1 SAMUEL 14:24-52 THE RESULTS OF PURSUING YOUR OWN HEART2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Samuel 14:24-52 The Results Of Pursuing Your Own Heart

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. 1 Samuel chapter 14 is where we're going to be tonight, picking up where we left off last week and finishing up the chapter as we continue to work our way through 1 Samuel and consider the subject of pursuing God's heart.

We're continuing to look at the example of Saul, and so we're learning how to not pursue God's heart this evening as we continue to see his example, and so we'll get into that together. But let's begin by looking at 1 Samuel chapter 14, verses 20 through 24, and then we'll get into the message for tonight. Verse 20 says, Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled.

And they went to the battle. And indeed, every man's sword was against his neighbor. And there was a very great confusion. Moreover, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they had heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle.

So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth-Avon. And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food.

Last week, as we got into 1 Samuel chapter 14, we saw a really good example in Jonathan and how he really trusted in God and believed that God could work, even though the circumstances were really bleak and even though they were vastly outnumbered. And yet, Jonathan was so bold as to trust God and believe that, God, you could save us if it was just two people.

If you wanted to, you could do that. And so he wanted to give God an opportunity to work. And so Jonathan took his armor bearer. He went and presented himself to the Philistines and set up ahead of time. Okay, Lord, if you have them respond this way, then we'll know that you're with us. And if they respond the other way, then we'll know that you're not with us. We don't know what you want to do, but we believe that you can work. And so here we are making ourselves available to you. And sure enough, God said, I'm with you, Jonathan. I'm going to give you victory.

And so Jonathan scrambles up the mountain with his armor bearer behind him, and he begins to attack the Philistines when nobody else wants to, even though they're outnumbered 600 to, you know, several thousand. He goes into this battle, just him and his armor bearer with the rest of the army at the camp, and he begins the battle, and God begins a work. And then in the verses we just read here in verse 20 through 22, others start to join in the battle. The

the Hebrews who were with the Philistines for whatever reason decide, you know what? Our allegiances really are to the Jews. And so they begin to fight amongst the Philistines. And then the people who had hidden in the previous chapter, they came out of hiding and joined into the fight. And now the army that's with Saul is going to join the battle too. And so they're going to fight

But there's a significant shift in what's happening here in this chapter right at verse 24. As you can see in verse 23, so the Lord saved Israel that day. And there's this great victory and there's this excitement and it's like the start of something awesome has taken place as Jonathan has taken this step of faith. But now it's going to turn and not be so awesome as Saul enters into the picture. Right?

It tells us in verse 24, the men of Israel were distressed that day for Saul. Saul had placed the people under an oath saying, cursed is the man who eats any food until evening before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. And so here we have Jonathan, a man after God's own heart. He trusts God. He starts something great. The victory is, you know, there and God is doing a great work.

But then we see a change take place as Saul, who is not after God's heart, he is not pursuing the heart of God, as he gets involved, it really ruins the work that God began. It ruins everybody's day. It ruins all kinds of things as he gets involved into this work because he is not a man who is pursuing God's heart. And so I've titled the message this evening, The Results of Pursuing Your Own Heart.

And what we see in the example of Saul this evening is what happens when you are pursuing your own heart. You're pursuing what you want, what you think, what you desire. And as you're doing that, there's a thing that's referred to from time to time called unintended consequences. That is, Saul is not trying to ruin everybody's day. He's trying to make the victory even better. But in his attempt to make a greater victory,

Because he's doing it from the pursuit of his own heart, he ends up messing up the victory that could have been and limiting that victory. Instead of helping everybody to rejoice in this day where God has given them victory over the Philistines, instead they're distressed today. And so on and so forth. Saul didn't intend to mess up everybody's day. He didn't intend to do all of this. That wasn't what he would have planned, right?

But this is the result, and there is the unintended consequence that you and I, when we pursue our own heart, when we neglect God's heart, when we are not pursuing God's heart far and above everything else in our lives, we may not intend to hurt the people around us. But as we look at the example of Saul, we need to be reminded this evening, we will hurt the people around us.

it will mess with the things that are going on and the work that God wants to do. And so we need to consider this example to be reminded of the results of pursuing our own hearts. And so there's six things that we'll look at, six results from Saul's example here in chapter 14 to understand the consequences of pursuing your own heart. Point number one, as we look at verses 24 through 28 says,

is your self-focus causes people distress. When you are the focus, it's going to have a side effect that everybody around you is going to be distressed. Again, verse 24 says, the men of Israel were distressed that day. For Saul had placed the people under an oath saying, cursed is the man who eats any food until evening. And then notice the emphasis here for Saul.

before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. And Saul here is the king, so he has authority. And so he is laying out this authority and placing this curse. He says, look, I'm going to punish anybody. I'm going to deal with any of you if you don't fast today. You have to fast today or I'm going to deal with you until I have vengeance on my enemies. Saul's focus here is

his own self. It's his focus on his selfishness, on his standing, his status, his stature, his will, instead of the will of God. And as we've seen over and over again, the whole idea and concept of pursuing the heart of God is, God said, I'm going to pick someone who will pursue my heart, who will do my will. Someone who's interested in pleasing God and doing the will of God, that's what it means to pursue God's heart.

But Saul's not so much interested in God's battle and what God desires. He's wanting to have the best victory that he can for himself over his enemies. And it's about him. The focus is on himself. Pastor Dave Guzik puts it this way. Saul's desire is not the glory of God. It is the glory of Saul. The focus here is not on the Lord or on the Lord's victory, but on Saul's commanded fast.

I think it's really interesting. Dave Guzik, in his commentary, he goes on to speculate a little bit. And we can't know these things for sure. But he speculates that perhaps Saul even did this out of insecurity. Because here you have Saul not willing to engage in the battle against the Philistines. All of a sudden, the battle begins. They don't know why. They inquire. They take the number of the troops. They find out it's Jonathan that's missing. He's the one who's started this battle. And so...

It is the case that as a result of this command that the attention of the people now is on Saul because they're hungry. And so that it could be his insecurity that he is, you know, bringing the attention back to himself, right?

Because he didn't want Jonathan or whoever started that battle, right, to have the attention and to get the glory. He wanted to say, okay, at the end of the day, here's what I'm imagining his mind saying. If I make this vow and I curse everybody if they eat,

then we're going to have the greatest victory you've ever seen because people are going to want to eat. And so they're going to work really hard to be able to have victory so they can eat. And so, yeah, so I'm going to do this and we're going to have an even greater victory. And then I will get the glory because I made this vow. And oh, wise Saul.

Good thing you made that vow because we pushed really hard and now we have this great victory. Thank you for making that vow. And that's kind of how I picture Saul in his mind, you know, going through these things. And again, that's speculation. We don't know exactly the details, but we do know it's very clear from the text. This is not God's will. He's not pursuing the glory of God. This isn't for God's honor. This isn't for God's pleasure. This is all about Saul.

And as he is focused on himself, he doesn't intend necessarily for it to be a distress upon the people, but that is the result. I've often shared the best thing for the people around you, for your friends, for your family, the best thing for them is for you to be pursuing God with all of your heart. That's the best thing for the people around us. And when we don't

It doesn't even have to necessarily be a deliberate rebellion against God. But when we are not in full pursuit of God, when we're not pursuing God's heart, there's an effect on the people around us, on the people that God has entrusted to us. And there's a distressing that takes place. It's the automatic result of not pursuing God's heart. And again, that's why I want to consider this example of Saul this evening, because we need to be reminded that

That it is serious. It's not just, and sometimes we take this approach, you know, like, I know this is wrong. It's not the best, but, you know, I can deal with the consequences. But the reality is, it's not just you who has to deal with the consequences. You're not the only one affected by your lack of pursuing the heart of God. It distresses everybody around you. And your family is affected. And when we're focused on ourselves, when we're focused on

Verse 25 goes on to say, So Saul had taken this oath, pronounced this curse. And so they're in the midst of the battle and here is an opportunity to say,

for there to be some nourishment, some recharging, which was desperately needed, as you'll see from the text as we go forward. It was not that it was just like, you know, they didn't need any recharging, but they're in the midst of battle, and here is the resources right there in front of them, but as obedient soldiers, they withheld themselves. They didn't partake because they feared the oath. Verse 27 says,

But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath. Therefore, he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth and his countenance brightened.

So Jonathan didn't hear the oath. Why? Well, because he was trusting God and starting the battle. So he wasn't there when, you know, Saul is swearing at his soldiers and telling them, you're going to be cursed if you eat, you know. Jonathan wasn't there. So he sees the honey. He just like partakes because, yeah, it was much needed. And it even says that his countenance brightened.

It was like, you know, having a power bar, you know, in the middle of the marathon or whatever. Like he got a little bit extra energy and what he needed to be able to press on in the battle. But he was the only one. But he was able to partake or he did partake because he did not hear that command that Saul had given. Verse 28 says,

Then one of the people said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath saying, cursed is the man who eats food this day. And then notice that last phrase in verse 28, and the people were faint. The people were faint. Again, the point is your self-focus causes people distress. The people were distressed because of this oath. They were

They were faint. They lacked energy. They lacked the strength that they needed. And the resources that they needed were right there. But because of this oath, because of this command, they were obedient and they restrained themselves, but they were faint as a result.

It goes on, jumping down a couple of verses, at the end of verse 31, it tells us that the people were very faint. And so they're in desperate need of this nourishment, but they can't have it because of Saul's command, his behavior, his oath. Again, it reminds us, your self-focus causes people distress. And of course, we don't mean to distress people.

I mean, if, you know, you would have interviewed Saul beforehand or even right after he makes this, you know, announcement and pronounces this curse. Now, Saul, you know, what are you thinking with that? You know, did you, are you trying to distress the people? Oh, no, no. You know, his mindset for sure wasn't that. He wasn't trying to make everybody miserable and make it worse. But that's just the reality. When we're focused on ourselves, when we're focused on what we want, when we're listening to our desires, we're going to be making decisions that

mess up other people and cause them distress. And so I would ask you to consider this evening, do you distress people? Is there a distressing that comes around? You know, wherever you go, there's a distressing that comes around. It's something you need to consider because that is the result of pursuing your own heart. Well, moving on to verses 29 through 31, we have point number two, and that is your foolishness reduces...

your effectiveness. This vow that Saul made was foolish. It was not wise. It was not what God wanted. Not only was it just not what God wanted, but it was just plain foolish to, and you'll see in a few moments, the kind of battle that this was, they needed the nourishment that they could get because it was going to require a lot of energy in order to be able to engage in this battle.

So your foolishness reduces your effectiveness. Verse 29 says, But Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. Look now how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies, which they found. For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? Amen.

Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Agilon. So the people were very faint. So as Jonathan hears this pronouncement that Saul had made, he takes a bite of the honey. He's brightened. He's nourished. And then the people say, oh, no, Jonathan, you weren't there at the time. You were starting the battle because you trusted God and stepping out of faith, you know. But what happened was Saul made this vow and we're not supposed to eat anything until this evening after the battle is over.

And Jonathan's response is, oh man, that was not a good decision. He says, my father has troubled the land. He says, look at how this has affected me. Look at how my countenance has brightened. And I just had a little bit of the honey. He says, look, it would have been so much better if people would have been allowed to eat freely of, well, the honey or the spoils or whatever, you know, they were able to find in order to continue this battle.

And that's especially important as you look at verse 31. They drove the Philistines back. So there was still victory. And the battle shifted from Michmash to Agilon. Now that distance, Michmash is where the battle began. That's where the Philistines were camped. And then Agilon was 17 miles west. So think about that. It's a one-day battle so far that's traveled 17 miles west.

Now, how many of you traveled 17 miles on foot today? Probably not many of us. But you would understand, if you had to travel 17 miles on foot, that would not be the day that you chose to fast, right? I mean, there's one thing to fast and pray, and that's good.

But to fast and run a marathon is not typically, you know, what you would do. To fast and fight, you know, across a battlefield that's 17 miles long, that's not typically the best thing to do. You need that nourishment. You need that replenishment in order to be effective. And that's what Jonathan is saying here. It would have been so much better if they would have been able to eat. It wouldn't have been...

As limited as it was, this victory that we accomplished, we could have accomplished even greater victory if we had been nourished and not been fasting for this battle. And so this foolish vow reduced us

the effectiveness of this battle. I mean, it started out great, trusting in God, Jonathan and his armor bearer. I mean, just a couple of them and God, you know, showed up and there was a great victory already accomplished with just the two. And then as everybody got involved, it could have been a really substantial victory against the Philistines, but it was limited. It was reduced because Saul made this foolish oath that

And this is the reality. And now again, he didn't make this oath for this purpose. It wasn't his intention. And there's a lot of times that we, you know, we excuse our foolishness because we meant well, you know, we hoped for more, we hoped for better. But again, this is why it is so important for us to pursue the heart of God and to really make it our life's endeavor to know what God wants and to know what pleases God and to do our best.

to do that and to live out what's pleasing to him and what he desires for us. Saul made an oath in an attempt to ensure a greater victory, but it ended up causing a lesser victory. We talked about this a little bit on Sunday as well.

So we talked about learning the lesson from those who have fallen, that there were those in the wilderness. God brought them out of Egypt and they had the potential to go into the promised land, but they missed out. Their victory was reduced because of their unbelief and because of their unfaithfulness to God. And they missed out on God's promises. They missed out on what God wanted to do for them.

And the same is true for us. We can miss out with our own foolishness. And it doesn't have to be an all-out rebellion against God. We recognize, of course, yeah, I can't expect to, you know, experience all that God has for me if I'm running away from God. But even just not running after God's heart, not pursuing God's heart, we need to understand that that plays an impact into the effectiveness of, well, what God wants to do in our lives.

And so we need to learn the example from Saul that our foolishness, our stubbornness, our pride, our selfishness reduces our effectiveness. Moving on to verses 32 through 35, we have point number three, and that is you share in the guilt of people's sin. You share in the guilt of people's sin. Verse 32, and the people rushed on the spoil and took sheep, oxen, and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. And the people ate them with the blood.

Then they told Saul, saying, look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood. So he said, you have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me this day. Now we come to the end of the battle that day. It's the evening time. And so now that curse that was pronounced, that's lifted because now it's the evening time. And so the people...

They're starving by this point. They've run 17 miles fighting all the whole way. And in doing so, they haven't been able to eat or kind of replenish themselves. And so now as they're just starving, they're

I don't know if you get like this, but I kind of get in a little bit of a frenzy. Kim likes to tease me a little bit. If I'm really hungry, then it's like, I don't even care. I'm just eating whatever. It just doesn't matter. Well, there are some limitations. That doesn't mean I'll eat sushi and that kind of stuff. But you get the point. It's just like, it doesn't matter. I don't even care.

It's kind of how they were. They were just frantic, you know. They're just starving. And so they just start killing the animals and eating them right away. Now, it wasn't that they were eating them raw. Kind of makes it sound like that, right? But the real issue here is the command that God had given in Deuteronomy chapter 12. And I share this in contrast to Saul's command. Nobody can eat today, right? That was just a command that Saul made up. That wasn't God's command. But here was God's command.

In Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 23, God tells the children of Israel, only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life. You may not eat the life with the meat. And so for Israel, their command from the Lord was not, this is not about raw or cooked. This is about draining the blood out of the meat before you cook it so that the blood is not in the meat when you eat it.

And so what's happening here in 1 Samuel chapter 14 is they're not taking the time to do that. As you can imagine, you know, sometimes we don't even like to wait for things to thaw from the freezer, right? So it's like...

you know, they're not wanting to wait for the blood to drain, you know, they're not wanting to wait for that. And so they're just, you know, cooking it very fast. They're just, you know, getting it off the grill as fast as they can end to start eating it. And so in that, they are breaking this command that God gave in Deuteronomy chapter 12, and it's also in Leviticus. So this was a legitimate command from God. They were sinning against the Lord in doing this.

And so it's told to Saul, look, the people are sinning against the Lord. Now this part's accurate. What they were doing here was sin. They were violating what God had instructed them in the book of Deuteronomy. And so Saul says, roll a large stone. And so the large stone was so that they could slaughter the animal and, you know, place the animal there and let the blood drain out so that then they could cook the food and be able to partake of it.

So the thing is, as you look at this situation, the people did sin in this because, well, we understand why, right? They were frantic. They were desperate. They were starving. And it had been a long day and they'd been running and fighting all day long.

but they broke the command of the Lord. And the people are guilty of that. And there's, you know, no excusing that. They can't really blame Saul for their sin in the sense that they're not guilty of sin because, you know, this was Saul's command. However, Saul is now accountable for this. He's participated in this. He is now guilty along with them because he is the one who put them in this position to

It doesn't excuse them for sinning against God, but it does bring Saul into the mix now that he shares in the guilt for their sin against God. Think about it this way. If I walk up to Pastor Sisko and I start poking him until he gets really irritated, and then I keep poking him more, and he gets more irritated. He starts to run away and try to get away, and I chase after him. I keep poking him. I keep poking him until finally he just blows up and swears at me like crazy. Now,

Cisco, that came from your heart. You can't blame me. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That was in your heart. I mean, you're still on the hook as far as God's concerned. You swore at Pastor Jer, and I can't believe you would do that. But I also am not without guilt because I'm the one doing the provoking. In a similar way, Saul here, he shares in the guilt. He shares in the accountability that

Now, if the people had behaved this way and Saul had not given that command, that would have been different. It would have been a whole different situation. But because they were in this situation, because of Saul's disregard for their well-being and focus on himself, now there's an accountability that he shares with it.

In Matthew chapter 18, verse 7, Jesus says, That Jesus is saying that there is going to be offenses. There are going to be, you know, sins and tragedies and atrocities. And that's going to happen. But woe to those who are part of that.

Woe to those who are contributing to that situation that are bringing those offenses about. And this is something serious for us to consider because again, you know, so many times we're just focused on ourselves and we think, yeah, if I don't really, you know, walk with God today, it only affects me, but that's,

That's not the reality. It affects everybody around you. And then as everybody around you is affected and they are responding well or not so well, depending on their own walk with God, if they're engaged in sin now as a result of your lack of walk with God, well, you have an accountability now for that. And they're not off the hook. I mean, they still gotta, God's gonna still hold them accountable for what's in their heart. But now we're roped into their walk

sinfulness. We share the guilt for that. Verse 34, Saul says, Verse 35,

So Saul responds to this announcement, hey, they're, you know, eating the food with the blood, and he leaps into action. He gets the stone, you know, he calls the people, okay, let's do this right, and so he follows the ceremony of this, and so in that, you know, really actually doing good in this verse, in that he's, you know, getting the people to handle the food appropriately, but it's kind of interesting in the context, as you go into verse 35, and then

the author points out, this was the first altar that Saul built to the Lord. So he wasn't in the practice of building altars, but at this point he did. First time in his life, he builds an altar to the Lord. And it's a good step. It's, you know, unfortunately not the end of the story. And so it's not that he repented and turned his life around, but it seems that, you know, Saul was pretty good at the ceremony.

the, the putting on the show, the rituals of walking with God, but not so good at actually following God and pursuing the heart of God. And so, oh, there's a, you know, law. And so he, you know, he, he abides by that and he can put on a good show, but his heart is not seeking after gods. And that's the real issue here. It's further demonstrated as we go on now, verses 36 through 42, we have point number four. You do not hear much

from the Lord. Here's a result of pursuing your own heart. You don't hear very much from God. In verse 36, it tells us, Saul said, "'Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.' And they said, "'Do whatever seems good to you.' Then the priest said, "'Let us draw near to God here.' So Saul asked counsel of God, "'Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?'

But he did not answer him that day. So they eat. Everybody's feeling much better. They've had a good dinner. It's still early into the evening, into the night. And so Saul decides, you know, we could have a better victory. We had a pretty good victory. So he talks about it wasn't as good as it could have been. But okay, we've had a pretty good victory. We've all had a good meal. You guys ready? Let's go back into the battle. Let's go and pursue them yet some more. And so he

shares this with the people and they say, yeah, do whatever seems good to you. But then the priest speaks up and says, let's draw near to God here. Let's just stop for a second. Let's see what God has to say about this. Now, this is what you would expect from a priest, right? I mean, this is the right thing for a priest to do to kind of like, hey, maybe we should check with the Lord. You know, everybody thinks this is a good idea, but does God think this is a good idea? Is this what God wants us to do? And so,

That's what you would expect from a priest. But I would also suggest that it's what you should expect from a king. Or it's what you should expect from a Christian. That it's not just about what we want. It's not just about what I think is a good idea. And if everybody agrees with me, if it's a good idea, we need to, in our lives, search and find out, is it God's idea? Is it what God wants for our lives? Now, if you consider back in 1 Samuel 13,

Before this battle and before they were going to deal with the Philistines, Saul was there waiting on Samuel to do the sacrifice. The Philistines had invaded the land and started to set up camp and he needed to respond and seven days were passing and all the men of Israel were fleeing and hiding and running away and they were scared and so Saul panicked and he offered a sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel. And when Samuel showed up during that sacrifice,

Saul explained it away in 1 Samuel 13, verse 12. And he's saying, look, you know, they were gathering and the men were leaving and I have not yet made supplication to the Lord, he says. And so I felt compelled and I offered a burnt offering. And so just a couple of days earlier in the previous chapter, Saul had waited to act, waited to have an opportunity to inquire of the Lord. Now he got impatient and he did his own thing.

But there was this ceremony, right? There was this elaborate to-do, and they were all waiting for Samuel so they could inquire of the Lord. And now Saul is just not even on his mind. It's not even on his heart. And so the issue in chapter 13 reveals it wasn't just that Saul really wanted to hear from God, and that's why...

He sacrificed. Again, it's just showing the reality of his heart was he was far from God. And that's why he went ahead and violated the law and did the sacrifice himself. He wasn't that interested in hearing from God. As demonstrated now, further revealed in chapter 14, as he just decides, let's go to battle and let's go. And he's not interested.

He's not waiting to hear from the Lord. He's not, it's not even on his mind. And it's the priest who has to speak up and say, hey, maybe we should check in with God. And that's good that the priest did that. And that's good that, you know, people around us do that. But it's an issue that it's not in us already. It's not in our heart already. I need to hear from God about this. That's the point that I want to make that.

You don't hear much from the Lord when you're pursuing your own heart because first and foremost, you're not even bothering to stop and ask. You're not even inquiring of the Lord. You're not waiting on the Lord to hear from the Lord. It's not even on your mind. You're ready to go ahead and make good with your plans and do what you want to do. And maybe when the ceremony is there, you're real good at looking like, yeah, I had to make supplication to the Lord. And it's easy to do that. But

But the reality is when it's not in our heart to find out what God desires in our lives and in our situations and as we're making decisions, if it's not in our heart to inquire of the Lord, that's an indication that there's already something going on, that we are pursuing our own hearts instead of pursuing the heart of God. In the situation in chapter 13, Saul was in a position where he was really intimidated and overwhelmed by this massive army and he has this little army and so he's

He's more inclined to wait and to offer a sacrifice and to make supplication before the Lord. But now he's on a victory high. Oh man, he has such a good day. And those Philistines, you know, he beat them really good. And because of his command, you know, they beat him even better. And he, I would suggest, feels kind of indestructible. Like, hey, yeah, let's go. And I want to keep this up. Again, all focused on himself. And he's not hearing from the Lord, first of all, because he doesn't even bother to ask.

But then even when the priest suggests it, verse 37, so Saul asked counsel of God, shall I go down to the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he, that is God, did not answer him that day. And so the priest said, hey, we should stop and ask God. And he says, okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, God, should we go? Are you going to give us victory? But God doesn't answer. Why doesn't God answer? I think it's interesting for us to consider. Listen, when asking God what he wants is an afterthought, right?

You need to know that God may just choose to not respond at all. He didn't want to know. He didn't ask. Well, but come on, God, I'm asking now. God has the right. He gets to choose. He calls us to seek him, to put him first. When we don't put him first, he's not under any obligation to then answer us when, you know, it's like we're teaching a dog tricks, right? Like speak, you know, and God's not just going to bark whenever you want him to bark, right?

It's up to us to seek God first. And many times we forget and God is so gracious, but let's not forget and let's not take that for granted. And let's be reminded that when asking God is an afterthought, he has the right and he may just choose not to respond at all. He gets to choose that. That's his right. He's God. And so he doesn't answer. So Saul decides, huh, I know what the problem is. And he tries to fix the situation now,

With another foolish oath. Verse 38. And Saul said, come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today. He makes another oath now in verse 39. For as the Lord lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But not a man among all the people answered him. So he decides, okay, there's a sin that happened today. That's why God's not answering.

And he says another vow, whoever sinned and reduced my victory, oh boy, you're going to pay. You're going to be in trouble because now God's not talking to me because you sinned. Again, you know, he's pursuing his own heart. That's what he's focused on. He's so serious about it. He says, even if the sin is in me or in Jonathan, they're going to die.

I'm very serious about this. I'm really serious about it. You should not sin because then God won't speak to me. Again, he's not defending God's honor here. He's all about himself. And so he makes this oath. We're going to put to death whoever it is that's causing this issue where God's not speaking to me.

And the people didn't even know how to answer that. It says, not a man among the people answered him. Verse 40. Then he said to all Israel, you be on one side and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, do what seems good to you. Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel, give a perfect lot. So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. And Saul said, cast lots between my son Jonathan and me. So Jonathan was taken.

And so here we see, as the situation unfolds, he begins to cast lots. Now he asked God for a perfect lot to be cast. He asked God, Lord, this is in your hands. And so you reveal the truth of what happened today. Now casting lots, there's a lot of discussion that could be had about the inquiring of the Lord. How did Saul in the previous verse respond?

In verse 37, how did Saul inquire of the Lord? There's the Urim and the Thummim that the priest had. And so there's, you know, we know that that was a means for them to inquire of the Lord and ask of the Lord, but we don't know exactly how that took place. Some suggest that the stones on the breastplate of the priest lit up as the Lord spelled out, you know, his answer. Some suggest that the stones on the breastplate of the priest

believe that it was two different color rocks in the priest's breastplate there. And so they would, you know, reach his hand in and pull out. And so if it was a white rock, then God said yes. If it was a black rock, God said no. And a mixture of those kinds of ideas as far as how that worked. However it worked, we don't know. But we do know that was a means of them inquiring of the Lord. So it was probably the means by which Saul was inquiring of the Lord. And

How did God not answer? We don't know. We don't know exactly how that worked. And so usually in the idea of the Urim and the Thummim, there's just a yes or a no. There's not a no answer at all. But

But whatever the case is, there was no answer. So now they're casting lots. Now this was one of the ways that God worked. It was one of the ways that they sought the will of God in those days. And so they divide Jonathan and Saul on one side and the rest of the people. And, you know, Saul's expectation here is right away him and his son are going to be, you know, out of suspicion. It's going to be on the people. Of course, it's the people's fault and not his fault or his son's fault. But to his surprise...

It's him and Jonathan that are selected. And so now they have to choose between them. So Lord, which is it? Was it Jonathan or Saul that is an issue this day? And the Lord casts the lot or gives a lot to Jonathan. So, you know, however you want to do it. You want to pick a high card, a low card, roll dice, whatever, cast lots. It's that same kind of thing, right? But the Lord is in control to such a degree that, well, he is able to

give a perfect lot. And it was a means that he used in order to work with his people in those days. It's not something that we would rely on today. We have the Holy Spirit, it's a whole different context. But the point is, as you look at this, they're casting lots and God actually answers in this. In that, the whole point of Saul is, okay, who broke my vow? Who broke my oath? And

And God reveals through the casting of lots perfectly and exactly. I mean, there was one person who broke that vow. He didn't make the vow, but you know, that curse that was pronounced, there was one person who did it. And God perfectly spoke through this casting of lots to reveal that it was Jonathan, perfectly and accurately. And so again, the point is you don't hear much from the Lord. So what did Saul hear from the Lord? Just the facts, right?

He just got the facts from the Lord. That's all he got. He didn't get direction. He didn't get clarity. He didn't get insight because he wasn't really seeking after God. But when God spoke, it was just the facts. It was just, here's what happened. Now, why did God answer at all is something that, you know, some would consider and kind of ponder on. If God had the opportunity in verse 37 to not answer at all, then why not in verse 41 and 42 not answer at all? Why did God even entertain this? And

I think it's important for us to consider that God really does respect the position of authority. And so even though it was a foolish command that Saul gave, breaking of that command was still a breaking of that command. And so God revealed that through this process. Even though it's not

in pursuit of his will or in, you know, the best interest of the people or even though it's self-focused and not God-focused, authority is real. And positions of authority really are honored by God. Even when we won't honor positions of authority, God actually does. And so in this case, with the casting of lots to reveal who broke the king's command, the truth comes out. And it's not God saying, Jonathan, you know, should be put to death, but it is saying, Jonathan is the one who broke the king's command.

It's just the facts. Now, again, relating this to us, you don't hear much from the Lord when you're pursuing your own heart because, number one, you're not asking. And then when you do ask, you may not hear from the Lord. And if you do hear from the Lord when it's necessary, a lot of times it's just the facts. It's just, it's not a personal relationship with God. It's just the facts. It's just the verse. It's just the text. It's just...

it's not the relationship with God that he desires to have from you. And that's why I put it that way. You don't hear much from the Lord. You might hear from the Lord, but it's not what it should be. It's not what it could be if you were to pursue the heart of God. Well, moving on to verses 43 through 46, we have point number five, and that is, you do foolishly unless people intervene. You do foolishly unless people intervene. That's the strangest thing. Okay, a mystery to work out later.

Huh, okay. Those are attached to the same thing. Anyways, okay, I'm not going to distract myself. You do foolishly. Unless people say, Jerry, get back into the message and stop looking at the screens. I just saw the reflection in the mother's room window. All of a sudden, I was like, the slides aren't working. But okay, verse 43. Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what you have done. And Jonathan told him and said, I don't know.

Look how crazy, foolish, and stubborn Saul is. Jonathan gets the lot. God clearly reveals there is one person who broke the king's command. It was Jonathan. The facts have been laid out. All right, Jonathan, tell me what you've done. And so he said, I tasted a little honey.

Now, it really wasn't a sin for Jonathan to do this, in that he wasn't part of that vow. He wasn't there. He wasn't, he didn't hear it. He didn't, you know, know that this was the king's command and violate it. He just, there was honey. He was hungry, and in the midst of the battle, he partook, and then found out after the fact. Now, the last line there in verse 43, he says, so now I must die. And depending on your translation, there's a little bit of question about whether this should be a question. So,

i just ate a little bit of honey so now i must die or he's just resigned to his fate so now i must die i broke the king's command and so you know now you have to do what you said because you're the king and that's what you said and so now i must die and so we don't really know jonathan's disposition at this time but we know sauls he says you're darn right you're gonna die

God do so to me and much more also if I don't kill you. You're going to die, Jonathan. And here's Jonathan. He's innocent. He broke the vow, but he never made the vow. And Saul is, it's not even on his mind to think, you know, maybe I have been making some foolish vows today. I mean, the last one I made, someone's going to die for this. Okay, maybe I went a little bit too far. He will not humble himself and repent for

He's kind of like stubborn in his pride and saying, okay, I said he's got to die. So he's got to die. He won't humble himself and go back and say, yeah, that vow about not eating today, that wasn't the best vow. I'm really sorry. I really kind of blew it. That was a bad vow. I'm not going to hold anybody accountable for that. No. Stubbornly says, someone broke that vow, I'm going to kill them.

This is what happens when we pursue our own hearts. We get stubborn in our pride and we push forward even when it's the worst thing to do and we will do foolishly. I mean, Jonathan would have been put to death. Saul would have regretted it for the rest of his life if the people had not intervened. In verse 45, but the people said to Saul,

Shall Jonathan die who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not. As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die. And Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines and the Philistines went to their own place. So the people intervene now. They say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You know, before they

Did anybody, you know, eat today? And everybody was quiet. I'm going to kill whoever, you know, everybody's quiet. Let's cast lots. Okay, everybody's quiet. But now when it comes down to it, it's like, they're like, no, we can't let this happen. This isn't right. Look, God did a great work and Jonathan trusted God and we can't let this happen. And they step in between. They say, no, Jonathan is not going to die today. That's not right. And if they had not intervened, Saul would have carried out his foolishness.

He would have went from a bad situation to a worse situation if the people had not intervened. And I would ask you to consider, do you do foolishly unless people intervene? Do people have to constantly like jump in? Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, don't do that. Don't do that. There's an indication there. You're not pursuing the heart of God when we're pursuing our own hearts.

We're going to chase after things that are foolish, that we're going to regret for the rest of our lives. And sometimes we get so stubborn in those things that we'll do it even though we know we're going to regret it for the rest of our lives. But that's our pride, that we won't go back, that we won't humble ourselves. To pursue the heart of God is, it goes along with humility, but to pursue our own heart goes hand in hand with pride.

The commentator John Trapp points out something interesting. He says, he that maketh so much ado, it's an older commentator, as you can see, he that maketh so much ado about eating with blood makes nothing of spilling the blood of innocent Jonathan. And think about that contrast. Oh, the ceremony, the scripture. All right, we've got to set up an altar, you know, because I got to be faithful and I got to make supplication to God. And, you know, and that, you know, he's all for the ceremony. But

Killing an innocent person, his own son? No problem, because that's what I said. You see the contrast. He's valuing his own word so much more than he is the word of God. He's valuing his own heart so much more than the heart of God in his stubbornness, in his pride, in his foolishness. Now, in the very next chapter, in chapter 15,

We'll see him spare King Agag when God deliberately says, kill the Amalekites. And so the commentator Matthew Poole says, strange perverseness. He who is so indulgent as to spare wicked Agag in chapter 15 is now so severe as to destroy his own worthy son. You see that the issue here is Saul is twisted.

He's perverted. His mind is messed up. And this is not, don't look at this as the cause. That's not the issue. And that's why he didn't pursue God's heart. No, this is the symptom. Because he's not pursuing God's heart, it results in strange perverseness that we're willing to completely ignore things that God says and then be so severe in things that God hasn't said because we're pursuing our own heart.

and not God's heart because we are following our ways and not his ways. It's a strange perverseness that results in us when we pursue our hearts and we will pursue that to great foolishness unless someone intervenes, unless someone steps in and says, look, this is wrong. You got to stop. And that's an issue. Now, we all need to be thankful that there are people in our lives who would step in and say, this is wrong. You got to stop. That's a good thing to have. We all need those people.

But at the same time, listen, if people have to do that, we're all going to experience that. But if people have to do that, especially in an ongoing, continual manner, there's something wrong. It's an indication that we're, like Saul, pursuing our own heart, chasing after foolishness instead of chasing after the heart and the will and the plan of God.

Well, finally, verses 47 through 52, the results of pursuing your own heart is that you have to establish yourself. Verse 47. Verse 47.

So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them. Verse 48, and he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.

Here in these final verses, and the verses we'll read in just a moment, it's kind of a summary of somewhat of Saul's reign. And so this, remember, was kind of the first battle where he actually has an official army here in 13 and 14 against the Philistines. And so now it's just kind of saying, you know, for the rest of the 40 years that he reigned, he did the same thing. He amassed an army. He fought the enemies around him.

noticing that first line of verse 47. So he established his sovereignty over Israel. He established, Saul established his sovereignty. God didn't establish his sovereignty. Saul established his sovereignty. Now, for those who have been participating in the Quick to Study course, we've been looking at Luke chapter six, right? What happens if you build your house upon the sand?

collapses. But if you dig deep and build your house upon the rock, and what is the rock? Jesus says, that's the one who hears my words and does them. That's the one who pursues the heart of God. Here's Saul establishing his kingdom, but it's not a kingdom that's going to last. He was already told, Samuel told him in chapter 13, your kingdom is not going to last. It's going to be taken from you and given to your neighbor who's better than you, who seeks after the heart of God. But Saul here, he's working hard to establish his kingdom.

And when you're pursuing your own heart, well, God's not going to establish your kingdom. That's up to you. You're going to have to work hard and it's not going to last. The storm's going to come and like a house built upon the sand, it's not going to stand. Verse 49, then the sons of Saul and Jonathan, I'm sorry, the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jeshui, Malchishua, and the names of his two daughters were these, the name of the firstborn Merib, the name of the younger was Michael or Michelle.

The name of Saul's wife was Ahinom, the daughter of Ahimenez. 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 and the son of Abiel. So a genealogy, a little bit of history about Saul's family as he is the first king of Israel. Then verse 52. Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.

Again, Saul established his own kingdom and he had battles all around him. And so what does he do? When Saul saw any strong man or any valued man, he took him for himself. Saul is establishing himself. That's someone that can benefit me. I'm taking it for myself. That's someone who can benefit me. I'm taking it for myself. That's someone who can benefit me. I'm taking them for myself. That's what Saul is doing.

Now think about the contrast. And we haven't got there in Samuel, but I know you know the accounts, right? How did David gather men? When he was being chased by Saul out in the wilderness, hiding in a cave, people flocked to him. The Lord brought men to David. Saul took men for himself. You see, there's a difference between when God establishes and when we have to establish for ourselves. There's a difference. It's a big difference.

Think about what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 127.1, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Listen, we can work really hard like Saul and establish ourselves, but it's a kingdom, it's a house, it's a career, it's a life that's not going to be what God intends and it's not going to last. And we're going to labor in vain. When we pursue our own heart, this is what happens. We have to establish ourselves.

Instead of letting God establish us as we seek his will, his kingdom, what he desires. And then he builds what he wants and it's his work and it endures because it's his work. But when we insist on our way, insist on our stuff, insist on what I want, we're going to have to work really hard at it. And in the end, it's not going to last.

And so this evening, I would ask us to consider the detriment to ourselves and to everybody around us when we do not pursue God's heart. As we look at the example of Saul, the results of pursuing your own heart, they're not innocent. It's not just like, well, it's no big deal. You know, I know I can put up with the consequences. When you pursue your own heart, your self-focus causes people distress and other people are bothered and burdened and hurt and messed up as a result of your focus on yourself.

And your foolishness reduces your effectiveness. And even though that's not what you would intend, that's not what you meant, but it limits what God desires to do in your life and would do in your life. It limits what could have been because you were so caught up in your own will and your desires and not the will of God. And then as you are behaving this way and people around you are

involved in sin as a result, you now share in the guilt of that. You're part of the one who provoked that, and it doesn't relieve them of their guilt. They still are accountable to God for that, but now you share that guilt, and now you're held accountable, especially as God has given us roles of authority and leadership, that there is an accountability, as Hebrews says, that those leaders look out for your souls as those who will give an account, that there is that attachment of responsibility and

pursuing our own heart can bring not just guilt of our own sin upon us, but the guilt of those around us that we've messed up because of our pursuit of self. It puts us in a place where we don't hear much from the Lord. It puts us in a place where we will pursue a foolish course and less people intervene, that in our stubbornness and pride, we will do things that we will regret for the rest of our lives. And it keeps us in this place where we have to establish ourselves.

We have to build our own selves up and build our own kingdom and work really hard to do that. It's the result of pursuing your own heart. I want to end with one final quote from Thomas Constable. He says, And that's what I would ask us to consider as we close this evening.

pursuing God's heart versus pursuing your own heart, this is what it comes down to. It's about surrendering your life to God. And Saul was never submitted to God unless he thought, okay, I agree, that's a good idea. But he always wanted to maintain that control. He wanted to hold on to that authority and that control and decide whether or not he did what he wanted or what God wanted.

And that's the thing I think that we need to consider this evening. Are you pursuing your own heart? Trying so hard to maintain control of your own life and decide what you do and when you do it and how you do it and where you go. Are you willing to relinquish control and just completely turn it over to God and say, God, whatever you want, whatever you desire, I'm going to submit to your will and pursue your heart. That will be the goal and the purpose of my life.

That's where we need to be. And that's what's best for us. And that's what's best for everybody around us. Anything else is detrimental to us and to everybody around us. So don't stay in that position of always demanding to maintain control. But instead, let's let go of that control and seek after the heart of God. Amen. Noah's going to come up and close this in a time of worship. As he does, we want to encourage you, of course, to

Allow God to continue to work in your heart about this issue of control and pursuing his heart. And at the same time, we want to give opportunity for you to minister to one another. And so if you need to pray with one another, if you need to exhort and encourage one another with scripture or something that's on your heart, then feel free to do that and move around, minister to one another as we seek the Lord and close out this time in worship.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.