Presumption of Saul
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make up by his zeal in the forms of religion. Saul was not ignorant
of Israel’s defeat when the ark of God was brought into the camp
by Hophni and Phinehas; and yet, knowing all this, he determined
to send for the sacred chest and its attendant priest. Could he by
this means inspire confidence in the people, he hoped to reassemble
his scattered army and give battle to the Philistines. He would now
dispense with Samuel’s presence and support, and thus free himself
from the prophet’s unwelcome criticisms and reproofs.
The Holy Spirit had been granted to Saul to enlighten his under-
standing and soften his heart. He had received faithful instruction
and reproof from the prophet of God. And yet how great was his
perversity! The history of Israel’s first king presents a sad example of
the power of early wrong habits. In his youth Saul did not love and
fear God; and that impetuous spirit, not early trained to submission,
was ever ready to rebel against divine authority. Those who in their
youth cherish a sacred regard for the will of God, and who faithfully
perform the duties of their position, will be prepared for higher service
in afterlife. But men cannot for years pervert the powers that God has
given them, and then, when they choose to change, find these powers
fresh and free for an entirely opposite course.
Saul’s efforts to arouse the people proved unavailing. Finding his
force reduced to six hundred men, he left Gilgal and retired to the
fortress at Geba, lately taken from the Philistines. This stronghold
was on the south side of a deep, rugged valley, or gorge, a few miles
north of the site of Jerusalem. On the north side of the same valley,
at Michmash, the Philistine force lay encamped while detachments of
troops went out in different directions to ravage the country.
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God had permitted matters to be thus brought to a crisis that He
might rebuke the perversity of Saul and teach His people a lesson of
humility and faith. Because of Saul’s sin in his presumptuous offering,
the Lord would not give him the honor of vanquishing the Philistines.
Jonathan, the king’s son, a man who feared the Lord, was chosen as the
instrument to deliver Israel. Moved by a divine impulse, he proposed
to his armor-bearer that they should make a secret attack upon the
enemy’s camp. “It may be,” he urged, “that the Lord will work for us:
for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.”
The armor-bearer, who also was a man of faith and prayer, encour-
aged the design, and together they withdrew from the camp, secretly,