Count the Cost

Written by Colette Fabry

“And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he…” I Samuel 9:2

Scripture describes Saul as humble and good. Good in every sense of the word. He was noticed and chosen by God. Chapters later, we see him as king.

Then in I Samuel 22, he is pursuing innocent David to kill him. He also killed 85 innocent, godly priests, their wives, children, and animals. All because one of the priests gave God’s chosen king, David, bread and a sword.

How did Saul go from being a good man to this? How does a person lose such “goodness”?

He replaced the character of goodness with these:
Disobedient
Prideful
Jealous
Bitter

I wonder how Saul could forget God had chosen and ordained him. That God had a divine calling on his life. How did he forget that he was good, that God did a miracle IN him and even changed his heart?

When exactly did he forget that he was good- that his life wasn’t his own, but God’s? How could he forget to be humble like he was when he was presented as king, but hid out of pure humility? Or when he couldn’t understand why the prophet Samuel wanted to spend time with him because he knew that he was from a humble family and didn’t feel worthy?

Why did he forget that the Spirit of the most High God came upon him and gave him power? Why did he forget that he wasn’t a murderer and had previously spared lives in acts of mercy? Why did he forget to worship and bring sacrifices to the Holy God of Israel? Why would he forget that he was under God’s sovereignty and couldn’t do things his way?

Somehow Saul forgot that if he didn’t keep God’s commandments, but feared men over God, then he would no longer be king. He was removed from his position and the Spirit of God was removed from his life. The word good no longer described him.

The prophet Samuel’s last words to Saul were these, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected thee from being king.”

Saul’s forgetfulness cost him greatly. He lost his good reputation, his kingdom, his testimony, his peace, and eventually his life in a gruesome way. We see the high price of sin in Saul’s life.

Some things are easily forgotten, like where we put our car keys. But other things, like forgetting that we are on this earth to glorify the One true God, are things that will cost us greatly if ignored. What a valuable lesson Saul’s life is to us. All who turn in rebellion against God and don’t count the cost find themselves wishing they would have.

Just ask Saul.