God said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But during difficult times, we question God’s promise and we wonder, “If God rejected King Saul, can God forsake me as well?”
This is a very valid concern and I will answer that question in this article. Why did God reject King Saul? And more importantly, can God reject us the same way?
Main Points
-
- David and Solomon did much worse than Saul, yet were not rejected.
- It’s all about the covenant – David and Solomon had a different covenant than Saul. This covenant clearly says that God will not forsake David and Solomon.
- God will not forsake us because we also have a covenant that promised mercy not judgment.
DOWNLOAD FREE CHAPTERS FROM OUR NEW BOOKS
Facts about King Saul
- Saul was chosen by God to be Israel’s first king.
- Saul started off well and the people loved him.
- There were two acts of disobedience / incomplete obedience that caused God to reject Saul
- When God rejected Saul, it is swift and decisive. His Spirit departed from Saul and a demon possessed Saul. God also stopped speaking to Saul.
Saul’s first act of disobedience was recorded in 1 Samuel 13:8-14. He made a presumptuous sacrifice without waiting for the prophet Samuel to show up. His second act of disobedience was recorded in 1 Samuel 15. Saul spared king Agag of the Amalekites and some of the animals for sacrifice. God had told him to destroy everything.
1 Samuel 15:17-19
17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?
18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
God was clearly very upset about what Saul did. It is possible that Saul became proud and started acting independently of God. But was that a reason for God to reject Saul the way he did?
David and Solomon did much worse
There is no doubt that God was upset with king Saul. And although Saul’s sin may not seem like such a big deal to us, it was to God. My concern is not whether Saul’s sin was a big deal or not, but more so why God rejected Saul and did not reject others the same way. There were other men of God in the Bible who did just as bad and even worse than Saul without being rejected by God.
Joshua
In Joshua 9, Joshua made a covenant with the Hivites.
Joshua 9:15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
This later came back to bite Israel.
Judges 2:1-3
“I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you.
2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”
So how different was Joshua’s foolish covenant from Saul’s incomplete obedience? You tell me.
David
God chose David to replace Saul as King. David’s life followed more or less the same pattern as Saul.
- He was chosen by God.
- He did well at the beginning.
- Then he committed adultery and murder.
- God punished him, but did not reject him.
In addition to this, David also ate shew bread from the Tabernacle, which was against God’s command (Mark 2:25-26). The shew bread was only for the priests. This act was not much different from Saul’s first sin. David ate the shew bread that only the priests were allowed to eat. Saul made a sacrifice without waiting for Samuel. Not much different really. But God condemned Saul and not David.
Solomon
Again with Solomon, we see the same pattern playing out.
- He was chosen by God.
- He did well at the beginning.
- Then he married 700 wives, took 300 concubines and worshiped idols.
- God did not reject him.
I think that what David and Solomon did was worse than what Saul did, and what Joshua did was equally as bad. But of the four, God rejected Saul. Although God was angry with Solomon, He did not take away the kingdom from him. After his death, God took away part of the kingdom from Solomon’s son, but left 1 tribe for David’s sake (1 Kings 11:12-23).
How others attempt to explain it
Here are some of the possible ways you could look at it:
Saul’s repentance was not genuine?
Some people say that David was a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14), whereas Saul was not. And if you squint really hard, you could say that David’s repentance in Psalm 51 was genuine, whereas Saul’s repentance was not heartfelt.
1 Samuel 15
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”
31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
You judge for yourself if Saul was genuinely repentant. But what about Solomon? The Bible never said he was a man after God’s heart. Would a man after God’s heart worship idols?
One of the ways we know Saul’s repentance was not genuine is because he tried to kill David to prevent him from becoming king. Well guess what? Solomon did the same thing. He tried to kill Jeroboam, whom God had promised to make king (1 Kings 11:31,40). So why didn’t God reject Solomon the way He rejected Saul?
God rejected Saul because he knew in advance that he would disobey?
If this is the case, then why did God choose Saul to be king in the first place. Also, didn’t God know in advance that Solomon would go after idols?
No matter how you look at it, we are left with a glaring discrepancy. Why did God reject Saul, but not Solomon?
It’s all about the covenant
There is one scripture that sheds light on this question. Here is what God said to David in 2 Samuel 7.
2 Samuel 7
12 … I will set up your seed after you … and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Here God is clearly admitting that He took his mercy away from King Saul, but is now promising David that He will not take his mercy from him. And that’s the key. God promised that He would not take his mercy from David and Solomon. If they sinned, God would chastise, but not reject. God never made that promise to Saul.
It may seem to be unfair, but the difference between David and Saul was the covenant. God did not forsake David and Solomon because He said he wouldn’t.
Implication for us who are in Christ
The difference between David / Solomon and Saul was the covenant they lived under.
Man has not changed, God has not changed, sin has not changed. It’s the covenant that has changed. The covenant describes how God deals with man.
You could say that Saul operated under a covenant of law and obedience, while David and Solomon operated under a covenant of mercy. It is very similar to Law vs Grace.
With the Law, it’s one strike and you’re out. If you break one commandment, you are guilty of breaking all (James 2:10). Under grace, we are not judged by our ability to keep commandments. We are chosen by God, Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17-18). God deals with us according to mercy.
Here is what Jeremiah said about this new covenant.
Jeremiah 31
31 … I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers …
33 … I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34 … they all shall know Me … I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
Notice how similar it is to what God promised to Solomon in 2 Samuel 7. We will be God’s people, we will know him, and He will forgive our sins. So regarding our sins, God acts as advocate rather than judge.
Conclusion
This covenant helps us to answer the most important question. Can or will God forsake us the way He rejected Saul? And the answer is a resounding NO. He will not forsake us because He promised to not forsake us. He promised to show mercy rather than judgment. It’s not conditioned on whether we are better than Saul. It’s based on God’s promise. God did not reject Solomon because He said He wouldn’t. Similarly, God will not forsake us because He said He wouldn’t. Thank God for His covenant of grace.
Check out our other article Is Solomon in Hell?
Get our books on Amazon
