This is Madness

 

After everything God had done in leading His people, those same people wanted a change in leadership. In fact, they demanded it. Samuel, as God’s appointed leader, judge, prophet and priest was crushed by their demand for a king to rule them; lusting after worldly solutions rather than trusting God’s rule.

1 Samuel 8:6-9 (MSG) tells us,

When Samuel heard their demand – “Give us a king to rule us!” – he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.

God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.”

They were determined to replace God’s leadership, with human kingship instead.

Though God knew that their choice was imperfect He still gave them what they wanted – He raised up Saul to be king.

Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when the people looked for Saul, they could not find him.  Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?” The Lord said, “Saul is hiding behind the supplies.”  – 1 Samuel 10:21-22 (ERV)

Saul, not wanting to appear hungry for his new role as king, hid himself, displaying a sort of humility. I say sort of because feigned humility can quickly mutate into pride and you’ll see what I mean a little further on.

Keep in mind that humility must mature into obedience, not simply now-and-again obedience but sustained obedience to God that will not collapse under pressure.

Saul led by the Spirit of God experience many victories in battle as true victory comes through Spirit’s leading not human effort.

be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. – 1 Samuel 12:24 (NIV)

With these many triumphs Saul began to go ahead of himself and a military crisis with the Philistines revealed some flaws in the character of this once humble farmer turned king.

Keep in mind, God’s blessings are tied to faithfulness.

When Samuel was late in coming to make an offering before battle, Saul, impatient, took matters into his own hands and made the offering himself (1 Samuel 13:8-9).

Oftentimes we, like Saul, are tempted to rush rather than practice patience.

Beloved, God’s timing may seem slow but moving ahead of God is madness.

Saul’s actions revealed that a spirit of pride was developing. Samuel told Saul that he had done a foolish thing by not adhering to God’s command. Even when God’s instruction is given through another person, we must follow it.

Samuel said, “You did a foolish thing. You did not obey the Lord your God. If you had done what he commanded, the Lord would have let your family rule Israel forever. But now your kingdom won’t continue. The Lord was looking for a man who wants to obey him. He has found that man – and the Lord has chosen him to be the new leader of his people, because you didn’t obey his command.” – 1 Samuel 13:13-14 (ERV)

Saul’s was a display of abject disobedience. Obedience to God is not optional; it is essential. Saul lost out on having his kingdom securely established by God and paid a hefty price for his wanton disobedience. God values obedience above outward success or appearances.

We have a tendency to compromise thinking that disobedience is a light infraction but our obedience to God must overpower our penchant for convenience.

We must take it seriously. We must treasure obedience. Saul did neither.

Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day, – 1 Samuel 14:24 (NIV)

Placing his soldiers under such an oath is madness; he put these men in terrible danger.

As an Israelite, Saul would have known the Scriptures well, so the Lord’s declaration of, “Vengeance is Mine and recompense;” (ref. Deuteronomy 32 :35 also quoted in Romans 12:17-19) was not foreign to him yet, sinking deeper into pride, he sought vengeance for himself.

Saul made a hasty decision rather than depend on God’s wisdom.

We must slow down and pause before making any decisions. We must look to God for wisdom and guidance.

Unlike his son, Saul so full of pride was no longer trusting in God. He was fully vested in his own power, wisdom and prideful control. His leadership was driven more by fear than faith.

Beloved, our fears can lead us into making rash decisions and choices.

Fear of being disliked

Fear of being ridiculed

Fear of being criticised

Fear of being exposed

Fear, fear, fear in all forms…

We let fear dictate our stance instead of listening to God, trusting in God, and following His leading.

Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,

Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. – 1 Samuel 15:22, 23 (NLT)

Saul’s pride-led behaviour cost him his position as king.

Beloved, God is not pleased with disobedience or partial obedience or half-witted obedience.  Obeying God when it’s reasonable to you is selective obedience which is still disobedience.

Saul admitted to his sin (1 Samuel 15:24) but was not remorseful and he lost everything, every blessing, every favour (1 Samuel 15:28).

Saul’s pride led to his persistent disobedience which led to his downfall.

Living a life of constant compromise is madness; it repels God’s blessings and favour.

Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit[a] that filled him with depression and fear.– 1 Samuel 16:14 (NLT)

A life apart from God leaves one vulnerable and open to all sorts of torment.

Saul made David a commander over his troops ( ref. 1 Samuel 18:5). Then what followed thereafter pushed Saul over the edge. The people sang a song of triumph,

“Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”

This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. – 1 Samuel 18:7-9 (NLT)

Saul became increasingly jealous of David’s success in battle; he was unable to rejoice in his newly appointed commander’s victories and triumphs.

God removed His Spirit from Saul to rest upon David.

Saul’s jealousy of David further intensified into hatred and soon enough escalated to attempted murder (ref. 1 Samuel 18:11).

This is madness.

Saul became obsessed with eliminating David, devising ways in which to do so, even resorting to use his own daughter in his diabolical plot. This maniacal obsession blinded him from reasonable thought (see 1 Samuel 19:9-10).

Saul’s hatred consumed him.

Saul’s anger and jealousy dominated his life.

Bitterness and resentment took root in Saul’s heart.

Saul hunted David relentlessly.

Beloved, when we do not surrender hate, anger, jealousy, bitterness resentment and any sinful behaviour to God, it grows into an obsession.

Deeper and deeper Saul sunk into the mire, loosing his footing (ref. Psalm 69:2), as he moved farther away from God.

This is madness…

Thinking that you can overpower God’s plan.

Believing that you can successfully oppose God’s will.

Trying to get rid of God’s true leader.

Purposely fighting against what God has already decided.

Constantly resisting God’s direction.

It will all come crashing down eventually. No matter what, God has the final say.

Saul, in his paranoia, even turned against God’s priests, employing a hitman to kill them (ref. 1 Samuel 22:18). This is madness.

Saul’s rage even destroyed his relationships with his son and his daughter.

Beloved, all of this to show you how humility can morph into pride especially if it is not completely genuine, giving rise to disobedience to God, as you begin to trust in your own ability, then that turns into obsession, paranoia and madness.

This is madness that no psychiatrist could cure because it wasn’t solely physical but it was a spiritual condition and the only cure for Saul and anyone else in a similar position is repentance – to be honest and admit your sin, confess it, take responsibility for it and turn back to God.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “This is Madness” ©2026 February 11, 2026