Leadership is Responsibility: The Failure of Saul

So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.

-1 Samuel 10:22-26, ESV

What makes someone a leader?  Some people think leadership comes from assuming a certain position and exercising the authority associated with that position.  Conversely, Dwight Eisenhower emphasized influence, defining leadership as “the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it, not because your position of power can compel him to do it”.[1]  However, neither of these defines a leader.  Instead, Simon Sinek describes leadership this way: “The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank …. Leaders are the ones willing to look out for those to the left of them and those to the right of them”.[2]  In other words, leadership is all about taking responsibility.  Leaders who do not understand this are setting themselves up for trouble, which is clearly demonstrated by the story of Israel’s first king.

An Unprepared King

Once established, monarchies groom their successors from birth, so it is no mystery to them what their vocation will be or what duties and responsibilities that entails.  Even then, the crown is sometimes thrust upon the unprepared.  For instance, the abdication of England’s King Edward VIII in 1936 thrust his brother, King George VI, upon the throne.  His premature death in 1952 then put his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, on the throne earlier than anyone anticipated. While both may have felt unprepared, as senior members of a longstanding royal family, they had been trained for such situations.  However, when a monarchy is first established, the crown can be unexpected, therefore finding its bearer totally unprepared.  Perhaps the most extreme case of this in history was Saul, Israel’s first king.  Following the tumultuous period of the Judges, Israel demanded a king so they could be like the surrounding nations who all had kings to fight their battles for them (1 Samuel 8:4-6).  God told Samuel that this demand was a rejection of Him as their King before telling Samuel to give them the king they desired.

For that king, God chose the man the people would want: a man who was tall and handsome.  That man was Saul, son of a Benjaminite named Kish.  Though his father was wealthy, he was in no way groomed to be a king.  Nevertheless, when his father’s donkeys got lost, his quest to find them would ultimately put a crown on his unprepared head (1 Samuel 9).  After a fruitless search, his servant suggested they go to Samuel the prophet to see where the donkeys had gone.  When they met Samuel, he anointed Saul as king instead:

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

-1 Samuel 10:1, ESV

This proclamation should have caused Saul to immediately do everything he could to prepare for this drastic change in vocation, but Saul returned home and told no one (1 Samuel 10:16).  When Samuel assembled all the people to publicly crown Saul as king, he tried to hide.  Nevertheless, he was found and brought forward for Samuel to declare him king:

And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.

-1 Samuel 10:24-25, ESV

It has been long understood that the duties and responsibilities of a king are all-encompassing. As with leadership in many spheres, the throne requires complete attention and devotion. The series The Crown depicts Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne with letter from her grandmother, Queen Mary. In it, the matriarch tells the new monarch that she must mourn not only the death of her father but also her own death. Her responsibilities were so immense that her new identity as queen had to completely replace her former identity in every aspect of life.

Doubtless the responsibilities Samuel levied on Saul were similarly comprehensive. Nevertheless, newly-minted King Saul returned home (1 Samuel 11:5), apparently thinking he could simply add this new calling to his existing work.  As a result, when the Ammonites besieged Jabesh-gilead, Saul was working in his field .  When he heard the news, he immediately accepted his kingly responsibilities and mustered the army to defeat the Ammonites and rescue Jabesh-gilead.  Saul had been crowned previously at Mizpah, but you could say that he really became king at Jabesh-gilead. 

A Self-Focused King

In the aftermath of Jabesh-gilead, Saul displayed true nobility.  When he had been crowned, some men had opposed him, but he had kept his peace (1 Samuel 10:27).  Yet when his throne was firmly established after his victory at Jabesh-gilead, some wanted to execute those detractors.  But Saul restrained them by reminding them that God had worked a great victory that day, which was not to be spoiled by petty rivalries (1 Samuel 11:12-13).  Sadly, this attitude from Saul was short lived. 

The longer Saul was king, the more he went into battle for his own name rather than in God’s, serving himself rather than God’s people.  God had used Saul’s son Jonathan mightily to begin to route the attacking Philistines.  As the Israelites pursued them, Saul made this rash vow: “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies” (1 Samuel 14:24).  Notice how Saul refers not to God or to the people the Philistines were harassing but to himself.  Since Jonathan had not heard this decree, he had eaten some honey.  When Saul discovered this, he did not hesitate to issue the death sentence on his own son, but since Jonathan was the hero of the day, the people would not allow it (1 Samuel 14:43-45).

Saul’s self-focus became even more apparent with the rise of David.  Having established himself as a mighty warrior, David—in faithful service to Saul—achieved victory after victory.  This should have garnered pleasure and admiration from Saul, but his self-focus spawned envy instead:

And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on.

-1 Samuel 18:7-9, ESV

This envy became Saul’s obsession for the rest of his life.  He tried to kill David several times, pursued him whenever he had the chance, and alienated his own son in the process.  This envy even caused Saul to arrange for his daughter to marry David as part of a plot to have David die in battle (1 Samuel 18:17-28). It even led him to commit an atrocity.  When he found out that Ahimelech the priest had helped David, Saul slaughtered him along with all of the men, women, children, and animals of the priestly city of Nob (1 Samuel 22:6-19).  

A King Who Doesn’t Take Responsibility

Ultimately, Saul’s early hesitation to embrace his kingly role and his later self-focus exposed the underlying issue of failure to take responsibility—and that failure in two particular incidents cost Saul the throne.  The first happened just before Jonathan’s amazing victory over the Philistines.  Samuel had told Saul to muster the army then wait for his arrival, but when Samuel was delayed and the people started to scatter, Saul became anxious and took it upon himself to offer the sacrifice.  Samuel then arrived and rebuked him for this, but instead of taking responsibility, Saul made excuses: “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:11-12).  Note how he blamed Samuel and the people before trying to pass off his sin as a righteous act.  Samuel didn’t buy it:

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

-1 Samuel 13:13-14, ESV

The second incident was Saul’s failure to annihilate the Amalekites as God commanded.  He kept their king alive and took the spoil that should have been destroyed (1 Samuel 15:1-9).  Saul’s failure to completely obey God stands in stark contrast to Saul’s later slaughter at Nob when fighting for himself.  When Samuel confronted Saul about this, he tried to claim that he had obeyed God then blamed the people for taking the spoils, even claiming it was in order to offer sacrifices to God (1 Samuel 15:13-21).  Even when Saul admitted he had sinned, he still blamed the people (1 Samuel 15:24).  In essence, Saul never really took responsibility for himself or for the nation, which was his undoing, so every leader in every sphere must heed the warning of Saul’s tale.

A True King is Forged

In the aftermath of Nob, a true king is revealed.  One of the sons of Ahimelech escaped to David and told him news of the slaughter.  Notice David’s response: “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping” (1 Samuel 22:22-23).  In other words, David did not hesitate to take responsibility, both for himself and others.  As we saw here, that is a pattern David exhibited throughout his life.  Therefore, when David’s time came to ascend to the throne, he was ready.  He did not hesitate or try to hide from his responsibility as Saul had.  He also fought for God and others more than himself unlike Saul.  In this, David exhibited the qualities of a true king long before the crown landed on his head. 

More importantly, Saul received his crown without any preparation, whereas David spent decades preparing in the form of many trials.  In his youth, David had killed bears and lions that threatened his flock.  This along with immense faith in God gave David the skills and courage to defeat Goliath.  As he proved himself on the battlefield, he steadily gained a reputation and followers all while remaining humble and faithful in his service to Saul.  The trials intensified when Saul tried to kill him, forcing him to flee alone.  Even as he was on the run, people gravitated to him. By the time of Saul’s death, David had an army of six hundred men.  Throughout this time, he maintained his character, refusing to fight against Saul and restraining his men from doing so.  Since his army was made up of many less-than-reputable Israelites and foreigners (1 Samuel 22:2) this was no small task.  Furthermore, he fought for his people rather than himself.  Even after Saul’s death, David’s trials continued.  First, he had to restrain his men from rebelling after their families were captured by the Amalekites.  Then, he had to fight and ultimately form alliances with Saul’s loyalists before his throne was established.  In short, David unlike Saul was forged by trials which prepared him for the crown. 

In this way, Saul and David reflect the first and last Adams respectively.  Like Saul, Adam’s kingship came without trials.  As a result, he was unprepared when Satan brought temptation.  Instead of fighting for his kingdom, he prioritized himself.  Then, he like Saul made excuses and tried to shift blame.  As a result, both lost their kingdoms.  Conversely, Jesus Christ as the last Adam did not receive His crown until after He had suffered.  Like David, Jesus endured decades of trials through both the normal struggles of human life and the existing reign of an earthly king—in this case, Satan—who was actively fighting against him without cause.  He then endured the ultimate suffering of the cross, taking responsibility for all of His subjects rather than avoiding it and shifting blame.  After enduring all of this, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  Only then did He receive the crown as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  In that way, Christ was foreshadowed by not only David but also Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and many others in the great cloud of witnesses.  God prepares His people for any vocation—but especially leadership—through trials, testing, and suffering.  Therefore, we should expect to receive a cross before we receive a crown. 

Conclusion

In short, the primary attribute of leadership in any sphere is taking responsibility for others.  Saul failed to take responsibility, so his dynasty was never established.  On the other hand, David took responsibility long before donning his crown, so his dynasty was the longest in history.[3]  But ultimately, David was established and Saul was not because it is God who establishes kings and overthrows them (Daniel 2:21).  God is sovereign, but He often chooses to raise up leaders like David who are after His own heart: men of character and humility who take responsibility.  Let us strive to follow that example.