Are you more like David or Saul?

"And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand" (2 Sam. 5:19).

In contrast to Saul, God said of David, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." What made David such a great king? Unlike Saul, who was self willed, David continually sought the heart and will of God for his life and kingdom. Only once does the bible record that Saul inquired of God. This instance is found in 1 Samuel 28:6 where we read, "And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets" (1 Sam. 28:6). When Saul did inquired of the Lord while facing an invasion from the Philistines it was after God had rejected him from being King. And it appears that when he did inquired of the Lord he already knew what God's will was. Because of his rebellion Samuel the prophet had already pronounced to SAUL the following: "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" (1 Samuel 13:14).

Saul knew what God's will was but fearing an invasion by the Philistines, which was God's judgment upon him, he inquired of the Lord any how in order to know what to do. In order to know what to do? How about repent, plead for mercy and accept the consequences of your poor choices? David wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but when he sinned against the Lord and was confronted by a prophet he did not make excuses for his sins or try to justify himself. David took responsibility, repented of his sin and threw himself at the mercy of God.

When Samuel confronted Saul about his sin and told him that his kingdom would not continue why didn't he just humbly accept the consequences, step aside and allow David to take the throne? He never did. In fact he saw David as an adversary and tried to kill him even though he knew God had chosen David to be the next king. Saul wanted to remain the King regardless of what God's will was. What Saul should have prayed when facing the Philistine invasion was, "Lord, I deserve to die for my stubbornness and rebellion. I'm wrong God. I've sinned against you. Please forgive me. Whatever your will is I accept it. Have mercy upon me oh God. According to thy tender mercies blot out my transgression and wash me from my sin. Lord, not my will but thine be done. I don't want to be King anymore. I surrender to you God and if I perish before the Philistines I perish." Instead of praying a prayer like that Saul inquired of the Lord only to know what to do against the Philistines. In other words he wanted to save his kingdom even though God said, "thy kingdom shall not continue." He wanted to continue as the King against God's will and on top of that he wanted God's help--God's blessing against the Philistines. People today including Christians can be just like Saul. They know that they have unrepentant sin in their lives but when they're facing a problem that is often the direct consequence of their sin they turn to God for Help. "What do I do Lord? How do I overcome this problem? We want to sin against God, make a mess of our lives and then ask God to bless our mess.

When David sinned he prayed, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest" (Psalm 51:1-4). Are you more like David or Saul? Like David, may we be men and women after God's own Heart.