1 Samuel 18.1-17

Reference: v. Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”

Explore: It would be hard for the even the most humble person to have a subordinate praised more than himself. Sure, Saul had turned from God; He had made the wrong choices and now young David was clearly becoming strong. But to hear the voice of your people sing praise to a warrior instead of the King; that would be hard for any King to handle.

Application: And yet, if Saul had have been more focussed on what God thought rather than what people thought, he may not be in this situation in the first place. And I don’t think he’s alone there! The opinion of the people around us often drowns out the opinion of our Lord and Saviour. We will often gauge the general opinion of our decisions before seeking the Heavenly opinion. Clearly Saul had the potential to be an awesome King, God wouldn’t have appointed him otherwise. Yet he put people’s opinions before God’s. We all have the potential to be awesome in our own fields, as long as we put God’s opinion first when making all our decisions.

Prayer: Lord, I’m sorry for putting other people’s opinions before yours. I praise you in the knowledge that you are the Creator of all and desire me to have ‘life to the fullest’. Thank you. Amen.