Leadership

 August 28, 2021

1 Kings 14-15: Does God make mistakes? In 15:11, he states that he regretted making Saul king. In 9:2, Saul was known for his stature and good looks. According to the word of the LORD, at the beginning, Saul did what he had been called to do—to lead Israel agains their enemies, but in chapter 13, his weakness begins to show when he disobeys a direct order from the LORD. In chapter 14, he is weak and dithering when facing a real foreign foe, while presenting a blustering show of faulty and unthinking leadership in domestic matters. He covers it all in 15:24 by giving the lame excuse that he was afraid of the people; and in v. 30, he shows his hand: the only thing that really mattered to him were polls and appearances. If he could look good before the people, all was well in his mind.

Samuel put his finger on the issue in 15:17, when he told Saul, “When you were little in your own eyes…” Saul believed his own press, and it was his downfall. When politics are driven by polls, doom is just around the corner, whether it occurs in the public arena, in education, the military, or even the church. Saul cared only about image, and image is another name for idolatry. When it came to where it really mattered, Saul’s image wasn’t able to produce real leadership.

The parallels between Saul’s leadership and what we are seeing in our country today are unfortunately unmistakable. God said he regretted making Saul king because Saul was full of himself. Saul stood head and shoulders above other Israelites, and was handsome to boot. David wasn’t so impressive. Samuel was impressed by David’s brothers, but God knew better. He chose a man after his own heart. He still does today.