A Clean Heart
by the Rev. AJ Ochart
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 51:10-14
Sermon Notes
This week, we move up a little in the scroll of Samuel, but a lot has happened. Samuel grew and became a strong leader among the twelve tribes. However, he suffered from the same hubris as his master, and his sons did not follow in his righteousness. The people, tired of having God raise up Judges in times of distress, demand that Samuel anoint a king for them (just alike all of the other nations around them). At first he refuses, noting that the LORD is supposed to be their king. God, on the other hand, tells Samuel that they are rejecting God as king, so give them what they want.
Samuel goes back before the people, and tells them exactly what it will mean to have a king (I post it here, just in case you might need it…)
8:10 So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots,12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.16 He will take your male and female slaves and the best of your cattle[b]and donkeys and put them to his work.17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.18 And on that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”
b. 8.16Gk: Heb young men
The people insist on a king, so Samuel relents. Saul, from the small tribe of Benjamin, is anointed as the first king. There are two stories (likely from two different traditions) about how he is chosen. In one, Saul has lost his donkeys, and his slave tells him that there is a ‘seer’ (Prophet), who he should consult. They go to see Samuel, who invites Saul to a feast, and then anoints him as king the next morning. In the other story, Saul is chosen at a tribal assembly by ‘casting lots.’ Saul is “head and shoulders taller than any of them.” In this story, several of the northern tribes refuse to accept Saul as king, until he wins a decisive victory against the Ammonites.
Saul starts out alright, but quickly lets the power go to his head. One time he had gathered an army against the Philistines in Gilead. He was supposed to wait for Samuel to make a sacrifice to the LORD, but he got impatient and Saul made the sacrifice instead. This was a big deal because he overstepped his authority, only Priests and Prophets were supposed to make sacrifices.
Saul also was known for making unwise and sudden decisions. In another battle; Johnathan, Saul’s son, attacked some Philistines, trusting that God was on their side. The texts says that God gave Johnathan victory and when the other Israelites saw this, they joined in the battle. However, Saul made a rash oath, saying that anyone who ate anything before they got victory would be cursed. Johnathan, not hearing the oath, ate some honey comb, and when he heard about the oath, told everyone how dumb it was.
The final straw was a battle against the Amalekites. According to the text, Saul’s instructions were to completely kill everyone and everything in the city (this brings up a whole thing about God’s seeming approval of genocide, which is complex and troubling, however, that is the story that we have). Saul, however, saves a bunch of the livestock (a major source of wealth in the ancient world), and spares the king of the Amalekites (likely to use as a bargaining chip with some of his allies). When Samuel arrives, he is not very pleased, especially when Saul claims that he saved the livestock to be sacrifices for the LORD. Samuel kills the Amalekite king himself, and tells Saul that he has now been rejected as king, and that his kingdom would be ripped away from him.
Samuel has now returned to his home in Ramah, and is grieving over selecting Saul as King in the first place.
Questions to Consider
- What are the qualities that you look for in a person?
- How can our opinions be influenced by someone’s appearance, height, race, etc?
- What qualities does God look for?
