
the sacrifice myself." But Samuel said, "Thou hast done
foolishly and wickedly. Thou hast disobeyed the command of
God. He will soon take away the kingdom from thee, and give it to a
better man. God is not thy Friend now, because thou hast disobeyed
and rebelled against Him." Then Samuel arose and went
away. He could not stay with wicked, disobedient Saul, because he
knew that Saul had no love to God, and no wish to please Him. Saul
did not care for God's blessing; pride, and impatience, and rebellion made
him offer the sacrifice; not faith, and love, and obedience to God. When
Samuel was gone, Saul counted his soldiers, and made them ready for
battle. But God was not with Saul, to help him now. Saul
had a son very unlike himself; a son who loved and feared God. His
name was Jonathan. When Jonathan saw the Philistines all waiting in
their tents in great numbers, he called the man who carried his armor, and
said, "Let us go up to the Philistines, and fight them. They
are more and stronger than we; but, if we trust in God, He can help us to
conquer them: He can save by many or by few." Jonathan's
armor-bearer was willing to go; they both went boldly, and showed
themselves to the Philistines. When their enemies saw them, they
called to them to come up, for the Philistines did not fear Jonathan and
his man; they only laughed at them. The way up to the Philistines'
camp was very steep, through sharp rocks. But Jonathan was not
afraid. He called to his armor-bearer, and said, "Come up after
me; for the Lord hath delivered them into our hands." Then they
both began to climb up the rock on their hands and knees, because the way
was so rough and steep. But God helped them, as Jonathan had
said: and brought them in safety to the top of the rock. When
Jonathan and his armor-bearer were at the top of the rock, they began to
fight with their enemies, and God gave them power to conquer, and they
killed twenty men of the Philistines. God made all the Philistines
tremble with fear, and the ground shook too; but He gave strength to
Israel, and they gained the victory that day. Saul did not see
Jonathan and his armor-bearer when they went to the Philistines' camp on
the rock; and he wondered very much when he heard the noise. He
looked round, and counted his men, to see who had gone away; and soon he
found that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. Then Saul
and all his soldiers went to the battle, and fought and conquered the
Philistines. It was God who saved the Israelites, not their own
power. God made the Philistines fall one upon another, for fear made
them like wild, mad men. The
Israelites were very weak and tired that day, for Saul had commanded them
not to eat any food till all their enemies were conquered. But
Jonathan did not hear his father's command. At last the Israelites
came to a wood; the ground there was covered with honey, made by the bees
that had their nests among the trees; the people looked at the honey, and
wanted to eat it; but they were afraid of disobeying the king. They
were very hungry, but they would not taste the honey. But as
Jonathan had not heard the command, he took some honey, and ate, and soon
he felt better and stronger. Then the people told Jonathan what Saul
had said. When the battle
was ended, and the people might eat, they all ran greedily, and killed
oxen, and sheep, and lambs, and began to eat without waiting till the meat
was prepared. Then Saul was angry with them, and said, "Why do
you sin against God, and eat the blood of the animals?" But
Saul forgot that it was his own foolish and cruel command which made the
people do so. Then Saul built an altar to the Lord, in remembrance
of the victory. It was right to thank God, and pray to Him; but
Saul's heart was not right. God knew that Saul did not really love
Him, but only pretended to honor Him. God would not be pleased with
Saul's altars, and sacrifices, and prayers, if wickedness was in Saul's
heart. God knows all our thoughts; He knows when we are sincere, and
when we are not sincere; and He will not bless hypocrites. Saul
said, "Let us go now again in the night, and kill more of the
Philistines. We will not let one escape." But the priest
said, "Let us ask God's blessing before we go." Saul then
asked God, "Shall I go to fight the Philistines? Wilt Thou help
me to conquer them?" But God gave no answer. Then Saul
called all the people, and said, "Come now, and we will ask God to
tell us who has sinned, and why He will not answer our
prayers." So they cast lots, and God made the lot fall on
Jonathan. Saul did not know that Jonathan had eaten the honey, for
the people had not told him. Then Saul called Jonathan and said,
"Tell me what thou hast done?" Jonathan knew that his
father was angry; but he did not try to deny; he was not afraid to confess
the truth. He said directly, "I tasted a little honey in the
wood; I did not hear thy command; and must I die?" Then Saul
said, "Thou shalt surely die, Jonathan." But the people
hid Jonathan, and would not let Saul hurt him. Then the Philistines
went back to their own country, and Saul fought against his other enemies,
the Moabites, and Amalekites, and Ammonites, and conquered them. But
after all his victories, Saul could not be happy. God was not with
him; and riches, and possessions, and victories cannot make us happy
without God's love and blessing.
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