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but as it was, he lost the kingdom, and another man, after the Lord's own heart, was
sought. It was under this awful shadow that Saul lived until his tragic end, and it was
because of this promise concerning another, that he persecuted David.
We find that, while Saul did not render full obedience to the Lord, either in the matter
of Gilgal, or in the commission to destroy the Amalekites (I Sam. 15:), he was very
determined to keep his own oath, even though it were foolish to do so (I Sam. 14:).
Saul's dreadful end was perceived by Samuel to be incipient in his early disobedience,
for he said: "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" (I Sam. 15: 23); and it was for
resorting to witchcraft that Saul died (I Chron. 10: 13). He Who knows the hearts of all
men, saw what was hidden from the human eye. At the beginning Saul was meek,
forbearing, generous, just as his antitype, the Antichrist at the time of the end, shall come
in peaceably with flatteries. The reader will remember that, at the anointing of David,
Samuel was told not to look upon the outward appearance.
However the matter may appear on the surface, and not forgetting the mercy extended
by Saul (I Sam. 11: 13), it still remained true, as Samuel said in the succeeding chapter,
that by making Saul king, they had rejected the Lord.
"And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon came against you,
ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your
king" (I Sam. 12: 12).
Such is the gist of this first section of the life of Saul. Where Saul failed, the Lord
Jesus overcame. Tempted to seek the kingdom and the glory by a short cut He repudiated
the offer, and was content, though rejected by the cities that had seen his mighty works,
to wait God's time, saying, "Even, so, Father".
We commend the study of this section to the reader, believing that the outline supplied
will enable him to consider the intervening detail without losing sight of the main
argument. If we have contributed in any way towards making that argument clear, we are
indeed thankful. The task before us in these books of the kingdom is formidable, and
were it not for the consciousness that we have a work to do, we might well feel the
burden to be too great. However, when He commands He also enables, and so we trust
that we shall continue, ever being able to say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us".