Playing the Fool - Part A

Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the person who has it. This boy was sick.

He was running red lights. He was playing the fool by arrogance. Pride comes before the fall, so the proverb goes. And today on Connect with Skip Heitig, Pastor Skip examines the destructive effects of pride in Saul's life and kingdom. But first, here's a resource that helps you develop sharp spiritual vision. Listen to what the message version of the Bible says about the necessity of a clear vision for the future. If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves.

But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. Vision for your life. That's the theme of our resource package that features five excellent full length messages by Skip, including six things that will surprise you about heaven and God's purpose for people. Now, here's a comment from Skip Heitig on the topic of purpose. God has a desire. God has a purpose for you. And one of his purposes for you is that you know him, that he walk with you, that you do life together with him. Do you walk with God?

Is that a concern of yours? Is that a stated goal in your head, in your heart? I want to walk with God. I want to live to please God.

I want to know God. Clear vision for your life. That's the theme of our vision resource package that features five excellent full length messages by Skip, including six things that will surprise you about heaven and God's purpose for people. You'll want to order our vision resource package for this month, which also features a full color magazine about the vision that drives Skip's ministry. You'll also receive an audio copy of Skip clearly outlining his philosophy of ministry in the past, present, and future. Receive your vision package when you make a donation of $50 or more to connect with Skip. Give your gift by calling 1-800-922-1888 or online at connectwithskip.com.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Great. Now let's turn to 1 Samuel 26 to hear what Skip has for us today. Every year on April 1st is a thing called April Fool's Day. And I don't know if you know how that began, but in the 1500s, 1582, the French decided to change the calendar back to celebrating New Year's on January 1. Yep, up till that time, New Year's was the end of March. They celebrated it on the vernal equinox. So they decided let's make it back to January 1.

That'll be the New Year's Day. Well, not everyone wanted to do that. They didn't agree to do it. They didn't hear about it or they just stubbornly refused to celebrate it. So they were called foolish and jokes were played on them as they would celebrate the New Year at the end of March, beginning of April. So just every year practical jokes were done to those people who stubbornly refused to adhere to the calendar. It was April Fool's Day. Through the years, people have been very creative on April Fool's Day, self-included and playing jokes on folks.

But some are more famous than others. For example, in 2005, the media announced that NASA discovered water on Mars and they told people they have even photographs to prove it. So when you would go to the website, NASA's website, they showed a picture of a glass of water on a Mars candy bar. That was their April Fool's joke.

We've discovered water on Mars. Of course, to call someone a fool is serious business. Jesus warned against that in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, whoever says you fool will be in danger of hell fire. But it's quite another matter when someone refers to himself or herself that way.

And such is the case here. We have King Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 26 in verse 21. Saul said, now this is his admission to David, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Listen to this last sentence.

Indeed, I have played the fool and erred exceedingly. Nine words in that final sentence of the verse. Nine words that form an autobiographical statement. Words that were said perhaps off the cuff in a moment of truth. I have a friend who as an attorney told me there's this thing called an excited utterance. That is a statement made in an unusual time or a stressful situation.

For example, look out we're going to crash or I think he's crazy. Those kind of statements that may be made under duress or under stress but they betray a person's true impressions. You might want to look at this as King Saul's excited utterance. Words he probably wouldn't say otherwise or admit to anyone. But here he says, indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly. It's a tragic admission. It's a banner statement of anyone who would squander the call of God on that person's life. It's the admission of a person who would have been used powerfully by God but I wasn't.

It's the admission of a leader who went wrong, a king who went wrong, a dad who went wrong, a father-in-law who went wrong, a man who went wrong. All of those were Saul. Now being the first king of Israel, King Saul occupies a lot of the Bible. 23 chapters in this book are devoted to King Saul, his reign, his mistakes.

23 chapters. One chapter in the next book, 2 Samuel chapter 1 is devoted to Saul as well. Because so much of it is there about this one man, I'm just going to give you highlights. I'm going to greatly condense this and we're going to get an overview.

Our anchor text is the one we just read, 1 Samuel 26 verse 21. What I want to do with you though is kind of go through his life in this crash and burn segment. I want to talk about how he began, then what went wrong, then how he should have changed. So we're going to begin where he begins. I'm going to read to you.

You don't need to turn there. I'm going to need you though to have ready in your Bibles first Samuel chapter 13 in just a moment. Let me tell you how he began. He started out so well because he had such advantages at his disposal, both naturally as well as supernaturally. He had natural advantages afforded any leader. Now if you have natural advantages for leadership as well as supernatural advantages, it's a winning combo.

You could have one or the other and they're great, but when you have them both together, it's amazing. So what did he have? Well first of all, he had family. He had a good family. 1 Samuel chapter 9 tells us he is the son of Kish, a Benjamite, a mighty man or a man of power. So Kish was from a notable family, making Saul from good stock, from a good tribe, a small tribe, but a very notable tribe, the tribe of Benjamin, named after the favored son of Jacob, born by Rachel.

So mark that in the advantage list. He had family. Also in the natural advantages, he had physique. The guy looked good. He looked royal.

This is 1 Samuel chapter 9 verse 2. It describes him as choice, handsome. There was not a more handsome person than he among all the children of Israel.

The girl swooned when he came. It even says that from his shoulders upwards, he was taller than any of the people. Now in the east, height and beauty were greatly admired, and it was thought, if we can have a king that looks good, makes us look good, this is why Samuel, when looking for the second king, and he comes to Jesse's house before he picks David, he notices Eliab, the eldest, and he notices he notices Eliab, the eldest, and he notices him because he's tall, and he's handsome, and that's why God says, I've rejected him. Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart, but he noticed the height of his stature. So Saul had that.

Saul had family. He had physique, both going for him. He had something else in the natural advantage list.

Not only family, not only physique, but focus. He was focused on the right thing. He was not focused on himself. He was focused on the task given to him.

Let me tell you the task. His dad lost some donkeys. Solution, I'm going to send Saul out to find the donkeys, and this kid was focused on that task.

He was a donkey chaser, and he was happy to be one. He's out finding his dad's donkeys when suddenly the prophet Samuel comes up to him, this is all in chapter 9, and says, you're the one that all of Israel is looking to as the next king. Listen to Saul's response.

Am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? What does that tell us? It tells us he was humble. He was not focused on himself. He was focused on the task, and when someone suggested you're a leader, he kind of bowed low. He was humble because of it. Very next chapter, chapter 10, it's coronation day.

He's going to be coronated king. They can't find him, and they finally find him hidden behind the equipment. He didn't even want to show up on coronation day, so he had a low view of himself. He has family, he has physique, and he has focus, and yet he says, I've played the fool, and I have erred exceedingly.

I have played the fool and erred exceedingly. Now, it's not all that he had going for him. He had those natural advantages, but now just think for a moment, the supernatural advantages. What did he have supernaturally? Well, he had God's power. He had God's power. God promised this next king all of the spiritual power needed to execute the office of being king of his people. This is 1 Samuel, chapter 10, verse 6. Then the spirit of the Lord will come upon you, the prophet says, and you will be turned into another man.

How's that for a promise? I'm going to make you a different person, and it goes on to say he had a new heart. He was given a whole new heart, so the Holy Spirit is all over this guy. He has God's power. He also has God's presence in the very next verse of chapter 10.

I'm just reading this to you again. The prophet says, God is with you. God is with you, Saul. Let me just tell you, when God is with you, you don't need anything else. You've got it all. God is with you. Jesus said to his disciples, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It's all you need.

Go. It's all you need. So he has family, physique, focus. He's got God's power. He's got God's presence, and he has something else. He has God's people. We're told in chapter 10 again, Saul went home to Gibeah, and listen to this, valiant men went with him whose hearts God had touched. So besides God's power and God's presence, he has a staff of God's people, soldiers.

He has every advantage to be successful. And yet, he says, I played the fool and erred exceedingly. How does a person crash and burn with those advantages, naturally and supernaturally? I was reading an article this week by the Department of Transportation that said, the number one cause of accidents in America, what do you think it is? What do you think it is? Running a red light. Running, and I don't know if it's texting, somebody mentioned that. It could be that texting caused you to run the red light. I wouldn't doubt that, but that's a whole other sermon. This is just, red lights, running red lights is the highest cause of accidents in America, and you know how much time you save if you run the red light?

Average 45 to 50 seconds at the most. That's all you save. But the annual cost, the burden to our society is $7 billion a year in damages, just from people running red lights. Saul's whole life was running red lights. And let's look at a few. We've looked at how we began. Let's consider what went wrong. What were the snags? What would cause a man to be so remorseful at the end of his life?

I ask that because it interests me. Some people start well, but they end poorly. When I first moved to this town, I met a man who had been a minister for years. I was fresh to the ministry, I was fresh to the area, and it was a shocking meeting because he told me he used to be in the ministry, but because of moral indiscretion, some moral failure, he was not doing that any longer. And I'll never forget his words. He said, gone. Those were his words. Gone are the opportunities I once had. Gone is the joy of serving in the capacity I once enjoyed. And he said in the skip, the thing is, it didn't have to be this way. It made an impact on me.

F.B. Meyer once said this, and I quote, this is the bitterest of all to know that suffering need not have been, that it has resulted from indiscretion and inconsistency, that it is the harvest of one's own sowing, that the vulture which feeds on the vitals is a nestling of one's own rearing. Ah me, this is pain. Close quote. Saul could have written that. Ah me, this is pain.

Ah me, this is pain. So what red lights did Saul run? How did he play the fool? Well, first off, he played the fool by arrogance. He was a prideful man. I want you to look at one verse in chapter 13.

Remember I said have that ready? 1 Samuel chapter 13. Look at verse 3.

Gives you insight. And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear. Now that verse doesn't sound like much, but let me tell you the whole chapter.

King Saul, as the new king of the land, has a standing army of 3,000 soldiers. 2,000 he maintains. 1,000 he puts in the charge of his son, Jonathan. Jonathan attacks. Jonathan gets the victory, but dad blows the trumpet. You see, he toots his own horn, literally. He takes the credit for it. And it just gives you a little bit of insight right at the beginning what kind of a man we are dealing with.

Reminds me of the woodpecker I've told you before about who was pecking, pecking, pecking at a dead tree, and a storm was brewing, and lightning came out of the sky, and struck, and splintered the tree, and that bird just barely got out alive, and went and joined all his friends, and then said, look what I did. That was Saul. Look what I did. Well, you didn't do it.

Jonathan did. You're just taking the credit for it. Saul started out humble, but the more elevated he became, the greater he declined inwardly. And pride will do that. Pride will destroy everything. Pride destroys families, ministries, friendships, you name it. Get pride in there, and there will be destruction. Pride goes before destruction, the Bible tells us. Now, in the same chapter, don't have to look at it all.

We don't have the time. Same chapter, Saul builds an altar after the battle, and sacrifices an animal on the altar. What's wrong with that? Only priests can do that job. But he decides, I'm the king.

I can do whatever I want. He sacrifices on it. Samuel shows up and said, what do you think you're doing? That's arrogance.

That's what he's doing. A couple chapters later, chapter 15, we're told, Saul built himself a monument, a monument to himself in Carmel. So he thought he was so cool that he needed a statue so people could check it out as they're going back and forth on the road. Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the person who has it.

This boy was sick. He was running red lights. He was playing the fool by arrogance.

Not only by arrogance, let me give you a second red light. Saul played the fool by indifference, indifference. To explain that, I need you now to look at chapter 14 of 1 Samuel.

And before you jump into it, let me tell you what is happening. In chapter 14, Jonathan, Saul's son, takes action. The enemies of the Philistines.

Listen to what Jonathan does. He had a thousand men, but he's looking at his armor bear, just two dudes. He looks at one guy, his armor bear, and he goes, you know what? How about we do something crazy? Let's you and I go against the garrison of the Philistines.

Just you and I. Because maybe the Lord will give us the victory, and listen to his rationale, for what restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few? I mean, if it's the Lord, he can use a thousand or two or five or ten or ten men, but he could also just use you and me. Armor bear said, I'm game. They went in, and God miraculously gave them the victory. What Jonathan didn't know is that his dad Saul had given an order to his men saying, no one can eat anything until after they've eaten. And he said, no one can eat anything until after the war is over, and I've gained the victory on my enemies. And anyone who eats anything will be killed. Now, how stupid is that? How indifferent to the needs of a soldier is that?

Soldiers need fuel before the battle. I mean, you can't eat anything until after the battle? That's like me telling my staff, nobody gets paid till we see 25 salvations.

That's the quota. Well, Jonathan had not heard this curse his father put on. Look at chapter 14, verse 24. And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. Now, all the people of Israel came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground. And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey dripping. But no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.

But Jonathan had not heard his father's charge the people with the oath. Therefore, he stretched out the end of his rod that was in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his countenance brightened. Sugar will always do that. Then one of the people said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, cursed is the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint. See what indifference does?

It makes the army faint. But Jonathan said, my father has troubled the land. Now look how my countenance has brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies, which they found, for now there would not have been, would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? Not only does this happen, when Saul finds out that his son Jonathan has eaten something, you know what he says? Oh, well we have to kill my son then. Now again, Jonathan wasn't there to hear the order.

It was a lame order anyway. But because this guy is so stubborn and indifferent to the needs of his soldiers, he goes, oh well, even though my son brought us the victory, we got to kill him, because I said it. That's what his men stepped in and said, not going to happen.

And they started losing respect at that point for him. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Crash and Burn. Find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Right now, listen as Skip shares how you can connect more people around the world with the unchanging truth of God's word.

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800-922-1888. Thank you for your generosity. We hope you'll be here again tomorrow for the conclusion of Skip's message as Skip shares more about the consequences and fruit of a prideful heart. Now his arrogance that has birthed his indifference now leads to disobedience. Disobedience is always the fruit of pride. When a person begins to inflate, think that they're really important, they start making their own rules up.

They start writing their own rule book. .... of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.