And so ends the cautionary tale of King Saul, killed in battle with the Philistines.  He lost his sons including Jonathan, he lost his army, and finally he lost the battle.  But in the end, to finish off the godlessness of King Saul, he is not killed in battle but kills himself.  While this seems honorable, in Jewish society suicide was considered a breaking of the 6th commandment since it was considered murder of oneself.

This story, about a king chosen and anointed by God but abandoned due to his sinfulness, is a nervous-making one for us.  If we sin against God, will He abandon us, too?  How will we know if we’ve lost God’s blessing, His anointing for ministry?  And what sins or number of sins are required before God leaves us?  This very question exposes our ignorance of sin.  We in our Western, individualistic, guilt-innocence based culture keep thinking of sin as something we do.  “I committed a sin,” is our default thought, “and so I am sinful.”  But the bible makes it clear that we aren’t sinful because we sin, but we sin because we are sinful.  We live in a state of rebellion against God, of self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness.  And because of this sinfulness, we sin.

The Good News is that Jesus died to pay for our sinfulness.  That state of things is gone for we who are In Christ.  We still sin, but are not in a state of rebellion against God.  Things have changed with the cross.

Now, before we take too deep a breath of relief, we have to remember Jesus’ words in our New Testament reading, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.”  The relationship Jesus wants with us, a saving relationship, is not a matter of attendance at church, or number of people we’ve served in this world, or amount of money we’ve given away.  Like every relationship it is based on time spent together, common interests, and mutual love and respect.  For those who don’t truly love God, (“No greater love has anyone than this, that they lay down their life for their friend”) that door is narrow indeed.

Due to a lack of trust/faith, David, one of the greatest military assets King Saul could utilize, is chased into the hands of King Saul’s enemies.  It’s amazing what a lack of trust can do to harm us.

King Saul is foolish, impatient, arrogant, proud, and impulsive as we have already noted.  Today we see that he is controlling as he attempts to force Samuel to do his bidding from the grave, and that he is lacking in trust.  And it may be this last that is ultimately his downfall.  Saul doesn’t trust that David is not out to kill him and claim the kingship for himself.  And as with everyone, it is true of Saul that we always assume others will act the way we would.  Nobody is more afraid of being gossiped about than a gossip.  Nobody assumes someone else is lying as quickly as a liar.  And for King Saul, nobody assumes another would attempt to wrongfully take his throne than he is.  Even when David has proven again and again that he will not harm God’s anointed King, no matter how easy and justified it is, still Saul won’t trust him and so pursues him.

David is forced into the land of his sworn enemy, the Philistines.  And yet here too he is met with mistrust.  After over a year of faithful service to Achish, David has earned his trust.  But not that of the other military leaders who send him away rather than allowing him to fight with them.  Again, David’s military prowess goes unused due to a lack of faith in him.

How often do we lose out on great opportunities and gifts because of a lack of trust?  (The Greek word for “trust” is pistis, which is also the word for faith, making them almost interchangeable).  How often are we the recipients of Jesus’ dispirited and dispiriting words, “Oh, you of little faith.  Why do you doubt?”  Are there situations in your life where your lack of trust is causing you to lose out on relationships, on ministry opportunities, or on peace of mind?