If King Saul had killed Goliath instead of David, would he have proved worthy to remain as king of Israel?
King Saul was like all of the soldiers on the battlefield in Israel at the time Goliath was blaspheming God’s name and making fun of the cowardice of the Israelite warriors. This is why Goliath made fun of them all. Even the King would not step up for his nation.
They misrepresented God because he is a God of strength, majesty, and power. Only David had the true heart of a worshiping Israelite, who despite his small stature was ready to defend God’s honor. Nothing else mattered to him.
That small young man had the courage to stand up to anyone despite their size for the Lord’s sake. He didn’t have a problem putting his body and life on the line for God. And God honored him by giving him the victory over Goliath.
King Saul didn’t step up for God when it mattered. But it’s not just that. This is a heart issue. King Saul’s heart for quite a while already didn’t belong to the Lord. He showed his true heart when he kept back part of the spoils of war (1 Samuel 15:12-16). God said then that he regretted making him king (1 Samuel 15:10-11).
Even though Saul started out strong, even having special relationship with God for a time, he drifted away from him and became a man about himself. The only way he was maintained his kingship was to not change his heart before the Lord.
It wasn’t a matter of one or two major actions or events he could have changed. It was the gradual falling away from the presence and power of a relationship with the Lord. Each successive event took him farther and farther from the Lord’s presence and Spirit.
This is why we must be careful to not fall away from the Lord one step at a time. It’s easy for us not to notice the small, incremental and gradual steps. But these are the most dangerous steps because a person can slowly walk contrary to the Lord.
People tend to notice the large events, but by the time they recognize it, the Lord has chosen someone else to do his ministry, like David. We must each monitor our own walk and make sure that all of our steps are torrid the Lord instead of away from him.
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
