Why did Saul fail?

Saul failed miserably at the end of his life. Why is this so? It does seem, however, that he started well. He is portrayed as a shy and likeable young man. This is such an important question because it has happened to men seemingly called to the ministry—they started well but for a variety of reasons fell out of the race due to failure of kind or another. Sometimes even late in life, after years of fruitful ministry. What happened in the case of Saul?

1. The responsibility for failure must be placed squarely at the feet of Saul. After his anointing, Samuel assures him that the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon him, he will prophesy, and he should do what his hands find to do, because God is with you (1 Samuel 10:6–8). Even after he had sinned, Samuel said to him, You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever (1 Samuel 13:13–14). Later on, however, he is a man who appears to be possessed by evil, jealousy, and fear progressing from one level (1 Samuel 18:1–30:31).

2. The loss of the Lord’s Spirit, who had empowered him for kingship (1 Samuel 10:10). This Spirit was replaced by an evil spirit from the Lord (1 Samuel 16:14). From that point on, Saul lost the power of God that was essential to being a good king; he was unable to make a good decision and to maintain proper justice. Even before that, there seems to be a lack of spiritual sense in Saul. He did not realise the great offence he had caused when offered the unlawful sacrifice (1 Samuel 13:8–13) and when he failed to execute Agag, as Samuel had commanded him (1 Samuel 15:13–35).

   Constant disobedience leads to a loss of the Lord’s abiding presence in guidance. In New Testament terms, constantly grieving the Spirit of God leads to quenching of the Spirit with no sense of the Lord’s leading at all. This can be a frightening experience, as Saul painfully had found out.

3. This loss of all good sensibility and discernment due to a loss of the Lord’s guiding presence is seen in an event at the end of Saul’s life (1 Samuel 28:3–19). Saul ends up consulting a witch or medium (literally, a mistress of a ghost) at Endor. The important question here is not first, Was it or was it not Samuel who appeared to Saul? The most important, even saddest thing to notice here is the words in 1 Samuel 28:15–16: 'God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore, I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.' And Samuel said, 'Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy?' These are indeed some of the saddest words in Scripture. Here is a frightened man, desperate for guidance, going to a witch, the very likes of which he had banned from the land because this is what the law required (Deuteronomy 18:9–13; Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31). How can he sink so low? This is the extreme distress (1 Samuel 28:15) of being forsaken by God in one who once knew the blessedness of God’s closeness in guidance and leadership. This kind of situation led Blaise Pascal to write in his Pensées: “There is nothing on earth that shows the wretchedness of man [like]…the weakness of man without God.¹

Saul’s death is a tragic example of leadership that promises so much good due to natural abilities and giftedness and also God’s choice (1 Samuel 9:15–17; 1 Samuel 10:23–24), but ultimately all comes crumbling down because the foundation was weak. Saul did not show steadfast commitment to the obedience of God’s commandments and to humbly seeking his guidance. Rather, he lived in terror of the Philistines and what they might do to him rather than trusting the Lord and seeking his face (see 1 Samuel 13:4–14; 1 Samuel 15:24; 1 Samuel 17:11; 1 Samuel 28:5).

Ultimately, Saul and most of the Davidic kings after him became guilty of unfaithfulness. But as Leithart says, The Chronicler’s history begins with the apostasy of a king, but it does not end there. After Saul comes David, and after each of the other Saul-like kings there is always another David. After Ahaz, a Hezekiah; after Manasseh, Josiah; after Josiah’s sons, Cyrus and Darius and other upstanding Persians who carry out the Davidic commission better than the descendants of David. When Israel descends into shame and slavery, they cry out to Yahweh for healing. When Israel is subjected to the Philistines, they start looking for a deliverer, a new Moses who can reverse the reverse exodus and take them to the promised land.²

Today, however, we can rejoice in Jesus Christ, who has been given the throne of his father David (Luke 1:32). He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Even if we are faithless, he remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).³ And so when Christians become fearful, face severe opposition and persecution and suffer for righteousness’ sake, Peter counsels them in this way: Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy (1 Peter 3:14–15). By God’s grace we have a King who will, according to the sure Word of God, in the end conquer all the forces of evil, who will crush the serpent’s head, the One who is called Faithful and True sitting on a white horse (Revelation 19:11).⁴