Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. ⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

1 Samuel 13:7-14

If only Saul would have waited. If only Saul could have trusted. His vanity. His fear of man. His desire for his own renown. All of that superceded his fear of the Lord. Saul lacked wisdom. He cared only for his own ambition.

Those lines, “you could have had the whole kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure.” What a stab in the chest.

How often we run before the Lord. How often do we not understand His trustworthiness. He delays and tarries to test our heart sometimes. What comes out when we are waiting? Do we trust His timing, His provision?

Or do we feel the need to move the needle forward? Do we think we know what is best for us?

Saul could have had the respect, the authority and the kingship of all Israel like he wanted, but because he went ahead of himself. It all vanished.

God wants to give us good things. He is the giver of all good gifts, but we must believe Him. Believing in Him is proven by obedience.

I imagine the sorrow of God’s heart…the most generous, abundant, loving being in all the universe, with so few trustworthy to steward His gifts.