1 Samuel 13:8-16

Representative temptations.

The facts are—

1 . Saul, waiting at Gilgal for Samuel, gives orders for the observance of sacrificial worship.

2 . Towards the close of the ceremony, and before the full time was expired, Samuel makes his appearance.

3 . In reply to Samuel's remonstrance, Saul assigns the reasons for his conduct—the discouragement of the people, the non-arrival of Samuel, and the threatening attitude of the foe.

4 . Samuel charges Saul with having failed to keep the commandment of God, and declares that his family shall not succeed to the throne.

5 . Samuel retires to Gibeah, whither Saul and his son also go with their followers. Whether the appointment to meet at Gilgal was that mentioned in 1 Samuel 10:8 , or a subsequent arrangement, does not affect the fact that, in view of measures to be taken conjointly, Saul had been distinctly commanded by God, through the prophet, to wait seven days till Samuel came. Evidently it was a distinct understanding that in the coming effort to rid the land of the Philistines the spiritual power, represented by the, prophet of God, was to be prominent. Thus would the "manner of the kingdom" ( 1 Samuel 10:25 ) be recognised, and Israel's ruler, though a king, would still be the agent for working out a spiritual destiny. It was of immense importance that, having a king like unto other nations, Israel and the monarch should still be made to feel that, not the form of government, but the blessing of God granted in answer to prayer, and on due recognition of the spiritual institutions, was the most important thing. And the command to wait for the spiritual guide and ruler was eminently fitted to impress Saul and the people with the undiminished authority and value of the spiritual head. There is no evidence that the end of the seven days had come, only that it was nigh. Even had it come, the Author of the command was responsible for consequences, not Saul. The first duty of a subject is to obey law. Saul had no right to break the commandment of his King. The assumption of the control of spiritual functions violated a great principle in the eyes of the people. It would mean, the prophet of God can be dispensed with; the king can invent ways other than God's of meeting pressing dangers; rigid obedience to God's command is not expedient at all times; the religious arrangements in the recent settlement of the kingdom, impeding as they do the military movements, are defective; all must, by pressure of events, come into the monarch's hands. Thus the very essence of the constitution, as approved by God and explained in act and word by Samuel ( 1 Samuel 9:26 , 1 Samuel 9:27 ; 1 Samuel 10:1 , 1 Samuel 10:8 , 1 Samuel 10:25 ; 1 Samuel 12:13 , 1 Samuel 12:14 ), was set aside.

I. LIFE INEVITABLY BRINGS WITH IT TEMPTATIONS TO SACRIFICE CLEAR DUTY TO SINFUL EXPEDIENCY . The difficulties surrounding Saul seemed to rise from the natural course of events. The defection of many of his followers was as readily accounted for, by the overwhelming force of the enemy and the inactivity enforced by the absence of Samuel, as it was, from a heathen point of view, pregnant with disaster. The military power of the nation, in being thus subject to spiritual arrangements, was less an arm of strength than a monarch might desire. The first operation of the subordination of man's skill and force to the religious element of the national life was by no means promising. Was it not expedient to act without the spiritual authority as at present constituted? Now this temptation was no "strange thing." It was just an early and sharply defined form of what Saul would be liable to all his days; for events and his own imperfect nature would constantly conspire to raise the question as to whether he would not better hold his own in war if he were not troubled by non-military considerations. The spiritual character of the kingdom would continually test his loyalty to God. His case was not singular.

1 . Moral life on earth involves trial. Created moral existence is not possible apart from liability to the rival claims of duty to God and regard for self, in some form supposed to be more or less expedient. Temptation grows out of the conditions under which we live.

2 . Every special course of life is attended with temptations peculiar to its nature. Saul as king would feel the pressure of what, as a man living in obscurity, he would not have known. Israel chosen of God to traverse the desert and attain to freedom and rest in Canaan were open to trials of faith which, as bondmen in Egypt, would not have come to them. Our Saviour himself endured temptations in virtue of his unique position as Founder of a spiritual kingdom.

II. It is A MERCIFUL PROVIDENCE WHEN REPRESENTATIVE TEMPTATIONS COMING EARLY IN LIFE 'S CAREER ARE UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES MOST FAVOURABLE TO RESISTANCE . The circumstances of a temptation tell wonderfully in the act of resisting. Should it find the mind predisposed by dallying with evil, or should it come in the absence of clear and recent indications of duty, with a sudden impulse, or insinuating itself into intricate considerations and engagements, the chances of its success would be increased as compared with opposite conditions. This temptation to sin came on Saul when he was free from the entanglements of a court and domestic politics; it was in sharp contrast with a most explicit command ; it was counter to the recent instance of God's help in presence of a great danger ( 1 Samuel 11:4-14 ); and it came when his moral sense was at its best. Inasmuch as during coming years Saul would inevitably feel the force of temptations to assert his own methods and will as being apparently better than those indicated by the spiritual requirements of the kingdom, it was really a mercy that this representative temptation came when it did, and in a form most easy to resist. If resisted, a principle would assume an incipient form of habit. The moral strength of the man would be developed by exercise. Success over the foe, consequent on the first triumph of faith in God and submission to his spiritual order, would be a memorial for future inspiration. We have here a clue to the solution of other trials. It is too often imagined that the trial of Adam, of the Israelites at the Red Sea, of Christ in the desert, and of the apostles during the dark days of the crucifixion and death, were arbitrary, severe, and, at least, without a clear trace of kindness. But consider—

1 . Life in each case was liable to many temptations. It was inseparable from Adam's existence as a man on earth, from Israel's march to and occupation of Canaan, from our Saviour's position among men and the evil spirits who would act upon his soul, and from the apostolic career in face of Jewish and Gentile antagonism, that temptation again and again, in forms peculiar to each, would arise. So, also, with every man's life.

2 . In each case the conditions for resisting representative temptation of what was coming were most favourable at the entrance on the career. Man in Eden was pure, free from bad impulse, independent of entanglements and want, familiar with the emphatic and recent command. Israel at the Red Sea had just seen marvellous and repeated tokens of the sufficiency of God to shelter them and ward off danger, and the command to go forward to the sea was explicit. Our Saviour when tempted of the devil was fresh from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as yet not worn down by ingratitude and scorn, filled With the call to enter on his work in founding a spiritual kingdom. So, likewise, when a monarch, or pastor, or Church, or any individual first enters on an office or work, there is a freedom from the entanglements which spring from mixed relationships, an eclat which inspires hope, a sense of responsibility which makes the spirit sober and watchful, and a fame to win which appeals to the noblest sentiments of duty and honour.

3 . Resistance in each case would impart a moral force which would be of great advantage in all subsequent conflicts. Had Adam said a final "nay" to the tempter, his moral conquest over all other temptations would have been comparatively insured. Imperfect as Israel were in the desert, their moral power was greatly strengthened both by the act of faith at the Red Sea and the consequent victory over Pharaoh. As One who had conquered in the desert, our Lord would doubtless confront the later temptations to exchange poverty and want and spiritual rulership for the pomp and outward splendour of an earthly kingdom with a more equable spirit. And the endurance of the apostles during those dark and harrowing hours prior to the resurrection would only render their faith a mightier power wherewith to face the persecution of men and the seeming tardiness of the world's subjugation to Christ. So, likewise, those who are brought by Providence to bear temptation under favourable conditions when entering on a career actually receive a great mercy. They are enabled thereby, if they will, to gain power for life and to qualify for higher service. This will find illustration also with the young. Their early trials, under good conditions, make them more competent to cope with all that is sure to follow.

III. SIN COMMITTED UNDER CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE TO THE RESISTANCE OF TEMPTATION BECOMES THEREBY AGGRAVATED IN CHARACTER . Saul's sin was great. It was marked by deliberation and yet by extreme folly. He "forced himself." The command was so clear, the risks of disobedience so palpable, that only a perverse ingenuity could persuade him to disobey. The effort to silence the conscience always aggravates a crime. Prompt, unquestioning obedience is due to clear commands. Man is not responsible for anything but duty. The folly was conspicuous. To break a clear command in order to offer an act of worship is the perfection of foolishness. Only a "lying spirit" could induce a man to honour God by dishonouring him. The blind reasoning of the heart when once clear duty is trifled with is extraordinary. It would be a wonderful revelation of perverted intellect if we could read the processes of thought by which men are led to force themselves to deliberate acts of sin.

IV. THE PUNISHMENT FOLLOWING ON SIN INCLUDES THE LOSS OF THAT FOR WHICH THE SIN WAS COMMITTED . Two consequences ensued on Samuel's exposure of Saul's sin—the forfeiture of his family's permanent possession of the throne of Israel, and the withholding of immediate interposition on behalf of the nation. Now it is obvious that Saul had yielded to the temptation in hope thereby of inspiring his followers to action, and of insuring the stability of his throne for himself and family in the subjugation of his foes. There was an eminent propriety in Saul's sin being visited by a loss of the kingdom to his family. He was the people's king—chosen because they desired a monarch. Therefore it was in harmony with the usual course of Providence that, though he sinned, he should be allowed to rule, and thus by his infirmities be the rod for their chastisement. Although representing in his virtues and failings the people who demanded a king, he was afforded by the recent trial a good opportunity of conforming to the higher spiritual order, and of thus becoming by degrees educated into the loftier spiritual aims of the national life. Therefore, failing to rise to the level essential to the Messianic conception of the kingdom, he proved the moral unfitness of his principles and methods for transmittal to successors. Have we not here a truth of constant recurrence? Sin is committed to realise a purpose, and the purpose is not realised, but is missed by the very act of sin. Our first parents sought the rest of satisfaction in taking the forbidden fruit; but whatever rest they had before was lost in the act of disobedience, as also the kind of rest sought by the deed. The unhappy man who, under pressure of circumstances as trying to him as the hosts of Philistia were to Saul, forces himself to commit a fraud in order to insure relief and final success in his enterprise, learns to his cost, when once the act is committed, that mental relief is further off than ever, and a remorseless course of events ultimately brings on ruin to the enterprise. "He that seeketh his life shall lose it."

General lessons : —

1 . When pursuing a path of duty, impatience with God's ways should be strictly suppressed, or it will lay us open to the pressure of strong temptations.

2 . In the high service of God we may be placed in circumstances of extreme peril, but these should never shake confidence in his all-sufficiency.

3 . Sometimes the loftiest path of duty is "to be still," and pray for grace "to enter not into temptation.''

4 . The Christian is warranted, by the fact of the existence of "the kingdom," as also by the experiences of the past, to believe that above all the forces that threaten the Church there is a Power that sometimes restrains its manifestation for purposes of discipline.

5 . It is a profitable study for the Church to consider how far prayer is not effectual in consequence of the constant breach of plain commands.

6 . It is the sign of a guilty conscience, and of the hardening effect of even one sin, that plausible reasons are ready at hand to justify conduct.

7 . If we prove ourselves unfit for service by our lack of spirituality, Providence will sooner or later remove us for others more spiritual.