When a leader in God’s house sins and refuses to repent, then God’s Kingdom suffers great loss!

God gave king Saul many, many opportunities to repent, but because he choose not to do so, God did not answer him when he prayed and sought God for counsel with regard to his battle with the Philistines.

Yet, he did not even take that as an opportunity to repent, but instead sought the help of a medium to get his reply, 1 Chronicles 10:13,14! His sons, who knew about their father’s evil deeds, and yet chose to stay with him, ended up losing their lives too, vs 2! Eventually Saul died by committing suicide, vs 4! The people fled and the enemies of the Lord rejoiced!

We need to pray earnestly for backslidden leaders to repent, and must never choose to side them in their wrongdoings or else we will suffer from the negative consequences too!

After many years of testing finally the day came when David is anointed King over Judah, 1 Chronicles 11:1-3. God gave David many mighty men to support him in fighting the Lord’s battles, vs 4-47.

Many of these excellent warriors joined him even while he was still fleeing from Saul and hiding in the wilderness, 1 Chronicles 12:1-40! Each day men came to help David until his army became very large, vs 22! This was God’s doing and marvellous in our eyes!

There is nothing like having God support you and send people and provisions too, while you are still fleeing from those who seek to kill you! Even warriors from Saul’s tribe joined David, vs 2-7 16-18,29. It was, therefore, no wonder that Saul lost the battle with the Philistines! David’s good intention of bring in the ark of God to the city of David met with God’s judgment when Uzzah touched the ark in a bid to steady it, and so try to prevent it from falling when the oxen stumbled, 1 Chronicles 13:1-10!

At first, David was angry at this unexpected turn of events, vs 11, but later on when he understood his mistake, he humbled himself by subsequently doing things in the right way, 1 Chronicles 15: 2,12-14!

King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him. David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel, 1 Chronicles 14:1,2. As David sought God’s kingdom first, all other things were added to him. Yet, he realised that this was done for the prosperity of God’s people and not for his own self exaltation!

God even gave him ideas on how he could be victorious over the Philistine army, when he sought God for direction, and because he obeyed God in humility, vs 8-16. So David became famous in all the lands; and the LORD caused all the nations to fear him, vs 17.

From these chapters we can see clearly the difference between the two leaders, Saul and David, and the impact that their leadership had on God’s people and the Kingdom of Israel. It was not that David did not make mistakes, but his humble attitude to correct himself, on realising his mistakes made all the difference!

In addition to this important leadership quality, he refrained from being selfishly ambitious and sought God’s glory and the good of the people throughout his reign.

This made him an endearing king and an exemplary leader. Let us keep these things in mind and likewise follow in his steps, thus bringing glory to God, and a true blessing to God’s people. Amen.

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.