Two Sauls. We know them both. One was Saul, the first king of the Israelites. Another was a zealot who later became Paul. Both were from the same stock of Benjamin (1 Sam 9:1). Their similarities end there. While King Saul was rejected by God because of his own foolishness, Saul of Tarsus stood firm in his assigned mission till his last breath.
King Saul was confronted by Prophet Samuel in pretty harsh words. ‘You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the Lord your God gave you; if you had, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time’ (1 Sam 13:13). Saul repeated his folly once again, this time by ‘not obeying the voice of the Lord and pouncing on the spoil and doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord’ (1 Sam 15:19). He forgot that obedience was better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22). Though he was anointed by God, at a certain point of time the Spirit of the Lord departed from him, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him (1 Sam 16:14). It was only a matter of time for his kingship to be taken away from him. His mistake was that he did not know how to keep the grace that God once bestowed upon him.
As for Saul the Pharisee, he met the Lord on his way to Damascus. ‘For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything’ (Acts 9:9). Then God sent Ananias to anoint him with the Holy Spirit. There was no looking back for Saul since then. ‘Forgetting what was behind and straining toward what was ahead (Phil 3:13), he fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7) He rightly hoped that there was in store for him the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to him on that day (2 Tim 4:9).
This is the tale of two Sauls, both blessed by God to shepherd His people. One lost the grace midway, and left in disgrace. The other took utmost care to keep the grace that he received, because it was received in clay jars. For he knew that ‘this extraordinary power belonged to God and did not come from him’ (2 Cor 4:7). This knowledge made him more humble to call himself a servant of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1, Phil 1:1,Titus 1:1). He knew that the grace he received in clay jars could depart anytime as happened to his namesake. So Paul punished his body and enslaved it because after having done great things here on earth for the Lord, he was determined not to be seen disqualified before God in the end (1 Cor 9:27). He knew how precious a gift he was given by Lord Jesus Christ, who though rich, yet for our sakes became poor (2 Cor 8:9). This knowledge about how rich his Master is in grace made him proclaim with confidence, ‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Phil 4:13). Thus he made himself a chosen vessel to receive the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, and will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7).
Saul, son of Kish, was weak, but God made him strong. Saul of Tarsus too was weak but he was made perfect in the Lord’s power with a solid assurance ; ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Cor 12:9). He chose the better part which was never taken away from him (Lk 10:42). He laboured with God’s power to help him, whereas the other Saul tried his luck with his own wisdom, but failed.
Let us accept our weaknesses before God and pray for his grace to strengthen us. May the Lord be with us at all times so that we do not become weary in doing good, and found worthy to reap a good harvest at the end of the day (Gal 6:9).
