The Panic of Unbelief: Saul's Pragmatic Piety
Introduction: The Difference Between Doing and Being
We come now to a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, a moment that serves as a diagnostic test for the heart of its first king. The people had demanded a king "like all the nations," and in Saul, God gave them exactly what they asked for. He was tall, handsome, and looked the part. But God was about to show them, and us, that the heart of a kingdom is not found in the stature of its king, but in the nature of his faith. The central issue in all of life, from governing a nation to managing your own household, is this: will you obey God's Word, or will you trust your own lying eyes? Will you live by faith, or will you live by sight?
Saul is confronted with a situation that every leader, every father, every man faces. The pressure is on, the circumstances are grim, the clock is ticking, and God appears to be late. The Philistine hordes are gathering, a sea of iron and malice. Saul's own army, a band of terrified farmers, is melting away like snow in springtime. The temptation in such moments is to believe that the crisis is so severe that it justifies a little creative disobedience. The temptation is to resort to pragmatism, which is just a fancy word for unbelief dressed up in a business suit. "Something must be done," we say, and what we usually mean is that something other than what God commanded must be done.
This passage is a clinical study in the anatomy of a fall. It is not about a gross, public sin like David's adultery. It is about a subtle, internal shift in allegiance. Saul's sin was not that he failed to perform a religious ritual. On the contrary, he was very religious. His sin was that he performed the ritual for all the wrong reasons and in all the wrong ways. He used worship as a tool to manage his circumstances, to manipulate his men, and ultimately, to try to manipulate God. He treated the burnt offering like a lucky rabbit's foot. This is the essence of paganism. It is not the absence of religion, but the instrumentalizing of it. It is trying to use God, instead of being used by Him.
What we are about to witness is the collision of two kingdoms: the kingdom of Saul, built on fear, pragmatism, and the approval of men, and the kingdom of God, built on the unshakable foundation of His Word and His promise. And in this collision, we see why Saul's dynasty was doomed from the start, and why God was already seeking a man after His own heart.
The Text
So he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, "Bring near to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. And as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of Yahweh.' So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering." And Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as ruler over His people because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you."
(1 Samuel 13:8-14 LSB)
The Test of Waiting (v. 8)
The stage is set with a simple test of obedience, a test of waiting.
"So he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him." (1 Samuel 13:8)
Saul had a clear, explicit command from God's prophet, Samuel. He was to go to Gilgal and wait seven days (1 Samuel 10:8). This was not a suggestion; it was a covenantal stipulation. The test was not complicated. It was a test of simple trust expressed through patience. God frequently tests His people in the waiting room. Abraham waited for a son. Israel waited for the Messiah. The church waits for the return of Christ. Waiting reveals what we truly believe about God's timing and His faithfulness.
But Saul's waiting was corrupted by his fear. He was watching the wrong thing. Instead of keeping his eyes on the promise of God, his eyes were fixed on his dwindling approval ratings. "The people were scattering from him." His authority was slipping away. His power base was eroding. For a man who derives his identity from the consent of the governed, this is the ultimate crisis. His faith was not in Yahweh, but in the size of his army. He was a poll-driven king. And when the polls turn against you, panic sets in. The fear of man is a snare, and Saul was hopelessly entangled in it.
Pragmatic Piety in Action (v. 9-10)
Saul's panic gives birth to a fatal decision, an act of religious disobedience.
"So Saul said, 'Bring near to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.' And he offered the burnt offering. And as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came..." (1 Samuel 13:9-10a)
Saul usurps an office that was not his. As king, he was the civil magistrate, not the priest. He crosses a jurisdictional line that God had clearly drawn. This is more than a procedural error; it is a fundamental confusion of roles, an act of high-handed presumption. He thought the emergency gave him the right to redefine the rules. But true worship is not about getting something done; it is about doing what God has commanded, in the way He has commanded it.
He wanted the benefits of worship, God's favor and military victory, without the substance of it, which is humble submission. He treats the offering as a mechanism to be operated, a button to be pushed. He thinks that if he just performs the ritual, he can secure the outcome he desires. This is magic, not worship. Worship is approaching God on His terms. Magic is attempting to force God to approach us on our terms. Saul's sacrifice was an act of profound arrogance disguised as piety.
And then, the bitter irony. "As soon as he finished... behold, Samuel came." God's timing is always perfect. Samuel was not late. He arrived within the appointed seven days. Saul, in his impatience, failed the test by a matter of minutes. This is a crucial lesson. Our faith is often tested right up to the deadline. God wants to know if we will trust Him all the way to the end of the seventh day, or if we will break at the last moment. Saul broke. He could not endure the silence. He could not trust the promise when the circumstances were screaming at him.
The Blame Game (v. 11-12)
When confronted by the prophet, Saul's response is a masterclass in self-justification. It is the voice of every sinner since Adam.
"But Samuel said, 'What have you done?' And Saul said, 'Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of Yahweh.' So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.'" (1 Samuel 13:11-12)
Notice the cascade of excuses. First, he blames the people: "I saw that the people were scattering." It was their fault for being afraid. Second, he blames Samuel: "you did not come." You were late, prophet. Third, he blames the Philistines: "the Philistines were assembling." The external threat was too great. He presents himself as a victim of circumstances, a reasonable man forced into a difficult choice by the failures of others.
His reasoning is entirely horizontal. "I saw... the people... you... the Philistines." God is nowhere in his calculation, except as a force to be placated. His statement, "I have not entreated the favor of Yahweh," is particularly revealing. He sees entreating God's favor not as an act of heartfelt dependence, but as a necessary pre-battle ritual, a box to be checked. He had to get the sacrifice done so he could get on with the real business of fighting.
And the final, pathetic phrase: "So I forced myself." This is the language of false martyrdom. He paints himself as the reluctant hero, compelled against his better judgment to take matters into his own hands for the good of the nation. He wants credit for his piety even in the midst of his rebellion. This is what unrepentant hearts do. They reframe their sin as a virtue. They were not disobedient; they were taking initiative. They were not faithless; they were being responsible.
The Foolishness of Disobedience (v. 13-14)
Samuel's reply is swift and devastating. He cuts through all the excuses and exposes the root of the problem.
"And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure...'" (1 Samuel 13:13-14a)
Samuel redefines the situation. Saul thought he was being pragmatic and decisive. God calls it foolishness. In the Bible, foolishness is not an intellectual deficiency; it is a moral and spiritual one. The fool is the one who says in his heart, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1), or, what amounts to the same thing, "There is a God, but His commandments are optional in a crisis." True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, which means taking His Word more seriously than our circumstances.
The consequences are catastrophic. Saul's single act of disobedience forfeits his dynasty. "Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever." This was a conditional promise, contingent on covenant faithfulness. By breaking the commandment, Saul broke the covenant. He demonstrated that his heart was not right with God, and therefore, he was unfit to lead God's people. God does not grade on a curve. He requires total allegiance. A little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump, and a little bit of unbelief in the heart of a king can rot an entire kingdom.
Samuel then delivers the final blow, which is also a glorious promise.
"'Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him as ruler over His people because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.'" (1 Samuel 13:14b)
Here is the great contrast. Saul was the people's choice, a man after their own eyes. God was now seeking His choice, a man after His own heart. What does this mean? It does not mean David was sinless. Far from it. It means that the fundamental orientation of David's heart, the deep, abiding trajectory of his life, was bent toward God. When David sinned, he was shattered by it. He repented with bitter tears (Psalm 51). When Saul sinned, he made excuses. David loved God's law. Saul saw it as an inconvenient obstacle. A man after God's own heart is a man who loves what God loves, hates what God hates, and when he fails, runs back to God for mercy, not away from Him in self-justification.
This is a foundational principle of God's kingdom. God looks at the heart. Man looks at the outward appearance, the height, the resume, the poll numbers. God looks for a heart that trusts and obeys. Saul's kingdom will not endure because it was built on the shifting sands of human approval and pragmatic fear. God is establishing a different kind of kingdom, one that points forward to the true King, the ultimate man after God's own heart.
The True King Who Waited
Saul's failure at Gilgal is a dark backdrop that makes the obedience of Christ shine all the more brightly. Saul was tested in a moment of pressure and failed. Jesus, the second Adam, was tested for forty days in the wilderness, under immense pressure, and He did not fail. When tempted to act presumptuously, to turn stones to bread, to seize power on His own terms, His answer was always the same: "It is written." He lived by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Saul could not wait for seven days. Jesus waited thirty years in obscurity before beginning His public ministry. He waited in the Garden of Gethsemane, submitting His will to the Father's, even when it meant the cross. His entire life was an act of perfect, patient obedience. "My food," He said, "is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34).
Saul offered a foolish sacrifice to save his own skin and his own kingdom. Christ offered the one true sacrifice, Himself, to save His people and establish a kingdom that shall never end. Saul usurped the priestly office. Christ is our great High Priest, who offered Himself once for all. Saul made excuses for his sin. Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The call to every Christian is to turn from the foolishness of Saul and to trust in the wisdom of Christ. We are all tempted, in our moments of crisis, to resort to pragmatic piety, to cut corners, to make excuses, to trust our own judgment over God's clear Word. We are tempted to believe that our situation is the great exception. But the lesson of Saul is that there are no exceptions. The commandment of God is absolute. Our only hope is to confess our own foolishness and to cling to the perfect obedience of the true man after God's own heart, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King whose kingdom will endure forever, because He alone kept what Yahweh commanded Him.