1 Samuel 13:8
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
Saul kept the seven days appointed at Gilgal, yet Samuel had still not arrived when the time ran out and his army was scattering from him. He waited under crushing military pressure, with Israel outnumbered, terrified, hiding and fleeing, while Samuel's delay to the last moment was by God's design to test whether Saul and Israel would trust God rather than human strength. Instead of humbly seeking God in prayer and waiting only a little longer, Saul looked at the discouraging appearances and the desertion of his men and presumptuously took the priest's office upon himself to offer the sacrifice. His kingship gave him no right to disregard God's express requirements and substitute his own judgment, and by disobeying when God's will was plain he proved unfit to rule and forfeited the continuance of his kingdom. The verse thus warns of the danger of impatience when God's plan does not unfold on time, and calls all, especially those in responsibility, to wait submissively on the Lord for instruction rather than rush by human judgment into work He never appointed.
The Waiting at Gilgal
Saul tarried at Gilgal the seven days appointed by Samuel, with Samuel not coming at the expected time and the people scattering from him. He was to wait there for Samuel until the appointed time, but when Samuel did not arrive immediately the people began to desert and scatter. Israel's people scattered while they waited, frightened and lacking confidence that God would help them. Saul then used Samuel's apparent delay and the desertion of his army as reasons to act on his own.
He waited until the appointed time had passed while the frightened people scattered from him. Other accounts stress that he became impatient and discouraged before the appointed time had fully expired, fretting about the delay when Samuel did not arrive at the expected time. He grew impatient at the delay and decided to move independently rather than wait submissively.
The waiting occurred under extreme military pressure, with an overwhelming Philistine force gathered against Israel. Israel was brought into a strait and distressed, hiding in caves and thickets and rocks and pits, with some fleeing over Jordan. The rest followed Saul trembling, frightened by the Philistine army and lacking confidence that God would help them.
Samuel's delay until the very last moments of the set time was deliberate within God's providence and by God's design. It was to test Saul and Israel, to reveal Saul's heart and show what he would do in an emergency. It was to expose whether he would trust God and patiently obey rather than rely on human strength and his own judgment. It was also to test the people and expose their lack of confidence in God, how weak they were without Him, their sin, and how poor their judgment was in choosing a king.
Saul's Presumptuous Sacrifice
Instead of trusting God and preparing the people to seek Him, Saul looked at discouraging outward appearances. His part was to bow knee and heart in humble prayer, which would have been accepted even without sacrifice, to respect the special directions given, and to lead the people to search their hearts and repent so that their offering could be accepted and blessing could attend them in battle. He needed to wait only a few more hours, as Gideon and the Hebrew generals God appointed had shown faith in their own straits. Saul used Samuel's apparent delay and the desertion and scattering of his army as reasons to act on his own, though the delay stood within God's providence and he was required to wait for God's direction.
Growing distrustful and fearful, passionate and presumptuous, impatient and self-complacent and self-distrustful rather than humble, and distressed over the scattering and the expired waiting time, he took upon himself responsibilities the Lord had not laid upon him. Because he was king he assumed the priest's office and offered the burnt offering himself, a work he could not perform acceptably to God. Although God's will had been plainly made known, he did not obey but acted under pressure by taking a responsibility that was not his. His kingship did not free him to take another's appointed role or to substitute his own judgment for God's direction. The unauthorized religious act was presumption, sacrilege, and disregard for God's express requirements, leaving no distinction between the sacred and the common. His outward show of conscientiousness was not genuine obedience, and the act done against God's command weakened him and put him beyond the help God was willing to give.
He should have accepted Samuel's reproof even if he could not see his sin. Instead, after losing sight of his dependence on God he disobeyed and dishonored God, then defended his actions, blamed Samuel, and rejected reproof even though he knew Samuel was God's prophet. If he had confessed his error, the experience could have guarded him from repeating the sin. By failing under pressure he proved he could not be trusted as head of the nation to obey implicitly under all circumstances the orders given through one who received orders from heaven. He set his people a ruinous example, showed he was unfit to rule, and acted foolishly. He forfeited his right to the kingdom and was told his kingdom would not continue. His failure in unquestioning faith for the word of God dishonored God's service, but it was not yet beyond remedy, and the Lord would give him another opportunity to learn faith and obedience.
Humility and Waiting on God
Saul was tall, well proportioned, and prepossessing in appearance, yet by experience and character he was not fitted for the work to which he was exalted as king of Israel. The Lord changed his heart by His Spirit and made him a converted man with influence over the armies of Israel, and set him aright in the work. He was continued in that work only on condition of cultivating humility and the fear of God, trusting in God, learning His will, and not exalting himself, for which the Lord would have given him grace.
The seven days at Gilgal teach the danger of impatience when God's plan does not unfold on time. Instead of fretting about delay and moving independently of appointed direction, there is need to constantly look to the Lord for instruction, wait on Him submissively, and learn what He wants. No one is to make duties for himself, rush into work never appointed him, or be full of his own schemes, plans, and judgment in place of God's direction.
Those in responsibility who disregard God's requirements and appointed agencies and rush by human judgment into work never appointed them place God's people where He cannot reveal Himself.
His course warns that men entering the ministry who are as inexperienced as Saul was must not fail as Saul did by presumptuously following their own judgment. They must remain humble, teachable, and obedient, receive the Word of the Lord from old faithful standard-bearers, and do the will of God. They must not be set apart for the ministry without close seeking of the Lord to know His will, lest they fail as Saul did.