The King's First Mercy Text: 1 Samuel 11:12-13
Introduction: The Anointed Response
When God establishes a man in a position of authority, the first tests are always the most telling. How a man handles his first victory, his first taste of real power, reveals the character that will define his rule. Before this chapter, Saul was a king in name only. He was anointed by Samuel, chosen by lot, and then went home to plow his fields. He was hiding in the baggage when he should have been accepting the crown, and certain sons of Belial despised him, saying, "How can this man save us?" They brought him no presents, but he held his peace (1 Sam. 10:27). This was a quiet, humble beginning. And humility is the soil in which God's strength grows best.
But now, in chapter eleven, the Spirit of God has rushed upon Saul. He has rallied a scattered and terrified Israel, and he has just won a stunning, God-given victory over the Ammonites at Jabesh-gilead. The threat was grotesque, Nahash the Ammonite wanted to gouge out the right eye of every man in Jabesh as a reproach on all Israel. This was not just a military threat; it was a theological taunt. It was a disfigurement of the image of God and a mockery of the covenant people. Saul's response, empowered by the Spirit, was decisive and overwhelming. He butchered the Ammonites. The victory was total.
And with victory comes the inevitable temptation. The adrenaline of the battle is still coursing through the people's veins. The scent of blood is in the air. The men who had doubted Saul, the worthless fellows who had mocked him, are now exposed. They were wrong, and Saul was right. The people, flush with victory and loyalty to their new king, are now ready to turn that same righteous anger inward. They want to finish the job. They want to purge the dissenters. They want to consecrate Saul's new reign with the blood of his political opponents. This is how the nations establish their kings. Power is consolidated through fear, and thrones are secured by eliminating all rivals. The people are demanding a pagan solution. And in this moment, we see the first great test of Saul's kingship. His response here is one of the high points of his life, a flash of what might have been, and a lesson for all who would lead God's people.
The Text
Then the people said to Samuel, "Who is he that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring the men, that we may put them to death."
But Saul said, "Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today Yahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel."
(1 Samuel 11:12-13 LSB)
Mob Justice and Mistaken Zeal (v. 12)
We begin with the people's demand in verse 12:
"Then the people said to Samuel, 'Who is he that said, "Shall Saul reign over us?" Bring the men, that we may put them to death.'" (1 Samuel 11:12)
Notice the psychology of a mob. Just a short time before, these same people were scattered and weeping, hiding from the Ammonite threat. Now, having seen God's deliverance through Saul, they are filled with a vicarious courage. Their fear has turned to bloodlust. This is the nature of carnality. It swings from one emotional extreme to another, from cowardice to cruelty, without ever passing through the stable country of principled conviction.
Their zeal appears righteous. After all, were not these men rebels? Did they not despise the Lord's anointed? Yes, they did. Their sin was real. They were "sons of Belial," worthless men. The people's desire to punish them is not entirely without warrant in principle. God's law requires that rebels be dealt with. The problem is not with the principle of justice, but with the spirit, the timing, and the authority. This is a call for a lynching, not for due process. They are not asking for a trial; they are demanding an execution. "Bring the men, that we may put them to death."
They address their demand to Samuel, the established authority, but their motive is to vindicate Saul. Their loyalty has become a ravenous thing. They want to make Saul's throne secure by making an example of his enemies. This is how worldly power thinks. It secures itself by making others insecure. It builds itself up by tearing others down. This is the spirit of Cain, of Lamech, of Rome. It is the spirit that says, "We have no king but Caesar." The people of Israel had asked for a king like the other nations, and here they are, demanding that their new king behave like a king of the other nations.
This is a dangerous moment. A lesser man, a man insecure in his calling, would have seized this opportunity. He would have seen it as a chance to consolidate power, to eliminate dissent, and to gratify a personal grudge. He could have done it under the guise of piety and justice, and the people would have roared their approval. Many a tyrant has been born in such a moment, baptized in the passions of a mob.
The King's Royal Prerogative: Mercy (v. 13)
But Saul, at this point in his life, is still walking in the Spirit that had been rushed upon him. His response is not the response of a petty tyrant, but of a true king, reflecting the God who established him.
"But Saul said, 'Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today Yahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel.'" (1 Samuel 11:13 LSB)
Saul's response is immediate and decisive. "Not a man shall be put to death this day." He exercises his royal authority not to condemn, but to save. This is what a godly magistrate does. He understands that the sword is given to him by God, and he does not wield it to settle personal scores or to satisfy the passions of a crowd. Justice is not vengeance. Justice is sober, measured, and, when appropriate, merciful.
Saul's reasoning is profoundly theological. He gives two reasons for his clemency, and they are intertwined. First, he deflects the glory for the victory. The people are focused on Saul. "Shall Saul reign over us?" They see the victory as Saul's vindication. But Saul sees it differently. He says, "...today Yahweh has accomplished salvation in Israel." Saul understands that he was merely the instrument. The victory was not his; it was the Lord's. He did not save Israel; Yahweh saved Israel. A man who knows he is an instrument of God's grace is a man who is prepared to be an instrument of God's mercy.
When you know that your success is a gift, you are far less likely to be arrogant in it. Saul, at this moment, is small in his own eyes, and therefore he is great in God's. He refuses to take the glory, and so he is free from the temptation to use that glory for his own ends. He understands that the day belongs to Yahweh. It is a day of salvation, a day of deliverance. And it is utterly inappropriate to stain a day of God's salvation with the blood of Israelites shed in an act of political revenge.
Think of the logic. God has just shown immense mercy to all of Israel, rescuing them from a grotesque enemy when they were faithless and afraid. How, then, could Israel turn around and show no mercy to their own brothers? To do so would be to act like the unforgiving servant in the parable, who, having been forgiven an enormous debt, goes out and throttles his fellow servant over a few pennies. Saul understands this principle instinctively. A day of national deliverance is a day for national amnesty. A day of God's grace should be a day of human grace. The throne that is established by God's salvation should be a throne that extends God's mercy.
This is Saul at his best. Before the envy, before the paranoia, before the disobedience. Here he is a type of Christ. For what does our true King do? After winning the ultimate victory, after accomplishing the ultimate salvation at the cross, what is His first word? "Father, forgive them." He does not call for legions of angels to destroy His enemies. He prays for them. He shows mercy. Saul's action here is a pointer to the greater King whose throne is established not on the blood of His enemies, but on His own blood, shed for His enemies.
Conclusion: The Fleeting Nature of Unconverted Virtue
This is a glorious moment. Saul does everything right. He is humble, courageous, merciful, and gives all the glory to God. It is a picture of what a godly king should be. And yet, we know how his story ends. We know that this man, who refused to kill his Israelite enemies, will later become consumed with a murderous obsession to kill David, the Lord's true anointed. The man who said, "Yahweh has accomplished salvation," will later turn to a witch for guidance because God will not answer him.
What are we to make of this? We must learn that common grace is not saving grace. The Spirit of God can rush upon a man for a particular task, gifting him with courage, wisdom, and even mercy, without regenerating his heart. Saul had the gifts of a king, but he lacked the heart of a king, a heart that was wholly and persistently after God. His virtue here is real, but it is temporary. It is like a cut flower in a vase; it is beautiful for a time, but because it has no root, it will inevitably wither.
The people's demand for blood was carnal. Saul's response was Spirit-led. But the tragedy of Saul is that he did not continue to walk in the Spirit. When the tests came later, when it was not about showing mercy to powerless detractors but about obeying a direct command from God concerning Agag, he failed. He spared what God commanded to be destroyed, and sought to destroy what God commanded to be spared. His mercy here was commendable, but his later disobedience was damnable.
Our security, then, cannot be in our own moments of strength or virtue. We all have our "1 Samuel 11" moments, where by God's grace we respond rightly. We show mercy, we deflect praise, we do the right thing. And we should thank God for them. But our ultimate hope is not in our fleeting ability to imitate Christ, but in Christ Himself, the King who is unchanging. His mercy is not a flash in the pan. His throne was not established by a temporary victory, but by an eternal one. He is the one who, having accomplished salvation, now reigns. And because He reigns, He says to all His former enemies who will bow the knee, "Not a man shall be put to death, for today, and forever, Yahweh has accomplished salvation."