Patriarchs and Prophets

Samuel’s countenance was full of anxiety and trouble; but to his inquiry, “What
hast thou done?” Saul offered excuses for his presumptuous act. He said: “I saw that
the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed,
and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; therefore said
I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made
supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.
“And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the
commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the
Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall
not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath
commanded him to be captain over his people.... And Samuel arose, and gat him up
from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin.”
Either Israel must cease to be the people of God, or the principle upon which
the monarchy was founded must be maintained, and the nation must be governed by
a divine power. If Israel would be wholly the Lord’s, if the will of the human and
earthly were held in subjection to the will of God, he would continue to be the Ruler
of Israel. So long as the king and the people would conduct themselves as subordinate
to God, so long he could be their defense. But in Israel no monarchy could prosper
that did not in all things acknowledge the supreme authority of God.
If Saul had shown a regard for the requirements of God in this time of trial, God
could have worked his will through him. His failure now proved him unfit to be the
vicegerent of God to his people. He would mislead Israel. His will, rather than the
will of God, would be the controlling power. If Saul had been faithful, his kingdom
would have been established forever; but since he had failed, the purpose of God must
be accomplished by another. The government of Israel must be committed to one who
would rule the people according to the will of heaven.
We do not know what great interests may be at stake in the proving of God. There
is no safety except in strict obedience to the word of God. All his promises are made
upon condition of faith and obedience, and a failure to comply with his
621