Painful Lessons Learned the Hard Way After Ignoring God

Shared on February 26, 2025

Introduction

In our study this week, we are going to continue our look at King Saul and the children of Israel.  Let’s keep in mind that the children of Israel wanted a king like all the other nations.  This was a desire that God, through Samuel, had warned the people against.  

We must understand that when we go against God’s desire, He will let us have what we want.  Some people choose to live life in complete disobedience, believing that their life is better because they don’t believe in or listen to God.  You, the child of God, must not think that way as no good ever comes when one does not heed the Lord.

Samuel’s Warning

I want to open this study by picking back up with the children of Israel being warned about wanting a king.  

Samuel warned the elders that a king would take their sons and appoint them to his chariots to be his horsemen (1 Sam. 8:11).  Samuel warned that the king would set captains over the people and people would essentially be forced to serve the king (1 Sam. 8:12-13).  Samuel warned that the king would always have the best while the people would have what was left behind (1 Sam. 8:14-17).

The forefathers of Israel lived under the rule of Pharaoh who plundered from them and left them with little.  God freed their forefathers from living in such a manner and gave them freedom.  God gave them a land of milk and honey, as He promised so that they could have the best.

We’ve seen throughout history that living under kings, emperors, and dictators benefits a slim minority while everyone else struggles.  For the elders of Israel to express such a desire, it showed they hadn’t paid attention to their history or just didn’t care. Many today crave to live in such a manner while ignoring the warnings and the threats against their freedoms.

So, as we saw at the end of the first study in this series, the people still chose Saul after Samuel’s warning.  When you choose to ignore God’s warning, the Lord will permit you to have what you have set in your heart.  Let’s pay close attention to what the children of Israel would feel as God permitted them to have what they wanted.

The Character of Saul Comes to Light

I want to now take a look at King Saul, the king that Israel wanted.  Let’s take a look at his character from the start and then we will see what he began to evolve into as king of Israel.

A modest beginning

When Saul went to anoint the chosen king, he came across a man who was handsome.  Scripture tells us, “There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel.  From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people (1 Sam. 9:2).”

When Samuel met Saul, Saul had been searching all over for his father’s donkeys (1 Sam. 9:3-4).  When his search was unsuccessful, his traveling companion advised him that there was a “man of God” in the city who could help them.  So, Saul came to Samuel for help, showing that this was likely all God’s doing for Saul to meet Samuel.

When Samuel saw Saul approaching, God said to Samuel, “This one shall reign over My people (1 Sam. 9:17).”  If we just glance at that scripture, it makes it seem like God chose Saul for the people.  However, we should keep in mind that the elders desired to have a king like all the other nations.  So, God was giving the elders what they wanted.

In the beginning, Saul was very modest, dare I say, he was even a bit shy.  When Samuel sought to present Saul to the people, they couldn’t find Saul because he was hiding among the equipment (1 Sam. 10:20-22).  You see, Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, and Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes.  Even more, Saul told Samuel that his family was the least of all the families of Benjamin (1 Sam. 9:21).

It is very likely that Saul wasn’t used to such a crowd.  Not only that, but these people were going to be looking at him as a king.  So, Saul probably felt the immense pressure being put on him, again, by a people that wanted a king.  Now, when the people saw him, his stature, they rejoiced because they saw what they wanted – a king (1 Sam. 14:23-24).  

A king’s nature comes to light

I’m going to go ahead and put this out there:  looks can be deceiving.  I imagine you’re probably saying to yourself, ‘Of course, Pastor, I know that’.  Even though we know that looks can be deceiving, many of us are still being deceived today because of the outward appearance.

Let me say this about Saul:  Though he had the look of a king, I don’t believe he was built to be a king.  You see, what matters is what’s in one’s heart (soul).  As Jesus explained, what comes out of the heart is what will either defile or glorify you.  As soon as the people heaped praise on Saul for his outward appearance, a sinful nature began to come to the surface.

In the second year of his reign, Saul began to take on what we today would call a narcissistic psychopathic character.  Rather than being focused on the people, Saul became more focused on himself.  Saul sought to do things for the praise of the people.  Kings, emperors, and dictators often move in a selfish manner so that someone will praise them.

On one occasion, rather than waiting for Samuel to come an make an offering to God, Saul took on the task by himself.  In 1 Samuel 13:7-13, Saul chose to make a burnt offering that Samuel, when he arrived, pointed out was unlawful.  It may not seem to you a big deal for Saul to make the offering but his doing that went against God’s command.   

It is never a good thing for one to stand against the Lord and go against His commands, especially when leading His people.  One can’t live in sin and think they can walk with God at the same time.  Samuel immediately told Saul that he wasn’t fit to lead God’s people.  Even more, Samuel told Saul that a kingdom that could have lasted with his sons would not continue (1 Sam. 13:13).

As I said before, I don’t believe Saul was built to ever be a king.  The people seeing his stature and praising him only made him seek more praise and adulation.  They fed a modest man some pride and the modest man sought to consume more praise as that was what was good to him.  Going against God, for praise, posed a very dangerous sign for the people.

A Warning Goes Fulfilled 

Rather than heeding God’s rebuke and correcting his way, Saul grew worse in his way.  Saul was becoming just like the kings of all the other nations.

Saul’s uncaring nature revealed

Like other kings, Saul had begun to set out for power which ended up seeing Israel at war with other people.  The Philistines, Israel’s great enemy, were one of those who Saul began to fight against.  Again, I want you to keep in mind that Israel had been living in peace during the time of Samuel as a judge and prophet.  However, after they got their king, unrest began to grow in the land.

More signs of Saul’s narcissistic ways began to appear during Israel’s battles with the Philistines.  For example, in 1 Samuel 14:1-14, Jonathan, one of Saul’s sons, defeated a garrison of twenty Philistines with his armorbearer.  Jonathan accomplished this task with nobody, not even Saul, knowing it had been done.  

Jonathan defeating the Philistines was unexpected, to say the least.  During that time, the army of Israel was living in great fear.  The Philistines even mocked that they were hiding in holes (1 Sam. 14:11).  The Israelite army didn’t even have weapons to do battle (1 Sam. 13:22).  So, this was truly a terrible situation to be in against the Philistine army which came prepared to do battle.

Saul, however, pushed forward and scripture shows us that he desired vengeance against the Philistines (1 Sam. 14:24).  From that place of anger, Out of anger, Saul commanded the people not to eat anything until he had his revenge.  Should anyone eat anything, a curse, according to Saul, would fall upon them.  

The people, because they feared Saul’s curse, didn’t eat anything (1 Sam. 14:24-26).  Think about how foolish this sounds:  they had no weapons for a battle and then they were to also fight a battle famished.  This, to me, was a sign that Saul wasn’t valuing the life of his people!  And this is what the people wanted?

The people wanted a king who had to have things his way or else he wanted his people to starve until he got it?  What makes this worse is that these were people who were fighting alongside him because of his selfish pride.  They were giving their lives for a king who didn’t seem to care about them, just to boost his ego.

Saul’s self-righteous narcissism revealed

I do want to take a moment to touch on Saul’s “curse” – we have to talk about this!  Who was Saul to think that he could curse people if they defied him and ate something?  

What this shows us is the level that Saul’s narcissism was beginning to reach.  Saul’s narcissism was already reaching the level of self-righteous narcissism shown in kings like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar who saw themselves as gods.  Saul was no god.  

What did he mean by “curse”?  Well, we can see what he meant by this curse through his son Jonathan.  You see, Jonathan and his armorbearer had returned from the victory that Saul sought, and they were tired from battle.  1 Samuel 14:27 tells us that Jonathan, not hearing his dad’s foolish order, took his rod, dipped it in honey, and tasted it.

The people, fearful of Saul’s curse, became afraid for Jonathan because he tasted the honey (1 Sam. 14:28).  When Saul and Jonathan had a face-to-face, Saul insinuated that God would strike him down for disobeying his order (1 Sam. 14:43-44).  The implication is that Saul thought he could order God to strike down his own son, or anybody that defied him!

Let’s be very clear about this, Saul had a heart that had become incredibly foolish and wicked.  Saul put his own people’s lives at risk just to gain glory.  And, of course, he didn’t care about his people, if he didn’t care about the life of his son.

Was God going to strike down Jonathan, or anybody else, because of Saul’s curse?  If we take a look at 1 Samuel 14:37, we will see that God wasn’t with Saul.  Saul had sought God’s counsel about going after the Philistines and the Lord didn’t answer Him.  God wasn’t moving with a man that didn’t move with him.

Again, I ask, this is what the people wanted?  They wanted a man that didn’t care about his own son, nonetheless, cared about them?  They wanted a man that didn’t walk with the Lord and put their lives in great jeopardy?  They were warned about this.  Saul, for his part, continued about with his war and took any strong or valiant man of Israel for himself (1 Sam. 14:47,52).

Learning Lessons the Hard Way

Saul was the kind of king that the people wanted.  I remind you, the people wanted a king and to be like all the other nations in the land.  They gave up their lives of peace just to live in constant fear of their enemies.  Saul had the mind of a king but he was not built to be a king – certainly not a successful one.

God allows bad things to happen?

So, if I keep saying that Saul was simply not built to be a king, you may begin to wonder why God put him forth to be the king of Israel.  My first answer to this question points back to the people’s desire.  God didn’t want a king over Israel that wasn’t Him.  The elders, therefore the people, wanted a king to reign over them and God allowed them to have their king.

To ask why God “gave” them Saul is similar to asking why God lets bad things happen to us and in the world.  Here’s a very harsh truth that we must come to know when it comes to asking such questions:  we are to blame, not God.  God has not put anything bad into the world – we do that!

When God made man, God made man in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26).  Man defiled the image and likeness we were created in when man disobeyed God in the garden.  You see, in His image, God is faithful to us, but man chose not to be faithful to Him.  To this day, mankind, as a whole, chooses not to be faithful to the Lord.  Yes, we choose sin over faithfulness.

Genesis 1:26 also tells us that when God made man, He made man to have dominion over all the earth.  To have dominion means that one has power, authority, and control.  With the power, authority, and control over this world, God desired for man to be fruitful (prosperous) and multiply (grow) together (Gen. 1:28).  

How was man supposed to prosper and grow together?  Well, in His image and likeness, God is love.  Man was supposed to prosper and grow together by loving one another and uplifting each other.  Yet, with our dominion over the earth, we have chosen to have dominion over each other. 

Race desiring to have dominion over race.  Man desiring to have control over woman.  Nation desiring to have dominion over nation.  Dominion has plagued mankind since the beginning all because man has chosen to move against God’s desire.  

And we wonder why does God allow these things to happen?  Well, God, created us in His image and likeness.  God gave man the ability to think and to learn morals.  Man can discern right from wrong, good from evil!  Man has the power to do something about what is evil, yet, man does nothing.

You see, God has put the power in our hands to do something about what we can control.  When we do nothing about what we control, we shouldn’t blame God!  What we should do is look at ourselves in the mirror and ask why we permit such things to happen.

God permits man to be chastised

Our foolish decisions will always come back around and knock on our doors. Honestly, when we know that we’ve gone against God’s warning, we should expect consequences will follow. Yes, God will show us mercy and forgiveness but foolishness does have its consequences.

We are going to see this when it comes to Saul and his foolish decisions.  We are already seeing this with the people’s early suffering because they wanted a king.

Something that may be hard for some of us to hear is that God permits such things to happen becuase He permits life to flow.  God permits us to be chastised and to have trials and tribulations, even those that are painful.  As it is said in Hebrews 12:11, “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

When we choose foolishly, we have to learn our lesson the hard way – we have made that choice.  Those who desired to have a king were going to have to learn their lesson the hard way.  Unfortunately, some didn’t desire Saul to be king but they were caught up in a lesson that needed to be learned the hard way (1 Sam. 10:27).

What lesson was it that they had to learn?  What lesson is that we have to learn from our unwise choices?  The lesson is that one should walk by faith and depend on God.  Does God want us to suffer?  Absolutely not (Jer. 29:11).  No, God much rather we lean on Him and be blessed, rather than leaning on ourselves, something, or someone else.  

We have to choose to be blessed.  In other words, we must choose God in order to be blessed.  I feel we’re living in a day when God has made it clear that we as a people need to learn this lesson, and unfortunately for us who are of faith, it’s being taught the hard way.  

Yet, the righteous need not worry during such difficult days.  As it is said, such chastening does give way to the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  I am going to dive more into that thought in an upcoming study.  As for this study, you have reached the end.  I hope that you enjoyed this study and I hope that we can learn from the error of ignoring God.