God or Gallup? June 14, 2016

¹⁰ As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. ¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
1 Samuel 13:10-11 ESV 

¹⁹ "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 
 ²¹ But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 
²⁴ Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
1 Samuel 15:19, 21, 24 ESV 

I have often wondered why God would place select Saul as first king of Israel.  Within a few short years of his anointing, God "regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel." 1 Samuel 15:34 ESV  Perhaps it was to serve as a lesson for generations to come.  Maybe God allowed the weak and flawed to rise and fall as object lessons for us throughout the ages.

Today's scriptures serve as a lesson for all leaders.  Whether leading a household or a Fortune 500 company, the lesson is not to allow popular opinion to drive your decisions.

In chapter 13, Saul has just claimed a victory over the Philistines and was waiting for Samuel to arrive in order to make a sacrifice to the Lord.  Saul had been instructed to wait.  However, since Samuel was running late and the "people were scattering", Saul took it upon himself to make the sacrifice.  This was not Saul's duty.  It was disobedience.  But he disobeyed because of pubic opinion.  It was this sin that

As soon as Saul was finished, Samuel appeared and was shocked.  He pronounced, "But now  (because of you sin) your kingdom shall not continue." (v 14)  Just like that.  Saul worried about public opinion rather than God's word and he lost his future.  But didn't learn his lesson.

Later in chapter 15, after defeating "defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt," Saul and the Hebrews keep the best of the spoil for themselves rather than complete destruction as directed by God.  When Saul was asked by Samuel, "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”  Saul once again pointed to the poll numbers.  

"Because I feared the people and obeyed their voice," was Saul's pathetic reply.  They weren't going to like me.  They might talk about me in the break room.  I might take some social media fall out.  What about Twitter!

I get it.  We all want to be liked.  Immortalized in song and verse.  We want teeth to gnash and voices to wail when we announce our retirement.  There is nothing wrong with this UNLESS we compromise in order to achieve it.  If we allow our need for popularity to override God's direction for our lives we run the risk of losing it all.  Earthly thumbs up traded for heavenly "well done".  
  
Not a wise trade.