Today, we explore the critical theme of listening to God through the lives of Samuel and Saul. Samuel exemplifies the importance of obedience and attentiveness to divine guidance, while Saul’s story illustrates the consequences of ignoring God’s commands. This episode discusses how our ability to listen can profoundly impact our spiritual journey and decision-making. We also consider practical ways to enhance our ability to hear God's voice in our lives. Ultimately, we are reminded that the choice to listen carries significant consequences, shaping our paths in faith and life.

Takeaways:

1. Listening to God is essential for our lives, as shown through the examples of Samuel and Saul.
2. Samuel's life reflects the importance of obedience and the consequences of ignoring God's commands.
3. Saul's impatience and desire for control led to his downfall and rejection by God.
4. We must seek God's will in our prayers and decisions, rather than demanding what we want.
5. Understanding our unique calling helps us to focus on our spiritual gifts and purpose.
6. In our spiritual journey, we should cultivate a habit of listening to God through prayer and scripture.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. Bible805.com

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Welcome to through the Bible in chronological order from Bible 805 and Yvonne Pryn. This podcast is a somewhat unique and, I trust, a helpful historical and thematic commentary on the readings in the Bible. It's not a verse by verse study,.

But one that I pray you'll find thoughtful and challenging. New episodes are released each Wednesday and.

Today our lesson is Samuel and Saul the Importance of Listening to God and How to do it how's your hearing these days? Have you recently had someone say to you, you aren't listening to me? Most of us have.

Maybe we weren't paying attention, or maybe we didn't want to hear what we knew someone was going to say. Whatever the reason, not listening can get us into a lot of trouble.

The trouble is especially serious if we aren't listening to God and if we aren't hearing what he has to say to us. Before we go on in this lesson, it's important to establish the fact that God does want us to hear Him.

This lesson is primarily about Samuel and Saul, but it has applications for each of us in our walk with God. First, why listen? Dallas Willard says hearing God a daring ideas, some would say presumptuous, even dangerous. But what if we were made for it?

What if the human system simply will not function properly without it? Without listening to God, there are good reasons to think that it will not.

To live for what we were made for, to help us function properly, to help us listen to God, and for some practical tips on how to do it better is what we want to learn from this lesson. The lives of Samuel and Saul show us the contrast of a life spent listening to God and one that didn't.

In our last lesson we looked at the depressing book of Judges and now we come to the last Judge of Israel, Samuel. Samuel was the last and greatest of the Judges. He was born in answer to the prayer of his mother Hannah, who promised to bring him to God.

After he was born, he was raised in the temple by the priest Eli. He served God from an early age and was a good, diligent and obedient child.

One of my favorite stories was one night when he was a little boy and he heard his name called. He thought it was Eli, the high priest at that time, but it wasn't.

Eli knew it was the Lord and he told him to go back to bed and say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. God spoke to Samuel and he obeyed God, even though it was a very difficult message he was to deliver.

He had to tell Eli that God was going to judge him for the sins of his sons. Listening to God's command to rebuke someone is one of the most difficult messages we can get.

Samuel proved he could be trusted for messages from God from that early obedience. From this initial obedience, he grew into a powerful leader. He judged Israel on a circuit. He started a school of prophets.

He lived a personally holy life. However, the Bible tells us that when Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel's leader.

The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest game and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Maybe Samuel never learned from Eli. The passage goes on to say, so all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.

They said to him, you're old and your sons do not follow your ways. Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have now. Asking for a king in itself was not a bad thing.

God had instituted human government and planned that earthly leaders should reflect his leadership.

God gave them what they asked for after assuring Samuel that they were not rejecting him. Samuel, but God's rule over them now a challenge to us from this. Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it.

God sometimes answers prayers that shouldn't be answered or shouldn't be answered in the way we pray for. They wanted a king, they got a king. And along with him, years of war and the rule of an increasingly unstable king.

They didn't ask for wisdom in choosing a king, or for the right timing or for a godly leader. They simply wanted a king to lead their armies. And they wanted it now. Not being willing to wait on God is a sure sign that isn't what he wants.

An alternative to demanding from God what you want. Listen carefully to what God wants you to do before and as you pray. God does not want to give you anything that goes against His Word.

Always be reading his word as you pray. Learn not only specific commands in the Bible, but the overall character of God, his ways of doing things before you ask.

As in human relations, you know it's futile to ask certain things from certain people. God's no different. Also, God may have an entirely new solution or way of doing something you can't imagine. Be open to that. But they wouldn't wait.

And Saul is anointed king. God called a group of men to follow him. Now not much happens until the challenge to the city of Jabesh.

Jabesh is threatened with humiliating destruction. Saul answers, raises an army and rescues them. His kingship is confirmed and Samuel retires from political leadership.

But he's still the spiritual leader and warns the people. For the Lord will not reject his people. He tells him, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.

He as for me, far be it for me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is right and good. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart.

Consider what great things he's done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish. Now war follows with the Philistines.

Saul wins the earthly battles, but he fails in the spiritual ones. The army assembles at Gilgal, where they're told to wait for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices. But Saul gets impatient.

He offers the sacrifice and Samuel shows up. Saul doesn't repent. He just makes the excuse. I felt compelled to offer the sacrifice. Samuel's response? You've done a foolish thing, Samuel said.

You have not kept the command of the Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure.

The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people. Because you have not kept the Lord's command. That man, of course, will be David. But we have more of Saul's story before we get to David's.

Now, here's what was so wrong in what he did. Saul was told to wait by God's prophet. And the prophet speaks for God. To not listen to Samuel was to not listen to God.

Saul gave in to fears of the people, his army and his enemies. He acted as a priest, which was forbidden. He did not confess his sin or repent of his actions. He offered excuses instead.

Three important applications from this application Number one. Always play to an audience of one. Saul didn't. His actions were determined by the feared reactions of the people and his enemies.

He had clear guidance from God. He knew he shouldn't offer sacrifices. That was the job of the priest. There will always be conflicting voices and opinions.

Always people who want to tell you what to do. Sometimes they think the best of motives. Even more so today with a flood of social media and people feeling compelled to comment on everything.

But only one opinion matters, and that's God's. Get settled in your life where your ultimate loyalty is, where it should be in God. Never waver from it.

Then you won't have to decide each time which way you'll go, what you'll do. Determined to seek his will first in decisions, study a topic, pray journal about the implications of important decisions.

You might even consider writing down a personal code of conduct ahead of time. Now, codes of contact, codes of conduct, excuse me, were what? It's a key thing that the military has as part of their training.

The military teaches soldiers a code of conduct, part of which includes how to act in battle and how especially to act if you are captured and tortured. Soldiers know that the code of conduct must be ingrained in them if they are to survive the worst that can happen.

In the review of the POW behavior after the Vietnam War, it was clear that those who knew the code of conduct fared far better than those who did not.

Those who didn't follow the code of conduct in some cases betrayed fellow POWs and how sad it was for them after the war was over, when some were receiving medals and honors, they were disgraced. Our code of conduct is in the Bible. You must know your Bible well to survive the battles of life because they will always come. That is guaranteed.

And in the midst of challenges and temptations is not the time to run to your Bible and to try to decide how you should live. In addition to overall guidelines, you might want to think through specific applications to your life.

Your calling in my calling as a writer and a teacher for Jesus, doing all the things that I do to pass on these lessons to you.

I must maintain an extremely strict schedule and I don't do many things, even really good things, to have the time to create the content I know God has called me to create.

I have to say no to honestly fun times or hobbies and often to time with people I care for Because I simply can't be with them and do all God wants me to do. Many things I say no to are not bad things or wrong at all for others, but I must guard my time rather than doing them.

God has a specific way he wants you to spend your time. Spend time with him to be clear about it. Application number two, don't try to manipulate God through religious actions.

Saul used the sacrifices as a sort of magic action to keep the army from leaving. This is similar to when Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant into battle.

And it's very similar to sort of the fictional depiction of it in proper culture today. For example, all the goofy way they used it in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Now that was a fun movie but really lousy theology.

That is not what God gave them.

Their religious system for those items and the actions associated with them were part of worship, not magical talismans that they could use and manipulate God with. We can't use religion for our own purposes. Shall we? Religious actions without a proper heart response are not pleasing to God.

Application number three, Know your calling and focus on it. Saul was a soldier and King Samuel was a prophet and priest. The duties of a priest and prophet very carefully are detailed in God's word.

And no one else was to do what each was called to do. God's punishments were severe if people disobeyed, as Saul did. Also remember that others are God's servants, not ours.

Be very careful not to criticize how another is serving God. Pray, talk to the person if you're truly concerned.

Most often, if you're focused on what God wants you to do, you won't have time to fuss with others. Now discern what you are called to do, your spiritual gift, and focus on that. In addition, pray for others.

Don't try to take over their work or again, tell them what to do. Do not gossip, criticize, backstab, ever. Be satisfied and thankful that the Lord has given you the job he's given you to do.

Look at The New Testament, First Corinthians 12 and other places, and the teachings on spiritual gifts where each person has a job to do in the body of Christ.

Beyond all the tests to determine your gift, though, simply try various things and see what fits what others affirm, what produces fruit and gives you joy. And then live your gift. Serve where you are called to serve. Sadly, Saul did not learn this. He had another opportunity.

In 1st Samuel 15, he was commanded to totally destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock, everything similar to the command to destroy Jericho and other cities in Canaan. Saul wins the victory, but he kept many of the spoils. The same sin as Israel committed earlier, and there were consequences.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, where he said, I regret that I've made Saul king because he's turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions. Samuel was angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night. But then Samuel gets up to once again confront Saul.

Saul meets him and says, I carried out the Lord's instructions. And then one of the greatest lines in the Bible. Then Samuel says, what then is the sound of the bleating of sheep in my ears? Saul's response.

And then God's response.

Saul again offers excuses, blames the army, says he did it for God to be able to sacrifice to him when he'd been commanded specifically not to do what he did. But Samuel replied, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. Application. We cannot pick and choose in our obedience to God. Some things are okay at one time in life and not another.

This is kind of tricky, but it's really important to understand. For example, early on in the Exodus journey, Moses was told to strike the rock for water. Later, he was told to speak to it.

When he disobeyed, the consequences were serious, and he was not allowed to go into the promised land because of it. Saul was not told to totally destroy everything in all his battles, but he was supposed to in this one.

We must listen closely for each decision at each event in our lives. This keeps us daily listening to God. David appears on the scene. The Lord tells Samuel to anoint David, and he does.

But David's patience will be tested for anywhere from eight to 15 years. And I think 15 years is probably the closest. We're going to learn lots more about David in coming lessons. David, though early on, kills Goliath.

Now, Saul should have been the champion, but Saul did not have any spiritual strength. And David knew that this wasn't just a physical battle.

It was not that Goliath was huge and a scary giant, but the core issue was that he had defied the armies of the living God. Saul had forgotten what that meant. It was a great victory. Saul praises him, gives him his daughter as a wife.

But Saul and David's relationship deteriorates. For the next 10 or 15 years or so, Saul is consumed with jealousy and rage. He blames his family, his army, David.

He wastes time and resources chasing David. David does not retaliate. He spares Saul's life several times. This goes on for a long time. But finally there's a big battle with the Philistines.

Samuel has died and Saul is desperate for guidance. He goes to see the witch of Endor to call up the spirit of Samuel. She reminds him. She reminds Saul that he's forbidden what he is asking her to do.

He demands she do it anyway. Samuel actually shows up, shocking them all, and tells Saul the Lord has done what he predicted through me.

The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, to David, because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites. The Lord has done this to you. Today the Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines.

And tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me. Now the prophecy came true. Saul and his sons died. Israel was defeated. Now an important note here. Saul committed suicide. But he was told in advance.

Remember, you and your sons will be with me. Samuel was in paradise with God. Saul will be there also. Suicide is a very sad ending. But it's not the unforgivable sin.

Once a child of God, always his child. God gathers his children home in love, no matter how they arrive. Now the summary of two lives. Two men, the same God, but very different outcomes.

From childhood on, Samuel listened to God. Saul did not. Samuel listened and obeyed God, even when it was very difficult. Saul ignored God's commands and did what he wanted to do.

Samuel died an honored prophet, a leader, one of the great men of the Bible. Saul died a tragic suicide, and his sons were killed alongside him. Like them, we can choose to listen to God or not.

And along with that choice come the consequences of it. We can also pray. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. When you read your Bible, think of it as a conversation. Pray and journal as you read.

Intentionally look for patterns in how God deals with people in his character. If you have a desire, a need, whatever it is, talk it over with the Lord. Ask that his will be done. Wait and be patient. Journal, possible solutions.

But leave it open for God to work in both your circumstances and in changing your desires. Because remember, he sees the big picture of our lives and knows what is ultimately best for us.

Because of that, it makes much more sense to trust him. To work things out than to simply demand what we want. Bob Goff says it's easy to trust God when He does what we want.

It's the other times that we grow, when we accept that without fighting that his will be done. We often look back at people or situations that he keeps us from with relief.

If God had answered our prayers as we first thought in a situation or with a person we thought that we couldn't live without, what a mess we might have been in. When we trust him, he often surprises us with solutions or outcomes we we never dreamed possible.

And his timing is always perfect, though it's seldom what we think we want initially. Some Final Applications Listening to God and daily adjusting our lives to follow his leading is not only for the super spiritual.

Remember Dallas Willard's comment what if we were made for this? I believe we are. All of us.

Humanity was created to walk with God in the garden, and we will again at the renewal of all things, when the dwelling of God will be with his people. But we don't have to wait. We can become familiar with his voice now, in His Word, listening as we read and meditating on it.

Let his voice drown out the lies of the world. This week, take time to quiet your heart and to pray. Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.

That's all for now. For notes from this lesson, related resources and links to teaching materials, go to www.

Bible805.com in closing, I'm Yvonne Prand, your fellow pilgrim, writer and teacher for Jesus, and I'd like to close with this benediction.

May you know the invitation of God to move from confusion to clarity, from wandering to rest, from loneliness to knowing you are loved, from turmoil to peace, from wherever you are on your spiritual journey to a growing knowledge of God's Word and in your personal relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.