April 17

Saul saves his people

            Now Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen; and Saul said, “What is the matter with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the message from the inhabitants of Jabesh. And the spirit of God came upon Saul in power when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one… The next day Saul put the people in three companies. At the morning watch they came into the camp and cut down the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. The people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Give them to us so that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought deliverance to Israel.”

1 Samuel 11:5-13

           

            The Ammonites had attacked the small town of Jabesh.  Outnumbered and facing a massacre, the people of Jabesh tried negotiating.  The Ammonites offered to simply pluck out one eye of every resident of the community instead of engaging in a battle where they could suffer some casualties.  The leaders of Jabesh said that they would send out messengers to Israel; if no one would help them then they would agree.  Their messengers sped away and word made its way to Saul.

            Saul had been anointed as king, but there was not much in this newly created position.  No palace, no army, no taxes, no authority…not even a crown.  Saul was actually still at home, working his father’s fields when he heard the news.  There had been raids on Jewish communities before.  Most people would hear the news and feel sad for their bretheren.  They would shake their heads about the dangers of living so close to enemy borders.  They would send their thoughts and prayers to the impacted communities and then go back to the important business of their daily lives.  That’s what most people did.  That’s probably what Saul had done in the past.

            But this time was different.  This time the Spirit of God came on Saul and provoked him to action.  He was filled with passion, with righteous anger…a profound sense of the brokenness and injustice of this world and a burning drive to set things right.  He rallied the people to Jabesh’s defense.  They marched and engaged the enemy, routing the Ammonites and cementing Saul’s place as the leader of his people.

            The Spirit of God prompts us in many different ways.  Sometimes it is a nudge towards joy and celebration.  Other times we are moved to lamentation and mourning.  Still other times it is towards righteous anger and the defense of the weak.  Sometimes it is just an invitation to sit and be still before God the Father.

            You know what else nudges us toward strong emotions and responses?  Life.  I can be inspired to anger by the Spirit of God or by my newsfeed or by being sleep deprived or by reading my social media or by telling my child to stop fighting with his sister for the 25^th time that day.  How do we know what is the prompting of God and what is instead our own human condition and brokenness?  The best teaching that I have heard on discernment broke it down like this:

·         Does it glorify Jesus?  Do the actions that you are inspired to take speak to the power and love and justice and mercy of God or does it merely benefit you?

·         Does it agree with Scripture?  Not just one verse of scripture, but does the totality of scripture align with where you want to go?

·         Do other believers agree?  Are the people of faith and discernment in your life on the same page with you?

·         Do the promises come to pass?  Looking back on when you followed those leadings before, was there good fruit that came out of your actions or not? Did God do what He said He would do or were you just mishearing and acting out of your impulses?

Discernment is a spiritual muscle that is grown and developed just like any other muscle.  It takes work and training to develop it properly.  The Spirit of God will speak to us and nudge us and move our heart in different directions.  But if we are not listening or are too tired to hear it or are unwilling to respond, we will miss out on the invitation for us and the world will be a lesser place because of it.

             

           

A moment to reflect:

When was the last time you felt a prompt by the Spirit of God?