The Tragedy Of Misplaced Faith
BRD REFLECTIONS:
1 Samuel 13:1-23, 14:1-23 and Psalm 52 (NIV)
(Charmaine Lim, CiC Facilitator)
READ:
1 Samuel 13:12: “…I have not sought the Lord’s favour.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
1 Samuel 14:6: “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf.”
Psalm 52:7: “Here is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”
OBSERVE:
I was interested to see how Saul and Jonathan, a father and son, differed so wildly in their approach to battle.
In 1 Samuel 13, Saul did everything he could do by his own human efforts to obtain victory – to the extent that he offered a burnt offering, which he (not being a priest) was forbidden to do. He was berated by Samuel for having done this “foolish thing”, and told that his “kingdom would not endure; [as] the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…”.
In contrast, Saul’s son, Jonathan, left the entire approach to battle to God. In verses 8 to 13, he told his armor-bearer their battle approach would be determined by their enemy’s responses, which he would interpret as being a sign from God whether or not to proceed. When he received a response corresponding with a sign from God to proceed, he fearlessly went ahead to fight and was victorious.
APPLY/DO:
Some may remember the Bernie Madoff scandal, in which countless victims lost billions of dollars in a giant Ponzi scheme run by Madoff. One such victim, who had entrusted Madoff with his life savings, lamented his loss, saying, “But I had so much faith!”
Faith in what, I wondered. Like Saul, faith in the work of his own hands? Or in his wealth, like the man in Psalm 52, who “trusted in his great wealth”? We have seen this tragedy of misplaced faith play out time and again in history – from Saul’s defeat, to the Madoff victims, to those who have lost money through failed investments, crypto collapses and more. Worse, many have lost their opportunity for a peaceful and contented life, in the pursuit of material gain.
Is there anyone still like Jonathan, who had faith in God alone? I try to be more like Jonathan, but I confess, the distractions of all that the material world has to offer tend to speak louder than the still, quiet voice of God.
In Psalm 52, the writer also writes of being like “an olive tree, flourishing in the house of God.” It sounds like a quiet, peaceful, flourishing existence. Is there a way I can purchase this quiet flourishing of a tree? How do we price this, so that we may earn and attain it?
I have become increasingly conscious each year that my ability to purchase and work for things in the material world (like promotions and expensive handbags) are Solomon’s “chasing after the wind”. I have been blessed with the real peace of my interior, my soul, and the flourishing of my life, through my faith and cultivation of my relationship with God. I could not have obtained this spiritual gift by handing over my material possessions – it is only by placing my faith in God that I have been given all that I have.
PRAY:
Father, thank You for all the blessings of my life, material and spiritual. The tranquility of my soul and flourishing of my life was hard earned through many tearful, brokenhearted prayers, as You held me in Your embrace. You helped me to see the true value of faith, of holding my treasures in heaven, of depositing my heart in Your safe hands. You alone healed me from unhealthy attachments to the things and people of this earth. Keep me always, Your quiet, peaceful and flourishing tree. Amen.
