Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 22
1 Samuel 9 1 Samuel 10 1 Samuel 11
1 Samuel 13 1 Samuel 15 1 Samuel 16 1 Samuel 17
Excellent Ensign article about Saul's loss of rapport with God: The Tragic Dimensions of Saul by Richard G. Ellsworth
Insightful article about the Call of David to be King: The King Called David by Arthur R. Bassett.
Saul and David's World
Saul's Meets the Philistines and the Amalekites
Wadis Surrounding Michmash: Saul Confronts the Philistines
The Saul/David Lesson: Trust the Lord and Seek His Guidance
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. (1 Samuel 9:2)
21 And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? (1 Samuel 9:21)Saul in the first of many great sins offers a priesthood sacrifice he does not have the right to perform in an effort to keep his people from disbursing as he is trying to maintain an army. Samuel understands Saul's sin. Saul does not.
13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. (1 Samuel 13:13)
14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.)
Elder James E. Talmage wrote,
“Saul prepared the burnt offering himself,
forgetting that though he occupied the throne, wore the crown, and bore the
scepter, [he had] no right to officiate … in the Priesthood of God; and for
this and other instances of his unrighteous presumption he was rejected of God
and another was made king in his place” (The Articles of Faith, 12th ed.
[1924], 185).
Saul followed his own judgment in allowing the people to disobey God when he allowed the people to return with Amalekite spoils of war.
11 It
repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and
hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto
the Lord all night. (1 Samuel 15:11)
22 And
Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)
David Too Rose from Humble Beginning Yet Forgets at Times to Trust the Lord
7 But
the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his
countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
Elder Marvin J. Ashton said:
“We … tend to evaluate others on the
basis of physical, outward appearance: their ‘good looks,’ their social status,
their family
pedigrees, their degrees, or their economic situations.
“The Lord, however, has a different
standard by which he measures a person. … He does not take a tape measure
around the person’s head to determine his mental capacity, nor his chest to
determine his manliness, but He measures the heart as an indicator of the
person’s capacity and potential to bless others” (in Conference Report, Oct.
1988, 17; or Ensign, Nov. 1988, 15).
18 Then
answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the
Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man
of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. (1 Samuel 16:18)
Font.
