Reflection on Toy - Part 3 (Crown)
We recently watched the musical 'David' on Sight and Sound.
There was this song that (the then king) Saul sang while he was pursuing David, hunting him down to kill him.
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| Source: Sight and Sound David |
The song is titled 'Anything to Keep the Crown'. And here's how the lyric goes.
Yesterday, while driving home, I was playing the songs from the musical in the car and this song came on. Esther sang along to the song and suddenly stopped. She asked me, 'Mummy, why is the crown so important to king Saul?'
I can't remember how I answered her.
Because, now, how do I answer such a question and answer it well?
I suppose the lyric does portray the turmoil of king Saul very accurately. He WAS consumed with keeping the crown.
When Saul was anointed as king, his heart was right before the Lord. 1 Sam 10:9 tells us 'So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.' God gave Saul another heart. A right heart.
There were rebels who despised him and brought him no presents. And what did Saul do? He held his peace (1 Sam 10:27).
And after he won the battle against the Ammonites, some man tried to provoke Saul to punish these rebels. 'Bring the men, that we may put them to death (1 Sam 11:12). What was Saul's reply? But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.” (1 Sam 11:13).
His heart wasn't (yet) set on the crown.
But not long after that, his heart changed.
The prophet Samuel had told Saul to wait for him. 'You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.' (1 Sam 10:8).
Now let's read what actually happened in 1 Sam 13:8-12.
Saul waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But, alas, Saul did not come. When the people started scattering from king Saul, he thought to himself 'The people were scattered from me. Samuel did not come within the days appointed. The Philistines had gathered together at Michmash, they will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. I need to offer a burnt offering.' And he offered the burnt offering (1 Sam 13:9)
If I were to speculate correctly, he took his eyes off the Lord, looked to the people who had scattered away (God's people, but he must have mistaken them to be his people) and looked to the Philistines who were afar.
And fear of losing what he had might have overwhelmed him.
That I believe was the point where his heart changed and became set on the crown.
Now, again, let's go back to Esther's question - Why is the crown so important to king Saul?
Beloved in Christ, it doesn't matter what we call it - toy, crown, possession, desire.
To Esther, it was her toy.
To Saul, it was his crown.
To us, it could be a wide range of thing.
But one thing each of us need to do is to pause and ponder and ask ourselves if it has become more important to us than our relationship with God.
May we hold our crown dearly, stewarding it wisely in the Lord's anointing and leading, yet loosely, desiring the Lord and Him alone more than all else.
