Lesson 22: “The Lord Looketh on the Heart”,
Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 101
1. Saul seeks guidance from Samuel and is anointed to be king.
2. Saul offers a burnt offering without the proper authority.
3. Saul disobeys the Lord in the battle with the Amalekites and is rejected as king.
4. The Lord chooses David as king.
5. David slays Goliath in the strength of the Lord.
Absalom Kane
Death of King Saul", 1848 Elie Marcuse (Germany and France, 1817-1902)
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “A Matter of a Few Degrees,” Ensign, May 2008, 57–60
Saul, the King of Israel
The story of Saul, the king of Israel, illustrates this point. Saul’s life began with great promise, but it had an unfortunate and tragic end. In the beginning, Saul was “a choice young man, … and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he.” Saul was personally chosen by God to be king. He had every advantage—he was physically imposing, and he came from an influential family.
Of course, Saul had weaknesses, but the Lord promised to bless, uphold, and prosper him. The scriptures tell us that God promised to always be with him, give him another heart, and turn him into another man.
When he had the Lord’s help, Saul was a magnificent king. He united Israel and defeated the Ammonites, who had invaded their land. Soon a much greater problem faced him—the Philistines, who had a terrible army with chariots and horsemen “and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude.” The Israelites were so terrified of the Philistines that they hid “themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks.”
The young king needed help. The prophet Samuel sent word for him to wait and that he, the prophet, would come and offer sacrifice and seek counsel from the Lord. Saul waited seven days, and still the prophet Samuel had not arrived. Finally, Saul felt he could wait no longer. He gathered the people together and did something he had no priesthood authority to do—he offered the sacrifice himself.
When Samuel arrived, he was brokenhearted. “Thou hast done foolishly,” he said. If only the new king had endured a little longer and not deviated from the course of the Lord, if only he had followed the revealed order of the priesthood, the Lord would have established his kingdom forever. “But now,” Samuel said, “thy kingdom shall not continue.”
On that day, the prophet Samuel recognized a critical weakness in Saul’s character. When pressured by outside influences, Saul did not have the self-discipline to stay on course, trust the Lord and His prophet, and follow the pattern God had established.
Small Errors Can Have a Large Impact on Our Lives
The difference of a few degrees, as with the Antarctica flight or Saul’s failure to hold fast to the counsel of the prophet just a little longer, may seem minor. But even small errors over time can make a dramatic difference in our lives.. . .
Our Heavenly Father knew before we came to this mortal existence that negative forces would tempt us to drift from our course, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” That is why He prepared a way for us to make corrections. Through the merciful process of true repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our sins can be forgiven and we will “not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Our willingness to repent shows our gratitude for God’s gift and for the Savior’s love and sacrifice on our behalf. Commandments and priesthood covenants provide a test of faith, obedience, and love
for God and Jesus Christ, but even more importantly, they offer an opportunity to experience love
from God and to receive a full measure of joy both in this life and in the life to come.
These commandments and covenants of God are like navigational instructions from celestial heights and will lead us safely to our eternal destination. It is one of beauty and glory beyond understanding. It is worth the effort. It is worth making decisive corrections now and then staying on course.
Remember: the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth.
The more we treasure the words of the prophets and apply them, the better we will recognize when we are drifting off course—even if only by a matter of a few degrees.
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Autn:reference - Magazine_22652150a447b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____ The Tragic Dimensions of Saul
Richard G. Ellsworth When Saul overreached his place as vassal to the real king, God rejected him. Saul himself captured the Amalekite king, Agag, and proudly brought him back alive.
Gospel Library > Magazines > Ensign > June 1990
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Autn:reference - Magazine_f7a1ef960417b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____ The Peaceful Life through Reconciliation: Five Stories from the Old Testament
Keith Meservy The nation’s king, Saul, exulted along with everyone else, little realizing that within this experience the seeds of his own destruction had been planted. The women attributed to Saul thousands of the fallen
Gospel Library > Magazines > Ensign > July 1986
Jeffrey R. Holland, “Amazed at the Love Jesus Offers Me,” NewEra, Dec 2008, 2–7
Samuel, a prophet in Israel, commented on how futile it is to offer a sacrifice without honoring the meaning of the sacrifice. When Saul, king in Israel, had defied the Lord’s instructions by bringing back from the Amalekites “the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord [his] God,” Samuel cried: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” ( 1 Samuel 15:15, 22).
Saul offered sacrifice without comprehending the meaning of his sacrifice. Latter-day Saints who faithfully go to sacrament meeting but are no more merciful or patient or forgiving as a result are much the same. They go through the motions of the ordinances without an understanding of the purposes for which these ordinances were established. Those purposes are to help us be obedient and gentle in our search for forgiveness of our sins.
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Notes: Saul began as a humble young man who would seek counsel of the prophet when his father's livestock was lost. And he hid when Samuel was selecting the next king.
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Questions and Comments:
1 Samuel 16
In verse 1, Samuel had been mourning about Saul.
In verse 4, why did the elders of the town tremble at Samuel's coming?
Verse 13 -- David received the Holy Ghost from that day (his anointing) forward.
Verse 23 -- the power of music
From institute manual --
But Samuel anointed Saul to be “captain” even though he was later called king (see 1 Samuel 10:1 ). This title should have served as a reminder that the Lord was still king.
More from the institute manual:
24-30) 1 Samuel 13:5–14 . Why Did Saul Seek to Assume Samuel’s Priesthood Duties? It was not long before Saul began to have an exaggerated opinion of his power and importance. This tendency is natural to men who forget the Lord and trust in themselves. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion” ( D&C 121:39 ). It is true that this was a time of great crisis. The Philistines were amassed in great strength and the people were deserting from Saul’s army (see 1 Samuel 13:6 ). When Samuel was late in coming, Saul took things into his own hands and offered the sacrifices. This action was a great sin.
“Think also of Saul who had been called from the field to be made king of the nation. When the Philistines were marshalled against Israel in Michmash, Saul waited for Samuel, under whose hand he had received his kingly anointing and to whom he had looked in the days of his humility for guidance; he asked that the prophet come and offer sacrifices to the Lord in behalf of the people. But, growing impatient at Samuel’s delay, Saul prepared the burnt offering himself, forgetting that though he occupied the throne, wore the crown, and bore the scepter, these insignia of kingly power gave him no right to officiate even as a deacon in the Priesthood of God; and for this and other instances of his unrighteous presumption he was rejected of God and another was made king in his place.” (Talmage, Articles of Faith, pp. 184–85.)
The circumstances were critical, but one of the purposes of mortality is to demonstrate that one will remain faithful and obedient under all circumstances (see D&C 98:14–15 ). Saul failed that test and thereby lost his right to be God’s representative of the people.
Throughout his early life, David stayed close to the Lord. In all his military ventures, in the face of threats against his life, and despite numerous opportunities to slay Saul, David was true to his chosen cause. “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him” ( 1 Samuel 18:14 ).
(25-6) 1 Samuel 17:4–11 . How Big Was Goliath and How Heavy Was His Armor? According to this passage, Goliath’s height was six cubits and a span. The most widely accepted opinion of the length of a cubit is about eighteen inches or, roughly, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the extended middle finger. A span is said to be one-half the distance from the thumb to the end of the little finger when the fingers are spread as wide as possible. These measurements would make the height of Goliath approximately nine feet, nine inches! It is not too surprising that the Philistines would have picked such a champion or that no man in Israel wanted to be Saul’s champion.
It is unusual that anyone today is over seven feet tall, but it is commonly believed there were men in ancient times whose height far exceeded seven feet. There are references in the scriptures to giants in the earlier periods of history: in the time of Enoch (see Moses 7:15 ), in the days of Noah (see Moses 8:18 ; Genesis 6:4 ), and in the time of the Israelites (see Numbers 13:33 ; Deuteronomy 2:10–11 ; Joshua 15:8 ). Called Anakim (meaning “long-necked” or “tall” in Hebrew) by the Israelites, this race of giants seems to have been virtually destroyed in the conquest of Canaan under Joshua (see Joshua 11:21 ). In fact, it is recorded that none of the Anakim were left except in Gaza, Ashdod, and Gath (see Joshua 11:22 ), which was Goliath’s hometown (see 1 Samuel 17:4 ).
Experts have estimated the weight of Goliath’s armor to be about 150 pounds (see Clarke, Bible Commentary, 2:261). A weaver’s beam is a strong, thick piece of wood on which thread is strung in preparation for weaving. The weight of Goliath’s spearhead has been estimated from twelve to twenty-six pounds, depending on which authority is consulted and what weight he selects for a shekel. (See the table on weights and measures in Maps and Charts .) A greave is a protective piece of armor that fits on the front of the leg and extends from just below the knee to the ankle.
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