Saul, the first King of Israel, was succeeded by David.  Both were chosen by God and anointed by the prophet Samuel.  Both had notable success and horrible failures as kings; both made God very angry.  Saul was rejected as king, but David was consistently called “a man after God’s own heart.”  What was the difference?

 Part of it was the way they handled reprimands.  In 1 Samuel 15 Saul was told by God, through Samuel, to completely destroy the city of Amalek, and ‘put to the sword’ all men, women, children, oxen, fattened calves, lambs, geckos, unicorns, and anything else that moved.  The Amalekites deserved it for their evil ways, and they had opposed the Israelites when they journeyed out of Egypt.  It was a test of obedience that Saul failed, as he kept the good sheep and cattle alive and spared the king of Amalek.  Samuel confronted Saul; Saul claimed he had done what he was supposed to, prompting Samuel to utter the classic sarcastic line, “then what is this bleating of sheep in my ears? “  Saul blamed it on everybody else and argued they were just keeping the good animals to offer to God.  Bottom line – Saul was disobedient, avoided responsibility, and the kingship was taken away from him.

 After David became King, in 2 Samuel 11 he had sex with beautiful Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.  When she conceived, David schemed, manipulated and finally had the woman’s husband killed.  Nathan the prophet brought a story to David about a rich man who was entertaining friends and grilled a poor man’s only lamb rather than one from his large herd. When David responded that the rich man should be punished severely, Nathan cried out, “You are the man!  You took Bathsheba from Uriah and had him killed.  What were you thinking?”  David immediately confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  Psalm 51 is his classic confession.  David was punished severely but remained as king.  Bottom line – David was disobedient but acknowledged his error, repented, and remained as king.

 A big part of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ is acting just like David did – admitting and turning away from one’s misdeeds and asking for forgiveness.  David, an ancestor of Jesus, believed God’s promise that his descendents would sit on the throne, but he did not know that Jesus’ death on the cross makes forgiveness possible for us.