And Saul built an altar to the Lord;
It was the first altar he built to the
Lord. 1 Samuel 14:35
Saul built an altar to God. It was probably the only
altar he built to God.
Why he built the altar is not really clear but the point
is this, he built an altar.
Saul building that altar almost seems out of context.
In fact, it’s so out of Saul’s norm that the word says,
“It was the first altar he built to God.”
Building an altar meant on a very rare
occasion Saul remembered God, he honored God!
It was one of those very rare occasions where
Saul put God first, where Saul stopped to thank
God.
The altar that Saul built tells us a lot about where
his relationship with God was. He didn’t build altars
which meant something.
On the other hand let’s look at David.
Building an altar wasn’t out of context for him.
He built countless altars to God. That also said
something about his relationship with God.
David was a man after God’s heart. God was the
most important thing to him….
David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-5)
David kills Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-23)
In both these situations David repented to God.
He confessed his sins and asked God to forgive him.
His heart broke because of what he did.
David counts his people (2 Samuel 24:1-9)
After counting the people the word says:
David felt ashamed after he counted the people
and said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in
what I did! Lord, I beg you, forgive me for my
sin. I have been very foolish.”
2 Samuel 24:10
Once again David humbled himself before God.
He confessed his sin to God quickly!
David wants to build a house for God.
(2 Samuel 7:1-18)
Even in peace David still sought the Lord.
He never forgot Him!
This is what I am trying to show you,
We need to be like David who built countless
altars to God. He loved God so much. Yes,
he sinned many times but he always turned
to God. No matter how bad things got he
always turned to God and even in good times
he still turned to thank God!
Saul didn’t put God first a lot of the time.
Some would say he was proud. He believed
he could make it on his own. He was a skilled
warrior who was a “head taller” than everyone
else. (1 Samuel 9:2)
Whatever the case we must aim to be like
David who humbled himself before God.
He never relied on his own strength. Instead,
he relied on God and ALWAYS turned to
God, always……
The goal is not to be David but it’s to take
those things that made his relationship
with God stronger and apply them to
our lives.
The goal is not to discredit or attack
Saul but it’s to look at his life and
learn from his mistakes. We all sin
so attacking Saul would be foolish…
God wants us to put Him first….
Pride will always resist God.
We need to be humble and allow
God to lead us.
Rolain
kingspeech 