Print

I SAMUEL 13:14

"THE MAN GOD SEEKS"

Intro: God seeks for men to accomplish His purposes in the earth. Ezekiel speaks of
       a time of national apostasy when "God sought for a Man."

I. SAUL, THE MAN GOD REJECTED.
        A. Saul was a disappointment.
                1. He possessed many excellent natural qualities for leadership.
                        a. He came from a good family.
                        b. He was humble.
                        c. He was tall and good looking.
                2. He could not handle power.
                        a. There are people like that, sweet and gentle until placed in
                           authority.
                        b. The position seems to go to their head and they become tyrants.
                        c. Put a badge on some men and you create a monster.
        B. Why was Saul rejected?
                1. He did not keep the commandment of God.
                        a. No man can rightly rule who is not ruled.
                        b. The centurion said to Jesus, "I also am a man under
                           authority, having under me men."
                        c. If the man at the top of the chain of command does not
                           recognize his responsibility to the authority of God,
                           corruption, tyranny, slavery ensues.
                2. Saul failed as a ruler because he failed to submit to God.

II. THE MAN GOD SEEKS. "A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART."
        A. A man who is submitted to the authority of God in his own life.
                1. Israel had been a theocracy.
                2. Sort of an oddity among the nations, no visible king.
                3. The people began to clamor for a king.
                4. God sought for a man among them that would be so submitted to
                   Him that in reality God would still be ruling.
                        a. This is where Saul so completely failed.
        B. God was not seeking a perfect man.
                1. He, as all wives know, doesn't exist.
                2. So often we disqualify ourselves because of our imperfections.
        a. God can't use me-
                1. I'm too short - too tall.
                2. I'm too young - too old.
                3. The man God found (David. far from perfect.
        C. God seeks men willing to confess their mistakes.
                1. Notice how Saul was always ready with an excuse.
                        a. A man who is good at making excuses is seldom good for
                           anything else.
                        b. Ready to justify his actions.
                        c. "He who seeks to cover his sins shall not prosper, but he
                           who confesses..."
                2. A lot of dumb things have been forced and perpetuated upon the
                   public, because some heady ruler would not admit to a mistake.

When God finds the man who will totally submit his life to God, He will lift him from
the sheepcote and set him on the throne.