THE ANOINTING OF A KING: When the people had asked for a King, Samuel warned them in detail about how a King would treat them and would not be what they expected, even taking their young men into service, take the daughters to be cooks and housekeepers and even take from the people to give to his friends and close associates, etc. 1 Samuel 8:9-10, 11-13, 14-16, 17-18. Despite these warnings, Israel persisted in their desire for a king.
The LORD relented and Samuel anointed Saul as king. He was the kind of man they were looking for; head and shoulders taller than the people and good looking, 1 Samuel 9:2. When Saul was selected as king, the people wanted him to come forward so they could see who he was. The record declares that he was ‘hiding among the baggage,’ 1 Samuel 10:22. The people rejoiced to finally have a King, 1 Samuel 10:24. Their satisfaction with his physical appearance and stature blinded them to his lack of Godly leadership. The result: Saul WAS a king just like the other nations and, just as Samuel had warned, many were relegated to his service. 1 Samuel 12:13.
SAUL’S FAILURE: However, once Saul stepped into his role as king, he quickly demonstrated his character. His thoughts and actions tended toward his own comfort and standing among the people. He ruled according to the dictates of his own reasons, and not with reverence for the LORD. He was short on spiritual awareness. He demonstrated weakness when called upon to stand for the principles of God. These weaknesses in his character are revealed through two key incidents:
a) When the Philistines prepared to engage in war, Samuel had told him to prepare, but he was to wait for Samuel to join Saul and the army to offer sacrifice to the LORD. However, after a long wait, he began to fear his army would abandon him, so he stepped in and offered the sacrifices himself. He was not a priest and the offerings of God were acceptable only by intricate adherence to given instructions. Saul incurred great displeasure from Samuel as well as God. 1 Samuel 13:8-10, 11-12, 13-14.
b) Later in his rule, he failed to follow God’s commandment through Samuel when he was instructed to execute judgement on the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:3 However, he spared the king, Agag, as well as the animals from the pronounced judgement, 1 Samuel 15:9. He thought to serve the LORD meant providing offerings and sacrifices, but did not understand that these were necessary when sin was committed. The very powerful response given by Samuel was: “To obey is better than sacrifice”, 1 Samuel 15:21-23. In other words, the LORD does not want sacrifice as much as he wants obedience!. This principle applies today for us. We must obey God’s words and not resort to what ‘feels good’ to us. Consequently, God ‘regretted’ that he had made Saul king, 1 Samuel 15:11. Therefore, Saul was rejected from being King by the LORD, 1 Samuel 15:26.