After David defeats Goliath and begins winning more battles, everyone starts praising Him. Additionally, Saul's son and daughter also love David. All of this makes Saul very jealous and he starts scheming against David. But with every effort, Saul fails and David grows even more successful and loved. The Lord is for David and now against Saul.

If He is for you, then no one can stand against you. But if He is against you, then you are fighting a losing battle. God was for David and He made him successful in everything he did. But when Saul grew jealous and tried to destroy David, God went against Saul and wouldn't let any of his schemes succeed. We want God on our side. But the only way to ensure that is to be on His side. We must align ourselves with Him. Then, He will be our greatest ally. But if we go against Him or His people then He will be against us.

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David fights Goliath.

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When God rejected Saul as king, He also withdrew His Spirit. Then, He had Samuel anoint David as the new king and He sent His Holy Spirit to confirm it. He wasn't giving or withdrawing salvation. His Spirit came only to empower or disempower for kingship.

First, we talk about the Holy Spirit's Presence with Saul and David, then we talk about His Presence with us.

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God rejected Saul as king and told Samuel to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be his replacement. The one Samuel thought looked good was not the one God chose and He explained that we may look at the outward appearance of a person, but He looks at the heart.

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King Saul made a sacrifice to God, but it isn't what God wanted. He just wanted Saul to listen to what He told him to do and do it. That's all. But instead, he did what he wanted and tried to make it work for God. He tried to get his way and then give God a gift of appeasement and that's not how our God works. That was the way of idol worshippers. God doesn't need our gifts or sacrifices. The sacrifices are to provide atonement for our sins and if we aren't repentant, then they are pointless.

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Saul sat passively waiting on the Philistines to make a move whereas his son, Jonathan, stepped out in faith. Jonathan asked God to reveal whether He wanted him to fight the Philistines or not. Once he attacked and the Philistines were thrown into chaos, Saul went into battle without seeking God’s will. He also bound the people to fasting until they won the battle. Jonathan disobeyed his father’s command since he was already in battle when Saul told his soldiers not to eat. Because of his reckless command and impulsive declared punishment, the people disobeyed God’s command against eating blood and Saul almost lost his son. Jonathan was only saved from his father’s punishment because the people recognized that he, in cooperation with God, was the one who brought them victory, not Saul.

Do you want to be passive, impulsive, and reckless like Saul or step out in faith while seeking God’s will like Jonathan?

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Saul didn’t wait on Samuel like he was told. He offered the sacrifice himself. Though he was not a priest, he thought if he did what the priests do, then he would incur favor with God. But it was not the sacrifice that made God favor people, it was their heart behind it. Saul was willing to move on into battle without a word from God. The sacrifice did not bring him closer to God. He had no relationship with God. The focus of the sacrifice was not the Lord but Saul’s own desires. So, God said he would replace Saul with a man after His own heart instead of Saul’s son after his death.

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As his first act as King, Saul organizes an army and defeats the Ammonites who have besieged one of the cities on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

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God chooses Saul to be Israel's first King

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The Israelites want an earthly king like the rest of the nations.

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