Setting Saul Up With Judges

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to the Boundless Bible. My name is David Shapiro. Hey, I'm Javi Marquez. And I'm Jason Holloway. He was tall. He was chosen. He had divine favor. This is a story of Saul. And I know that we've had some comments before that sometimes we don't lay out the story properly beforehand. So I'm actually gonna go way back. Yeah. I'm gonna go back before first Samuel, which is where Saul is first seen in First Samuel. The thing is, uh, in the original uh Hebrew Bible, yeah, this story did not come after Ruth. How we have it now is Judges, Ruth, First Samuel. Yeah. In the original, it was Judges right to 1 Samuel. There was no Ruth, she comes later in the writings version. Um, so I just wanted to point that out because there's actually some really cool uh continuation of a story of Judges because you have this uh rough time, these judges are doing things wrong. There's this really, really hard story to read. If you've not read The End of Judges, I won't spoil it for you, but it's a really hard ending to read. This story about the um the people of Benjamin doing these horrible things, and then um it ends in this way of all people do things in their own mind, in their own right, their own eyes. So they doing what they think is right in their own eyes. And now we come to 1 Samuel. You come to this section right now where um you're going to have the last judge in Samuel, and then the people, dun, dun, dun, they want their own king, they want to follow other cultures, other kingdoms, and what they want their own king. Yeah, and this is where Saul comes onto stage. Heck of a heck of a intro.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Um I mean, but it's it's the intro you need if you haven't read it. I love that you just decided not to spoil alert uh 3,500-year-old story, though. That's cool. Um maybe not 3,500 years, but it's well over 2,000 years, and you were like, Yeah, I don't want to give away the ending. Um, but yeah, so so the judges, the judges are on their way out, right? Samuel's the last of the judges. Um and the people, as people do, they tell God what's best for them. And that's that's where this story starts. And it's a it's a precarious place to begin any story when you say, God, I know you've said this is what should happen, but you know those guys over there, they're doing really well. I want to do like them. And and I think you can tell where the story's gonna go from there because it goes right where you think it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

I wanted to ask before we go there, um, and maybe I have maybe I read through it and I haven't thought about it as much, but could it be that they felt maybe the judges itself wasn't enough, right? Like what what was going on there with the judges and how they how they did things, or you know, kind of made decisions, uh, they felt like the judges wasn't enough and they weren't good enough, or you know, maybe they felt like hey, a king would be better suited for us.

Saul Means You Asked For It

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, I mean, listen, Samuel was actually a good judge. You have all these series of bad judges that got worse and worse. Okay, you have Samuel who's a good one, but then his two sons end up being again, not great right off the bat. And the people go, hey, enough of this. We want a king. But what's interesting is they asked for a king. They said, Hey God, we're asking you for a king. Yeah, what God gave them was their king. Watch this. Yeah, the name to ask. They remember the people ask for it. Yeah, the name is Sha'al, which is the root Saul. Saul. So literally, what God gave them when they said we're asking for a king, he gave them the ask. Yeah, exactly what they asked for. So in the Hebrew, it it really is the root word of to ask is Saul. So it is incredible that even God's humor is going, all right, you asked for it. Who's this guy?

SPEAKER_03 4:44

This is what you asked for. What? What's his name? This is what you asked for.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Yeah, it's it's like those old uh wizard movies, like you have to be very specific with your request or else they get exactly what you asked for. Yeah. Yes. I mean, it's you know, Javi, I think it's a good question, you know, but but I also think there's a bigger theme at play, right? Like, yeah, the the people asked for that because the judges weren't working. And the judges, or sorry, the people asked for that because the judges weren't working. The people asked for it because the people weren't working, and so they were looking at the next best thing. But that's kind of the bigger theme anyway, right? When you're not looking at God and you're looking around you and you're looking at your surroundings, you're always gonna find um, you know, something that's missing. You're always gonna miss, you're you're always gonna find something that's not quite working correctly. And so I think your your question is really valid, and it's just a matter of looking at it a little differently. I like that perspective. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah, I mean, listen, people are asking for the king. Spoiler, what they really needed was was King Jesus. They needed the king, uh, not a king.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Hey, you took my line. But I was like, it's funny because you know, it's funny. I literally about five minutes ago before we started this, I was like, they were asking for a man. They were asking for a man and they got Saul and I was like, oh wait, they did get a man, they got Jesus. It was gonna take another couple hundred years, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

I mean, uh they this is first Samuel 9:10. He looks the part. This is right. I love this is the king they're looking for. He's a head tall on everybody, he's dashing like this is the guy. Um, the other thing that their people and there's on both sides, some say he's really humble because when they were casting lots, and this is what they did, they took the tribes in, they were casting lots for who would be king. When they were looking for him, when they were announcing him, he was hiding. And what a lot of people are saying is he was humble, didn't want to be king. Right. So he was there, therefore humble and also a head taller than everybody.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, it does it doesn't sound like it, right? He goes off searching for some donkeys, and then he's like, What what do you mean you're gonna give me food? Like, and he did do that, right? He he told Samuel, why are you giving me these things? Um, you know, who am I that you would that you would treat me like this? So I think you're right. I think there's a there's a humility in that.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

That's how that's my side of it, and we were speaking about it earlier, David. I think I have a okay, I don't have a soft spot for Saul, but I do have that's my train of thought with when it comes to Saul and being king. I mean, he fit the part. He really did. He didn't ask for it, he really didn't. He fit the part as a warrior. I think he started off good, and then it ended up, you know. I maybe I'm jumping ahead, but it ended up, you know, going not the best. But starting off of it, starting from the beginning, he went into it trying to do his best. And he did come out, he he battled some people and he did he did really well for them as a king, or starting off at least. He prospered.

Half Obedience Full Collapse

SPEAKER_01 7:32

He did, he did win battles, he did very well. He started off uh doing things right, and then little by little he started listening to uh his own voice rather than the voice of God. And the thing is, he didn't do it fully. This is really it's interesting because this is really a story of half obedience, still leads to full collapse. Wow. Um, because he was half obedient into everything. He he listened to God and then he went off on his own. He kicked out soothsayers and at the end he went to one. Uh he did a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and it was really interesting. He he spared one king and then killed, you know, other people when God was like, No, you need to kill the king and save them. Uh he was just a little bit, like I said, he was kind of half obedient and had a full collapse.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

I mean, yeah, I mean, it's that's it's such an interesting story, and I I don't always know what to make of it because he didn't do necessarily terrible things to lose the favor of God. He just didn't fully commit to his obedience. Like I think the first thing, if I'm not mistaken, the first thing was he he uh you know took over the city and and King Agad, uh isn't this the first the first act of like minor disobedience? And he was supposed to he was supposed to level the ground, everyone, everything, all the sheep, all the herd, even the king, everybody's supposed to go. And he they kept the finest of the sheep and the finest of the cows and the finest of this, and they did not kill Agad. And correct. That's a tough thing to wrestle with, honestly. Like it's not the only time we see this in the Bible that that full obedience is the only way. It's and that's probably maybe a maybe a point to talk about in and of itself. It's like half in, half out, or if you're half out, you're already all out, kind of thing.

When You Stop Hearing God

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, I mean, they they talk about giving him a new heart. We know about the heart with the pharaoh, we know about David's heart. I mean, it talks quite a bit about heart and where your heart is at. Um, I'll tell you one of the things, and and I brought up judges for a very specific reason, not only to give past context, but in judges, one of I think the scariest things that I've ever heard in the Bible is when Samson did not know that God left him. So you have Samson and he had no clue when God left him. But then when you look at Saul, Saul didn't know when Saul left God. And that's the part I'm looking at going, you know, God is is also a relational God who loves us. He's the one who gave the people Saul, and Saul walked away from him. And I think what's scary is is you have one where Samson is God's leaving Samson, he doesn't know it, and the other one is Saul is leaving God and Saul doesn't know it. And so he doesn't even know when he's doing wrong. Yeah, and that's that's the humanity part of it going, man, look at human, all of human right there in Saul. Yeah, mic drop. Yeah. That's good.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

I mean, you're right. I mean, that's why you love him, Javi. That's why you love him, Javi. And and the reason why you say I feel bad is because this is a man who's just acting as a man and does things on his own and walks away from God without even knowing it, yeah, and and is tortured by it.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

This is there's a that's a big I mean that's common. That's super I mean, for anyone as a believer to to live a life that you think you go, well, I am anointed, God anointed me. I am now in this responsibility of of others and you know, a nation like this, and you know, for the most part, I am doing what I see what I'm doing, and I'm I'm I'm making good at it. Now, am I seeking the one whenever I make these decisions? Am I calling upon him, you know, like I first was? You know, am I listening to Samuel, the the the the the one that speaks to actually God more more than I do? No, you know, and I think I think yeah, I think the the reign, the the power maybe got to him, and obviously he lost his way. Um I'm not saying that we should act this way, but I think that's where I get maybe a little bit going, wow, I could relate to Saul in in this way. I mean, I'm not a king or never was, but you know, in a way of I could relate to him in anything. Here you are, Javi. Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

I'm the king of my house. But uh you said the word listen, and I think actually this is listen, uh, which is also uh we've done it in other episodes, Shema. We need to listen and obey. It's active listening. And I think that this is exactly when you look at first Samuel. At first, Samuel does not know how to listen to God. He has to learn, he's being taught how to hear God's voice. Then you go to Saul, who again is not listening, he's not obeying, he's not responding to God. And you have all these things of listen. And then finally, right, Saul actually in in his madness goes and seeks out the voice of of the witch of Endor. So he he's actually listening to um somebody else. It this is this is spiritual uh desperation. Yeah, I'm so desperate, I'm not listening to God, I can't hear him, that I'm gonna go to a soothsayer to listen to whatever. And again, this this brings me into today. And what sometimes people do is I'm not hearing God, so I'm gonna listen to anybody who is willing to talk to me.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah.

Reactive Choices And Modern Parallels

SPEAKER_02 13:05

I mean, as you're saying it, the whole thing's like striking this bell of he had Samuel as his earpiece and his mouthpiece, right? He had that, and he chose not to listen to that. And then all of a sudden things started falling apart. And to your point, when God wasn't speaking, what if I mean if you look at all the things that he did wrong, none of them were, like I said, none of them were terrible. They weren't terrible things, they were reactions to him feeling like he was losing something or or missing something, or you know, at a loss for something. And man, if that's not relatable, I don't know what is. Like, you know, and it could be anything, right? That that for us, that doesn't have to be, you know, I I go. I mean, look, even like the the again, I go back to the sheeps and stuff that he kept. He kept it because it seemed to make sense because to humans that makes sense. It's like, well, why shouldn't I keep it and profit off of it or make use of it? But if God said don't use it, don't use it. Like may there's a reason for that. There's a there's you might not understand the reason, but there's a reason. And so it's always him reacting to his own humanity or his own understanding of life through his own human eyes. And so I don't know, I'm I'm thinking of like all the times that we don't have a clear answer, and instead of waiting, we start acting on our own accord. Yeah, instead of instead of you know waiting for the answer, we just are reactive to the situations in front of us. And there's not usually anything good that comes from those quick reactions, and when you're reactive, you're you're not in a state of peace, you're not in a state of come what may, you're in this hyper-adrenalized cortisol state that's not pleasant.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Yeah, yeah. I mean, uh what also is interesting about Saul is he's actually smushed between. If you read the Christian Bible and you don't go by by my old Hebrew Bible, uh, you have Ruth, then you have Samuel, then you have Saul, then David, then Solomon. He is literally smooshed between two phenomenal leaders and two phenomenal leaders, and you have the guy in the middle. And uh, you know, it's interesting because I actually watched uh years ago a conference where there was somebody I did not know his name. He was okay, smooshed in between William Lake Craig and John Lennox. And I'm going, man, this poor guy. I would not imagine being at a conference put in between those two guys. Like at this point, what am I gonna say that's more brilliant than either either of those two guys? Yeah. Um, and and I think about that, I go, it's humanity. This is all I can look at the people who came before me and go, they're greater than me. I can look at the people in front of me going, they're greater than me. Yeah, and here I am listening to the wrong voice, not listening to God's, listening to whatever voice will speak into my life. And I think that this is the it sounds like a tragedy, but again, Javi, you're you're you're kind of pulling for Saul a little bit, and I think it it's all of us at some point or another, it's all of us.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

Yeah, when things hit the fan, I mean, sometimes you you react off like what Jason was saying, you read you react and without coming to God first. You know, there's one thing somebody told me before, it's like you know, something was to go wrong, like you, you you want to like force God's hand and you react. And then you took a charge, you didn't get confirmation of God and what you had to do next, but you reacted and did without asking for God's or anointing, you could say, right? In this case, Saul, right? And then when things go wrong, you're like, hey God, help me get out of this, and it's like, um you're the one that yourself in the first place. You're the one that got there in the first place. So, and then you you kind of bash God after, right? Because you go, wait, why am I going through this? And it's like, well, you didn't you forced your hand, you know, like you forced yourself in that relationship, you forced yourself to that job, you forced yourself into, you know, number numerous other things, right? And um financial debt and whatever it is, you know, it's like I'm trying to relate to where we at now, you know, modern day. And I think we do that a lot. And I think that's where I can see there and saw, you know, like this guy that didn't ask to be king, eventually became king, you know, um, maybe didn't have it all there, you know, and that that's me being sympathetic about his situation, but he obviously lost his way and not reacted to God. And what I hated the worst the most, which is in 1 Samuel 15, 11, it goes, God said, I regret that I have me saw king. Man, to to know that, to know God that God regretted for me to be king, is like, oh, you know, so I'm glad you brought that up. I pray, I pray against that. I pray me against my own decisions and saying, God, I thank God for giving me the grace every day for what he does and he has. And I think that that's what I love about my faith in Jesus. But not to say that I can go on doing wrong things, but you know, to hear that, that's that's that's tough.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

I'm glad you said all those things because that that's one of the things that the story brought to light for me was the the idea that free will, right? There's clearly free will in this story, right? Like you've already covered a hobby, so I don't want to I don't want to, you know, go over that road again. But I mean the reality is we have we have opportunities to make good and bad decisions. We have the opportunity to be obedient and to not be obedient. We sometimes are not obedient and blame God. Um, you know, this guy he lost his blessing, and that's tragic and that's sad, but he's not a terrible person for doing that. He's just a regular person, like all of us, who lost his blessing. I think the reason it hurts us and it makes us like punches in the stomach because we're like, oh, me too. And that's not an easy thing to look at and go, oh, me too. Are you saying I don't have the blessing? Is that why I can't hear sometimes? Because I made the choice. Have I lost you know, and and look, I think the thing is that I'll say yes to that. And if I have to what's that? I'll say yes to that. I'm gonna say yes to that. Yes. I mean, you're gonna be able to do that. I would say yes to that too. I think you absolutely can lose your blessing if you go down too many wrong roads, but you can also get it back. I don't think that he ever listened enough and was obedient enough afterwards to get it back. He didn't go back to Samuel and try to get it, he didn't totally you know try to fix the things that he had made wrong. And this this is where he ultimately goes very, very wrong, is he doesn't turn back to the father. He's too busy trying to fix his own mistakes. And again, this is this is where Saul becomes so intensely relatable. And although he doesn't go down in history as the as I I'm I'm right with you, Javi. I I have extreme empathy for the guy. Um I I have been him on too many occasions trying to fix my own messes.

Who Owns Your Inner Throne

SPEAKER_01 19:59

No, 100%. And then his fear, I think that's what happened. Then his fear overwhelmed him, and and he became somebody who lost his mind, went after David and all that. Um, what I will tell you is the the ending of 1 Samuel. Yeah, you now have this wonderful story of people trying to choose their own king. They're trying to put somebody on the throne that they're choosing. At the very end of that is Saul's death and undoing. I mean, that's the end, that's how it ends. Right. And it is literally sitting on the throne of your life.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

So many people, David.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

What are we gonna do? Well, I will tell you he has not been alive for 2,000 years. So, yes, eventually he died.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

Eventually he dies. Fair.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

But I mean, who sits on the throne of your life? And this is the story of who's sitting on the throne, it's not King Jesus. They choose a king, the king has a massive downfall. At the end of this story, it's not a new king. Although we know David's coming next, the end of 1 Samuel is not the anointing of David, it's the death of Saul. It is you put the wrong king in your in the throne of your life, and it's the death to that king. And again, that's human of going, who is on the throne of my life today? Well, again, I mean what what material? What is it?

SPEAKER_02 21:19

100%. I mean, look, I mean, again, I I want to go back, sorry, for a second, just because it's still hitting me for a minute that like Saul had a chance to repent. Yeah. At any time, like he knew that David was supposed to be it. And instead of being like, hey, David, look, come on in here. Like, come on in, I'll give you the kingship. You know, you take care of me, I'll take care of you type thing. No, he fought tooth and nail for the rest of his life to hold on by his fingernails to that kingship. And and he stayed up at night trying to figure out how to kill David, and like he's he's a person who wouldn't let go of his own mistakes in the past, and he wouldn't, you know, get past his past in order to find his you know what would have been the better future. And so at the end of the day, it's not it's not even his half obedience that was his problem. It was the fact that he never fully acknowledged his half obedience and never went backwards to be obedient. Like, so yeah, like you're right, at the end, at the end. End of the chapter, he dies. And guess what happens if you guess what happens if you don't, you know, re resolve your problems by the end of your life? You gonna die too. Like it's just it's just the way that the world works, and this is what happened to him too. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

The funny thing is towards that end of that, the the first Samuel 15, and just he did, you know. I don't want to say he he kind of if saying here that he went back to worship God and the Lord, and I think if and maybe we're reading into it, maybe you could correct me, David, on this. I think it's it's back to where you're saying that he probably wanted to worship God, but it was all for his own thing, right? Like, hey, I'm doing this just for for me to continue to stay king or whatever it is, but it's not really it's a heart thing, it's what we always talk about here, it's a heart thing, and yeah, and God reached through that all the way, you know, and I think that's what happened here because that's why he didn't bless him for the rest of the time. You know, he said, I'm gonna put somebody else on that throne that's better, that's good, that's after my own heart, and that was David.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Well, here's the thing, and and this is why uh I'm not fully like all poor poor Saul. Yeah, uh the the biggest difference between Saul and David is Saul was anointed and David would not kill him because this is God's anointed. Yeah, but when David was anointed, Saul's like, No, I'm killing you now. I'm killing you because you're about to take my spot. Of course. So I I do feel like, hey, there's at some point if we're not going to be obedient to God or half obedient, if we're gonna say, Hey, I need to be the man, I need to be the one in charge, and God's going, Yeah, your anointing is over. You made some mistakes, that's it, we're moving on. Um, he's trying to fight God and kill God's next anointed. Yeah, and that never, I mean, listen, I will tell you in the Bible, that never works. Anytime you try to go after God's anointed one, it's gonna end totally fairly built to swallow, though.

SPEAKER_03 24:13

I mean, it prostrated 40-something years as a king. He was anointed, you know, like he's he got the throne for him. Is like, I'm gonna continue to reign until I die, and my family are gonna continue to be in this throne. Um, I say that only to relate to what's going on with him, not to say like I feel bad for I obviously I'm I'm so for David and the story there and how he how humble he was and how he was, but David wasn't perfect either. David wasn't perfect. I don't know.

Worship With Mouth Not Actions

SPEAKER_01 24:43

We know that we said we did a story on that, you know, and so to me it's like No, but there was one that repented, and Jason mentioned that. So you go and that's it. And let's go back to that too.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

And I actually like that you brought again, Javi. I like that you brought up again that he worshipped, right? Because that just means he was worshiping with his mouth while his actions were doing something different. So don't stand, don't stand in the front of that, in the front of that church with your hands up high singing to me when you when you're out doing some scandalous stuff in the weekday. Like it's not, you know what I mean? Like Jason, you just brought it back to real. It's that's real. That is so real. I'm I'm just saying. No, that's in the You're right. Look, this is what people, this is what people do, though. It's Sunday, Sunday morning Christians. Like, there's there's which which is look, I got nothing against you. I'm just saying, there's there Christianity is not about reading a book and spending a Sunday doing some stuff, it's about a literal transformation of your life to be different person who you were than before you read this, and before you acknowledged this, and before you followed this, and before you did these things. And and if you're not doing the second one, you really need to ask yourself the question of why you're even going on Sundays, because it's it's not that that's not what it's for. The entire Bible tells you that He's going to give you a new heart. You will be a new creature, you will, you will, you will be reborn in the spirit. I mean, there every part of that is about you becoming different and new. It is not about become very educated in my book. That's not what it says. That nothing about that book says anything about that. You know what we didn't mention? One of my funniest one what one of the things I thought was hysterical. I think it's uh it's early on in the I I think I wrote it down somewhere. What the yeah, in 10 in 1027, uh right after the the people ask for uh a king and they they get it, some guy says, but who is he to be king? And I think that's the other most relatable dude. He's like, give me a king, give me a king, and he's like, not that dude. Like I find that just to be like sometimes the I know, I know, not that not the hot dude. Like, come on, let me let me get a guy more like me. Where's the guy missing some teeth? I want that one. Let me get that one.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

He's come he was coming right up, David.

Divine Favor And Real Consequences

SPEAKER_02 26:48

He was coming right up, yeah. David's coming right after it. I mean, but it was I just thought I thought that was such a funny, funny one, man. Um but there's so many. I mean, look. The whole story's good. Can we talk about something a little bit uncomfortable too, though? I mean, look, the other thing about the obedience thing, like, you know, you can lose your blessing by being half obedient, but the Bible also has a bit of a history with if you're not fully, fully obedient, you don't really get the full, full reward either. You know, we've talked about Moses, and Moses, you know, did all that he did, but he made a big mistake cracking that rock, and God was like, no promised land for you. And you know, and there's and this and there's many, many, many stories like that. So, you know, I think that there's there's there's a lot to be said there too. I think that we in our culture now have this feeling like, oh, if I'm obedient, I'm gonna get everything I want. Or if I'm, you know, if I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, I'm gonna get everything I want to that I want to do. So we we have to temper this whole like, uh, you know, if you don't do everything, you get nothing. But there's also a there's also a even if you do everything, don't expect to get everything either. So I think there's this, there's this realistic wisdom-based balance in the middle where it's like, if you expect blessings, you have to be able to step at least into this much faith and with this much obedience. But even if you do, that doesn't mean that you're gonna be hanging out on a yacht in Monaco, you know, sipping virgin mais and you know, watching the watching the sun come up in your private jet. Just saying. Like there's there's a balance too. And I think that people need to be aware of that because I think there's people who are gonna go out there and try to be ultra, you know, pious and follow the rules and do these things. And you know, three months later they're gonna be like, Where's my steak and you know, lobster dinner every night? Well, no, it doesn't work that either.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

No, I mean, listen, if you're given divine favor, uh, if you have the ability to represent God, if you are a Christian and going, hey, I'm representing God to somebody else, there is there is a weight to that. There's a responsibility to that. And I think when you look at Moses, when you look at even David, where he had all the things that he did and being the mightiest king and saying, Hey, you can't build my temple though, you have too much blood on your hands. Um, there is a point when divine favor will run out. Uh, but we have a responsibility to it. And this is the part where going back to Saul, he was the first king representative given to the people. Uh, he was anointed by God. Whether or not God was like, Yeah, you want to see how this works or not, he was anointed by God. He was given the divine favor, he did win wars, and he chose a pathway that unfortunately separated from the obedience, and he was still representing God. So, what God did was, I'm pulling away your anointing. You're no longer going to represent me. Yeah, and listen, we want to talk about just, unjust. I don't know what else God should do in that moment, except you can't represent me anymore. That's what he's saying. Yeah, when he pulled his anointing off, it's you just shouldn't be representing me anymore. And I agree with that. Yeah.

Repentance And Closing Invitation

SPEAKER_03 29:54

No, I I agree. And I think going back to what I said earlier about like you know, God regretting to get him, you know, to choose him as a king and stuff like that. God knows what he's doing. Um, I think God doesn't do any wrong or chooses wrong. I think it's the the heart of where Saul went with it. And I think Jason, you said before, right after I said that, you said free will. And I think the free will of Saul choosing what he did got what he what he was, you know, pretty much um got, which is, you know, went crazy and he kind of caved within, right? He just kind of collapsed within and just went a little bit cuckoo. Um, but uh um, you know, with all that being said, it's just I think God gave that he he gave him a saw, right? He gave you what you asked for, um, and now you you guys gotta live with what what's going on. Um, and then he he bailed them out again with David.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

So God's one thing the Bible's consistent about. If there's one thing the Bible's consistent about, it's the fact that there are consequences to your actions, and that is probably the most consistent theme in the entire Bible, which is if you make this decision, then there will be consequences and you'll have to live with them. And I think that's I I think that's heartening and sobering at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

So yeah, yeah, and God leaves you gives you a way out. God always leaves you the repentance ability to come back and go, I made the mistake, I did this. You guys both mention it. You don't think that Saul did a whole lot wrong compared to other people and what do you have wrong? Right, right. And I just think the the repentance part of it is so important. Uh and repentance, true repentance is saying you're sorry for it and then turning away. Actually is not repeating the action. Uh, it's not a get out of free jail, get get out of jail free card. It is literally a hey, I I made a mistake, I don't want to do this again. I am repenting from this mistake. And and Saul unfortunately uh doubled down and tripled down on his mistakes over and over again. And that was, you know, unfortunately his undoing and his demise.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

There's always another one after King King Saul. King Saul. Uh I we have we have uh interesting thoughts about him, don't we? So David Spade, a bye-bye. Uh bye-bye. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, I mean, look, Saul Saul is unfortunately like too many of us, and uh, I think I gotta go reconsider some things in my life, so I don't Saul. Um But we uh as always, guys, we appreciate you listening. We appreciate your time and your consideration. We uh if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, we would love to hear them. Uh we'd like to hear what you think about Saul too, because he is such an interesting character and sometimes somebody that hurts a little bit to look at because he reminds a little too much of ourselves. Um so tell us your thoughts. Uh tell us what you're thinking on the socials, on the comments, and and emails, send us an email. And otherwise, we'll talk to you next week. Thanks for your time. Bye.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Later, guys.