Lenten Devotions - Day 19
“One day Yahweh said, ‘Samuel, I’ve rejected Saul, and I refuse to let him be king any longer. Stop feeling sad about him. Put some olive oil in a small container and go visit a man named Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem. I’ve chosen one of his sons to be my king.’” 1 Samuel 16:1
Samuel felt Saul’s failure deeply. He took Saul’s excesses as an affront to his own ministry. He felt responsible for having anointed Saul as king. Sure, he had warned the people that a king was not necessarily a good thing. Just because their neighbor had kings, charged with issues of security, that did not mean it was a good thing. It had been necessary for Yahweh to remind Samuel back then that it was not Samuel who was being rejected, but Yahweh. The people had stopped trusting that Yahweh would provide relief when enemies attacked them. They wanted someone visibly responsible to take on their enemies and lead their battles. It had not been God’s plan, but God was willing to allow for a king.
The king was supposed to be commander in chief. The king was also supposed to represent God to the people and the people to God. He was the stand-in for God’s presence along the lines of the prophets. He was to lead in serving Yahweh, as well as serving the interests of the nation. Therein was the problem. Saul became too enamored with his own power and interests and left God to the sidelines.
Samuel was depressed over how things had turned out. God had rejected Saul, even though he still held power. There had been a parting of ways between Saul and Yahweh, and Samuel was the one most disturbed by the fact. God’s purposes were not so thwarted by Saul’s failure. God was still going on with the task of leading a people, protecting a people, and calling a people to dependence upon Yahweh rather than men.
“How long will you persist in grief over what is over? How long will you continue hanging on to what is no more?” Yahweh called Samuel to let it go. He was to stop taking Saul’s failures personally and get on with the task of faithfully serving God. Saul had not been removed from his position, but that was just a matter of time. As Saul began proving his true colors before the rest of the nation, God was sending Samuel to anoint another who would take up the task of protecting Yahweh’s interests and the interests of the nation.
Stop grieving over what was. Release the past. Stop burrowing in what might have been. God’s purposes are not enmeshed with the institutional structures of government or religion. God is more concerned with anointing the unlikely to become instruments of God’s provision. David became much more of a king than Saul had ever been. He still had his problems, but God was concerned with the direction of his life, rather than the power structures of the day.
Are we too concerned with the “has been’s” of the past, structures that have become irrelevant, or leaders who have failed us? Institutions are the product of human construction more than the vehicles of God’s will. While they may be useful, it is God’s direction and will that truly matter.
Determine what you may be hanging onto that God is ready to release. Allow God to direct in the path God deems appropriate.
“Lord, help me overcome my attachments to people and structures as the only way to serve you. Make me willing to follow your guidance at the expense of my grief.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Samuel felt Saul’s failure deeply. He took Saul’s excesses as an affront to his own ministry. He felt responsible for having anointed Saul as king. Sure, he had warned the people that a king was not necessarily a good thing. Just because their neighbor had kings, charged with issues of security, that did not mean it was a good thing. It had been necessary for Yahweh to remind Samuel back then that it was not Samuel who was being rejected, but Yahweh. The people had stopped trusting that Yahweh would provide relief when enemies attacked them. They wanted someone visibly responsible to take on their enemies and lead their battles. It had not been God’s plan, but God was willing to allow for a king.
The king was supposed to be commander in chief. The king was also supposed to represent God to the people and the people to God. He was the stand-in for God’s presence along the lines of the prophets. He was to lead in serving Yahweh, as well as serving the interests of the nation. Therein was the problem. Saul became too enamored with his own power and interests and left God to the sidelines.
Samuel was depressed over how things had turned out. God had rejected Saul, even though he still held power. There had been a parting of ways between Saul and Yahweh, and Samuel was the one most disturbed by the fact. God’s purposes were not so thwarted by Saul’s failure. God was still going on with the task of leading a people, protecting a people, and calling a people to dependence upon Yahweh rather than men.
“How long will you persist in grief over what is over? How long will you continue hanging on to what is no more?” Yahweh called Samuel to let it go. He was to stop taking Saul’s failures personally and get on with the task of faithfully serving God. Saul had not been removed from his position, but that was just a matter of time. As Saul began proving his true colors before the rest of the nation, God was sending Samuel to anoint another who would take up the task of protecting Yahweh’s interests and the interests of the nation.
Stop grieving over what was. Release the past. Stop burrowing in what might have been. God’s purposes are not enmeshed with the institutional structures of government or religion. God is more concerned with anointing the unlikely to become instruments of God’s provision. David became much more of a king than Saul had ever been. He still had his problems, but God was concerned with the direction of his life, rather than the power structures of the day.
Are we too concerned with the “has been’s” of the past, structures that have become irrelevant, or leaders who have failed us? Institutions are the product of human construction more than the vehicles of God’s will. While they may be useful, it is God’s direction and will that truly matter.
Determine what you may be hanging onto that God is ready to release. Allow God to direct in the path God deems appropriate.
“Lord, help me overcome my attachments to people and structures as the only way to serve you. Make me willing to follow your guidance at the expense of my grief.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment