King Saul's First Tests - (1 Samuel 11-13)

Last week, I grabbed a quick dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants. While I was eating, a man who had just received his food at the counter walked toward the exit, but instead of opening the door, he violently kicked it open, damaged it, and freaked out everyone in the restaurant.

The managers ran after him, but then he aggressively followed them back inside while they called for police backup. Watching this all take place, myself and another man who was eating there with his two young daughters, stood up, prepared to intervene and rescue the situation. I’m guessing the man who was causing the scene realized that he was going to have trouble with more than just the managers, so he left. I think I know exactly what we would have done if he didn’t. We had no intention of allowing him to become more violent than he already had.

In 1 Samuel 11, Saul’s reign begins with a rescue. Nahash the Ammonite surrounds Jabesh-gilead and offers its people a cruel choice. They can surrender only if he gouges out every man’s right eye and brings disgrace upon all Israel. The elders ask for seven days to seek help, and messengers carry the news through Israel. When the report reaches Gibeah, the people weep out loud. Their tears reveal how helpless they feel. Israel has asked for a king who will fight its battles, and now an enemy has arrived to test both the nation and its newly chosen ruler.

Saul is returning from the field behind his oxen when he hears the people crying. He hasn’t yet built a royal court or settled into the visible life of a king. He still appears as a farmer coming home from work. Then Scripture says, “the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled” (1 Samuel 11:6). This isn’t selfish rage. It’s a response to cruelty and to the shame Nahash intends to place upon God’s people. God empowers Saul to act, and the hesitant man who once hid among the baggage now summons Israel with authority.

The nation gathers, and Saul divides the army into three companies. They enter the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and strike until the heat of the day. The victory is so complete that the survivors scatter. Jabesh-gilead is delivered, Israel’s enemy is defeated, and Saul’s leadership is confirmed before the people.

It would be easy to read this chapter as the story of a brave king discovering his strength. The text directs our attention somewhere else. Saul succeeds because God’s Spirit comes upon him. Samuel acknowledges Israel’s evil but urges the people not to turn aside from following the Lord (1 Samuel 12:20). Israel’s request for a king was sinful because it expressed distrust in God, but God didn’t abandon His people. He used Saul to rescue them, even after they had rejected His rule.

Grace is already at work in the first days of Saul’s kingdom. Israel’s rescue isn’t a reward for faithful conduct. It’s an act of God’s mercy toward people who have chosen badly and still need saving. God doesn’t approve of their sin, but He remains faithful to His covenant and opens a path of deliverance.

After the battle, some Israelites want to execute the men who had questioned Saul’s fitness to rule. Saul refuses. He says, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel” (1 Samuel 11:13). This is Saul at his best. He doesn’t use victory to settle personal scores. He recognizes that God, not Saul, has saved the nation. The day should be marked by mercy because the victory belongs to the Lord.

Samuel then calls the people to Gilgal to renew the kingdom. There they make Saul king before the Lord, offer peace offerings, and rejoice greatly. It’s a hopeful scene. A threatened town has been rescued. A divided people have united. A doubted king has shown courage. For a moment, Israel’s new beginning appears full of promise.

But then we’re taken to 1 Samuel 12 which adds a needed warning. Samuel reviews his own ministry and asks the people to testify if he has cheated or oppressed anyone. They confirm his integrity. He then recounts God’s faithful acts from the exodus through the days of the judges. Whenever Israel forgot the Lord, enemies oppressed them. Whenever they cried to Him, He sent deliverers. The story has always been about God’s rescue, not Israel’s strength.

Israel’s request for a king came from the same recurring failure to trust. Samuel tells them, “when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king” (1 Samuel 12:12). Their fear made visible power seem more dependable than the God they couldn’t see. They wanted what neighboring nations had because they believed a human king could provide the security they lacked.

We understand that impulse. Fear can make anything visible feel safer than faith. We look for a person, plan, account, or position that seems able to guarantee the future. Israel’s king could lead an army, but he couldn’t replace God. Every human source of security has limits.

Samuel makes that authority plain. Both king and people must fear the Lord, serve Him, obey His voice, and refuse to rebel against His commandment. Having a king doesn’t release Israel from covenant obedience. Saul has authority only as a servant under the true King.

To confirm Samuel’s words, God sends thunder and rain during the wheat harvest. The people recognize their guilt and ask Samuel to pray for them. Samuel replies, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way” (1 Samuel 12:23). He doesn’t minimize their sin, and he doesn’t withdraw from them. He intercedes, teaches, and calls them back to faithful service.

Samuel also reminds Israel why hope remains possible: “For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22). Their hope rests in God’s character, not their record.

But then we arrive in the next chapter of 1 Samuel, and Chapter 13 brings the first major crack in Saul’s reign. The Philistines gather with a vast force, and Israel’s soldiers see that they’re in trouble. Men hide in caves, holes, tombs, cisterns, and pits. Others flee across the Jordan. Saul waits at Gilgal for Samuel, but as the appointed seven days pass, the people begin slipping away. Under pressure, Saul offers the burnt offering himself.

Samuel arrives just as Saul finishes. When confronted, Saul explains that the people were scattering, Samuel hadn’t arrived at the expected time, and the Philistines were assembling. He feared they would attack before he had sought God’s favor, so he says, “I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:12). 

Saul’s reasoning sounds practical. The army is shrinking, the enemy is strong, and something must be done. His words, however, expose a heart governed by circumstances rather than God’s command. He wants God’s favor, but he isn’t willing to wait for God’s word.

Samuel answers, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God” (1 Samuel 13:13). Saul’s failure isn’t that he feels afraid. Scripture often shows faithful people bringing fear to God. His failure is allowing fear to become permission for disobedience. He reaches for religious action while rejecting the command that gives worship its meaning.

We can also use spiritual language to justify choices driven by panic, pride, or control. Saul teaches us that urgent circumstances don’t make obedience optional. Trust is often revealed most clearly when obedience seems costly and waiting feels unsafe.

Samuel tells Saul that his kingdom will not continue. “The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). That statement points forward to David, but David won’t be a flawless king. He will trust God in notable ways, but he will also commit serious sins. Israel still needs a king whose heart never turns from the Father, whose obedience never bends under pressure, and whose reign can’t be undone by sin.

That King is Jesus.

Saul began his reign by rescuing Jabesh-gilead from a cruel enemy. Jesus came to accomplish a greater rescue from sin, death, and Satan. Saul rallied an army when God’s Spirit rushed upon him. Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and anointed for His mission, faced the enemy as the obedient Son. He didn’t save by gathering superior military strength. He saved by giving Himself on the cross and rising victorious from the grave.

Saul’s refusal to kill his early opponents also points toward greater mercy. Jesus had every right to judge those who rejected Him. Instead, He bore judgment for sinners. Romans 5:8 tells us, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Our King makes His enemies His people through His own sacrifice.

Jesus also succeeds where Saul fails at Gilgal. Under pressure in the wilderness, Jesus refuses Satan’s invitation to act outside the Father’s will. In Gethsemane, with the cross before Him, He submits Himself fully. He never uses urgency, suffering, or fear as an excuse to disobey. Philippians 2:8 says He “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Samuel interceded for Israel and promised not to cease praying for the people. Jesus is the greater Intercessor who always lives to plead for those who draw near to God through Him. Samuel could pray for sinful people, but he couldn’t remove their guilt. Jesus both intercedes and provides the sacrifice that cleanses. His priesthood never ends, and His saving work is complete.

The hopeful beginning of Saul’s reign doesn’t last. He can be courageous in battle, but he can’t keep his heart steady when fear presses in. Israel’s search for a king will continue through generations of failed rulers.

Our search ends in Christ. Jesus is the King who rescues without pride, shows mercy without compromising justice, obeys without exception, and reigns without end. When fear tells us to seize control, we can trust the One who remained faithful in every trial. When our failures accuse us, we can draw near to the King who gave Himself for His enemies. When human leaders disappoint us, we can remember that our final hope was never meant to rest on them.

Saul’s first victory gives Israel a day of celebration. His sacrifice at Gilgal warns that impressive beginnings can’t sustain a kingdom without obedient faith. Jesus gives us something far greater than a promising beginning. He is the faithful King whose finished work secures an everlasting salvation, and everyone who trusts Him belongs to a kingdom that will never fall.

© John Stange, 2026