How to Avoid King Saul's Spiritual Mistakes

I just heard a helpful worthwhile sermon by a preacher, Ron Dart, 1930-2016, about the mistakes/sins of ancient Israel's first king, a man named Saul. [Click (here) to watch: The Forgiveness of Kings.]

(Sadly, the quality of the sound is poor much of the time. Also, it has helpful subtitles.)

Near the end of this sermon, Ron Dart gives 7 tips to avoid being like Saul. They are worth knowing.

1)   Don't blame others. When things go wrong, look within yourself and ask where (and why) YOU made your mistake/sin

2)   Do not minimize your mistakes/sins. Let them be as bad as they can be in your own eyes. Own up to being wrong. Be totally honest with yourself.

3)   Don't justify yourself. As long as you're trying to justify yourself, how can God justify you? And how can the blood of Christ justify you of your sins. Confess you did what you did because you wanted to do it. Don't try to 'get off the hook' by claiming 'the devil made (me) do it'.

4)   Accept responsibility for what has happened. Accept the blame. (Again, don't blame others'.) Pick it up. Wear it. Deal with it.

5)   Admit you were wrong. Confess your sins to God. Be totally honest with Him. Admit your sins to yourself too.

6)   Apologize to those you have wronged or hurt. (When you do wrong to others, be humble and say, "I was wrong. I'm very sorry." Those little words, sincerely said, will get you out of more trouble than you can possibly imagine.) You can only really be considered to be sorry and repentant when you're accepted responsibility and apologizing does that.

7)   Repent. That means you turn your conduct around and you start living your life differently.


All these tips go together. All 7 must be put into practice. None of them are easy but any other course of action than the repentant course leads to a kind of insanity which is what eventually happened to King Saul.

"If you lie to others, that makes you a sinner; if you lie to yourself, that makes you insane."

Finally, remember, with God's help, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).