When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself. | 1 Samuel 14:47-52
On Sunday, we didn’t have time to cover these last few verses from chapter 14 of 1 Samuel, but in my commitment to address every verse, I have chosen to write about it before we enter into chapter 15 next week. This last section of chapter 14 gives us a passing description of Saul’s time as king, though, like most things in the Bible, it tells us as much about God as it does the king. What does it tell us?
As we saw in chapter 14, Saul isn’t always proactive in living out his role. God told him at his anointing that he would:
reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. (1)
At the time, it seemed that this would be done through Saul’s amazing leadership, but as time goes on, we see that he is a failed leader. This doesn’t mean that God will not use him to accomplish the purpose. God raises up a family around him. We see his son Jonathan as the driving force behind his victory in chapter 14. He will go on to play a vital role with the man that God raises up to replace Saul.
We also see that Saul was surrounded by valiant men. Some may see this as a sign of Saul’s great leadership, but I believe it says a lot more about God’s provision. God is providing the resources to finish the job. Saul is not going to be able to do it on his own, so God raises up the strength to compliment him.
The final thing we see is that Saul never gets peace (There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul). This is the consequences of his decision not to follow God: he does not get to lead Israel in peace. God still works through him to serve Israel and to bless Saul. God still provided numerous victories and continued opportunities for future obedience. Saul still plays a crucial role in leading Israel into maturity as a nation.
All of this helps us in our view of ‘tainted leadership.’ Every earthly ruler who does not submit to God will live in a cloud of chaos; even times of peace will include internal strife. We can expect a bit of a mess. Within this mess, the gracious hand of God is working. In this mess, God is always raising up His people to do His work, in all levels and corners of society. At no point does He leave His creation to chance, in the hands of sinful humans. It sometimes appears that way, but God is always placing people in the mess to steer it; to play a role (as salt of the world). This truth helps us to let go of the things we cannot control, to focus on the areas we can. It changes us from victims of the actions of our leaders to participants of God’s work in the world.