Why was Saul chosen as King?

Therein lies an interesting question. We know that because of Saul’s disobedience in not utterly wiping out the Amalekites he was rejected as king of Israel (1 Sam 15:26). We read in the same chapter that God declares to Samuel that he “regretted that he made Saul king for he has turned from following me” (vs. 10).

Didn’t God know Saul would rebel before he chose him as king? Yes. The answer is because God wanted to. Saul despite his wickedness Saul was God’s anointed (1 Sam 24:6).  God made a sovereign choice although it caused the Lord grief when Saul turned his heart away from the Lord.

It is very important to understand that when God said he regretted or was sorry he chose Saul as king over Israel, he didn’t change his mind regarding his choosing as some may think when reading this text. Rather, God was sorry for the wickedness of Saul manifested in his persistent disobedience of the Lord’s commands. How can a leader who is a minister of God (whether they know it or not) be unrighteous and lead God’s people in the ways of sin? That man is a disgrace to the nation, and to God who established his kingdom in righteousness.

Proverbs 16:12 says this, “It is an abomination for kings (or any elected official for that matter) to commit wickedness, for a throne is established by righteousness.”

Saul started out well. God was with them. As indicated by the fact that God’s Spirit was with him (1 Sam 10:7-11). He was victorious in his military campaigns against the nation’s enemies; the Ammonites (1 Sam 11:1-11). The Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites, and against the Kings of Zobah (1 Sam 14).

Sadly after this is where Saul began his epic decline as God’s servant, the nation’s leader, and king.

God through the prophet Samuel gave Saul one directive; to totally destroy Israel’s enemies the Amalekites. God commanded him to destroy everything that breathes, men and women, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey (1 Sam 15:1-3). God commanded them to be wiped off the face of the earth. Why? Remember God said to Abraham, “I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse those who curse you” (Gen 12:3). The Israelites were the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and through Isaac’s son Jacob (who’s name was changed to Israel Gen 32:28). 

The Amalekites were ancient enemies of Israel – all the way back when they left Egypt (Ex 17:8-16). After defeating Amalek, God decreed that he would blot out Amalek from under heaven. As a matter of fact, God had Moses write the decree in a memorial book saying that he promised to destroy them.

Well, that time had finally come, and God commanded Saul to be his executioner. This command was a holy edict that God decreed some four hundred years before and had to be carried out. For Saul to disobey God’s command was to disobey the Almighty himself. The rejection of this holy command was to reject God himself.

  What did Saul do wrong?

First, Saul spared some of the people. Scripture does not tell us how many. How do we know this? Because we find out later in the book that David fought against the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 30:16-20 when Amalek took David’s and his armies’ family hostage. Had Saul obeyed God’s command and totally destroyed Amalek, this would not have happened.

Second, when Saul was rebuked for his disobedience, he was not contrite. He blamed it on his army saying that they took the animals to sacrifice to God. He also spared the king of Amalek, Agag which was also an act of disobedience.

Third, like all of us at some point in our lives when we have done wrong, Saul defends his wrong doing by saying he did obey the voice of the Lord (1 Sam 15:20-21).

Verse twenty-one is interesting. Why? Because Saul determined for himself those things he declared were “good” This short-sightedness tells the writer the Saul was a weak and deficient leader. 

Disobedient and stubborn, just like the people he ruled. Saul was a man after Israel’s rebellious heart. 

Whereas David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14).

Just like Israel rejected God as their king, God rejected Saul as king (1 Sam 8:7;15:23,26).

After this the Bible says the Holy Spirit departed from Saul, and God sent and evil or distressing spirit to torment him (1 Sam 16:14).

It gets worse from the point the Lord departs. Saul becomes I believe mentally disturbed. He is obsessed with killing David because he knows David will become king one day in his place (1 Sam 18:11;19:10,15).

The end is that Saul had become totally apostate and consulted a medium regarding how the battle against the Philistines would fare (1 Sam 28). Why did Saul do this? Because the Lord had departed from him and refused to heed Saul. As a matter of fact Samuel (from the dead)[1] said that Saul was God’s enemy (1 Sam 28:16). Had Saul truly repented of his disobedience, God would have listened to him, and he would not have degenerated to the point where he would have to seek counsel from a witch which was forbidden in Israel and is forbidden today (Lev 19:31).

Saul’s tragic end is he is wounded on the field of battle and his sons are killed. Saul doesn’t want to die by his enemies the Philistines so he draws his sword and commits suicide (1 Sam 31:4).

The wages of sin always end in death (Rom 6:23).

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[1] Consulting the dead was forbidden in Israel. However, God allowed Samuel to talk to Saul beyond the grave. This is the only time in scripture where this occurs. The witch did not expect this to happen. When she realized God (not her) brought up the spirit of Samuel, she was literally terrified to death and knew that is was Saul who had made this request (1 Sam 28:12). Mediums consult with demons or familiar spirits who impersonate the dead, they do not actually bring up the dead themselves.