Saul was Israel’s first king.  He is one of the most interesting studies in human nature in scripture. He is often contrasted with King David in studies about leadership or being a spiritual man.  Saul is always the “don’t do it that way” part of the study. In his defense, he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about becoming king in the first place. In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel began to express their desire to be governed by a king like all the nations that surrounded them.  Until that time, Israel had been a theocracy governed by God himself with judges and priests representing him. God warns them about the perils of giving that much power to a man but the people insist.  In response, God sends Samuel to Kish the Benjamite who had an impressive son named Saul. God commanded Samuel to find Saul and anoint him as king over Israel.   Samuel did so with several objections from Saul.  However, as Saul was anointed by the prophet, the Spirit of God came on him and changed his heart so that Saul accepted this appointment to be king.

Saul seemed to do well in the beginning of his reign but it wasn’t long before some serious character flaws began to immerge. A huge turning point in Saul’s reign is reported in 1 Samuel 15.  In that chapter, God commanded Saul to attack the Amalekites as judgment against their sins. God clearly told Saul to destroy the tribe and everything in it.  They were to spare no one and nothing as judgment against them. This text from that chapter is telling.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

Two fatal flaws stand out in Saul’s character is this chapter.  First of all, we discover that Saul craved the approval of men more than the approval of God. Why else would he go to Carmel to set up a monument in his own honor?  Those who seek the approval of men to such a degree always question their own value or competence. Saul seemed to have little faith that the God who had established his kingdom could keep it secure. And so he built a monument proclaiming his greatness to the people like some third world dictator brandishing a slew of shiny brass medals he never earned. Those who are not convinced of their authority go to great lengths to convince others of their authority.  Those who have little character, pay others to proclaim what great men they are. Perhaps, they are hoping to believe it themselves.

Finally, when Samuel caught up with him at Gilgal, Saul greeted him with proclamations about how he had thoroughly obeyed the Lord’s commands to destroy the Amalekites.  Of course, Samuel immediately heard evidence to the contrary and soon discovered that Saul had spared the life of Agag, the king of Amalek, as well. And yet, apparently in Saul’s view he had been completely obedient to the Lord. His personal wants and desires often blinded him to his own disobedience. Theologians call it “accommodative theology” which means I interpret scripture in a way that accommodates my personal desires or situation to the exclusion of God’s true intent.

Before we skewer Saul for his monument building and playing fast and loose with the Lord’s commands, we need to acknowledge that we each have a little of Saul in us.  Even the best of us succumb to the praise of men at times and promoting ourselves in order to maintain our positions of “power and influence” or, at least, to secure our place in the “pecking order” of our social group or business. How many of us have “engineered” outcomes that we desired rather than waiting to see if the Lord would establish the thing – a relationship, a job promotion, an invitation, a house or a car we couldn’t afford, etc.?  After we had forced all the square pegs into the round holes to get what we wanted, we declared it was God’s leading, even if it violated a few biblical principles along the way.  In manipulating circumstances to get what we want, we reveal our belief that God can’t be trusted to give is the things that make us happy. We also reveal our belief that happiness is more important than holiness. Saul simply reinterpreted God’s commands so that he could give away what he didn’t care about and keep the things his flesh craved while declaring that he was God’s man all the way.

In the end, those character traits cost him his kingdom and his destiny. No doubt we all “mess up.”  Certainly King David had his share of spiritual failures and character lapses.  But the real proof of a man’s character is not always in whether or not he “blows it,” but rather in his response when he does. Saul consistently excused and rationalized his failings – sometimes with outlandish self-justifications. David acknowledged his sin, took full responsibility for it, and trusted in the unfailing love and mercy of God.

David’s view of God was significantly different from Saul’s.  David held a firm belief that the throne was God’s all along. God had put him on the throne and would keep him there as long as God determined. He was also willing to relinquish the throne the day that God said he was done. David also hungered for God more than the throne and more than the approval of men. Those perspectives made him great in the kingdom of God even though he had some serious train wrecks from time to time.

I’m convinced that we all have a little of David in us and a little of Saul.  To the extent that our sense of significance comes from our position or our popularity rather than from our relationship with the Father, God cannot trust us with more. More would lead us into idolatry. To the extent that we “engineer” the outcomes we desire rather than waiting on a word from God, God will not be able to bless those outcomes otherwise we would think that he simply exists to do our bidding like a cosmic butler or the genie in a bottle.

In the end, Saul went a little crazy trying to protect his throne from David even though God had told him that his throne had been taken away. Paranoia, jealous rages, and monuments to himself were the results of believing that his throne, power, and influence were his rather than God’s. David held it all loosely and viewed his throne, power and influence as simply things God had given him to steward until he took them back.  His goal was to please God rather than men. Eventually, Messiah will sit on the throne of David forever. Saul’s name will stay in the “don’t do it that way” category.  These things are written for our learning and on occasion we need to scan our own lives and motives to see if we are on a good trajectory or headed for disaster. Have we been busy building monuments for God or for ourselves?

Anointing oil had an essential and sacred function in the tabernacle.  First of all, God gave Moses a very specific recipe for making the anointing oil. Myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia, and olive oil were the ingredients. God designated the amounts of those spices and declared that this oil was never to be used for anything other than marking the tabernacle, all of its furnishings, and the priests as being consecrated to God and set apart for his purposes. If anyone used the oil for any other purposes or put it on any person who was not a priest, he was to be cut off from the people (Ex.30:22-33).

Every item or priest that was anointed by this sacred oil was consecrated and made holy.  After that, they were never to be used for ordinary purposes again but only in service to God. Most scholars believe that the anointing oil represented the Holy Spirit whose anointing now enables us to serve the living God. The implications of that are significant.

1. God gives the anointing, the Holy Spirit, only to priests.  Therefore, you are a priest if you have the Spirit of Christ in you.

2. Priests served in the presence of God, so we serve in the presence of God.  That is why we are told, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17).  Whether we are praying, worshiping, washing dishes, or mowing the lawn, we are in the presence of God because his presence is within us.  It is the anointing. Because of that, whatever we do is to be done with Jesus in mind and done as an offering to him.

The anointing consecrates us.  It sets us apart for service unto Him and we are never to be used for ordinary purposes again. That means that you are sacred.  You have the seal of the Holy Spirit on you.  You are marked for God’s purposes and his purposes are extraordinary. Everything you do as an anointed believer is significant because it is sacred.

I understand that a lot of what we do in life doesn’t feel sacred.  Cleaning house, paying the bills, and changing diapers just don’t feel spiritual. But you are a priest all the time. The Holy Spirit is in you every moment.  Even the everyday functions of life are sacred simply because you are doing them in the presence of God. Cleaning burnt fat off of the Altar of Burnt Offering and scrubbing the bowls that had the dried blood of bulls and goats probably didn’t seem sacred.  It was dirty, stinky work.  But because it contributed to the glory of God and because it was done by an anointed priest it was holy.  Everything we do as believers should contribute to the glory of God because we should do it all with excellence “as unto the Lord.”  As Spirit-filled believers, every part of our lives should point to Jesus and, therefore, has a holy significance.

3. The anointing carries the enabling power of God for the things you are called to do. Kings received it and priests received it.  It represented the Spirit of God and, therefore, declared that God’s Spirit would enable these men to fulfill their office with wisdom, character, and power. His anointing on us declares the same thing. We should never feel as if the ministry that God has set before us, whether church, business or family, is beyond our reach.  You are anointed.

When Peter calls us a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) he is declaring that we are both kings and priests.  John says that God has made us kings and priests (Rev.1:6). You are anointed to lead, to rule, to worship, and to serve. You are anointed to represent God before men. You are set apart for service unto God and for extraordinary purposes.

Keep that truth in your heart today when the accuser of the brethren whispers how insignificant and incompetent you are or when you begin to feel that your life is ordinary and meaningless.  Remember the anointing.  Look for the sacred. Ask for a revelation of how the smallest things have priestly significance in the kingdom of God. Understand who you are – God’s king and priest on the earth and his anointing is for you and no other.

After 30 years of pastoral counseling and working through my own “issues,” I am convinced that nearly every personal struggle walking into a pastor’s or therapist’s office has been birthed out of a negative self image.  Most of us come into the world hungering to know who we are.  Our view of ourselves is shaped by the responses of those around us. We ask a few basic questions in a multitude of ways.  Who am I?  Do I matter?  Does my life have significance? Am I worthy of love? Am I competent? Do I belong?

These basic questions begin to be answered immediately after existing the birth canal.  When I cry, do I matter enough for someone to comfort me, feed me, or change me?  Am I loveable enough that people fuss over me or hold me close?  Do I have enough significance that I am protected and nurtured?  When I am cared for,  fussed over,  and played with, the answer to these essential questions is “Yes.”  A lack of these parental responses or blatant neglect and abuse trumpets a huge “No” to these questions. A huge “No” breads all kinds of issues in the life that individual.

As we get older the refrigerator door becomes littered with crayon scrawls that we pushed into our mother’s face asking if she liked each one (our way of asking if we are competent or capable).  As we get older we measure our worth by the number of friends we have on Facebook, the number of parties we are invited to in junior high, the number of accolades we place in scrapbooks or see in our high school annual.

For the rest of our lives we are still scanning the horizon for clues about who we are and if we matter.  After forty years of marriage couples still ask one another, “Do you love me?” which is code for, “Am I still worthy of love and do I still matter?”  Many humans go to their graves with unhealed wounds because a father or mother never said “I love you” or I’m proud of you.”

God crafted us and understands more than anyone our deep need for confirmation that we matter, that we are capable people, and that our lives have significance.   Even the Son of God needed to hear, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Our heavenly Father spends a great deal of time in scripture answering each of those questions for us.  They are answered with a resounding “Yes” for every person in Christ.

They were answered first by the cross where our heavenly father paid the ultimate price to retrieve us from the enemy.  Beyond that we have been pursued, adopted, grafted into his beloved Israel, declared to be the righteousness of God, appointed as ambassadors of Christ, seated with Christ in heavenly realms, honored to be kings and priests on the earth, given the very presence of God to live within us, granted immediate access to the throne room of the creator of the universe, promised that our Father will never leave us nor forsake us, given purpose and destiny by the King of Kings, and given supernatural gifts that surpass any earthy talent that can displayed on a stage or in any arena.  On top of that we have been made more than conquerors and will sit in judgment on angels.

Think about who you are in Christ.  You matter. You belong. You have an amazing  destiny written in heaven.  The Holy Spirit lives within you, so are supernatural.  You are a son or daughter of the creator of the universe. You are his appointed representative on the earth.  You are flat amazing! God says so. Take that knowledge with you wherever you go today.