Trust and Obey (1 Chronicles 10:13–14)

So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
– 1 Chronicles 10:13–14

Did you hear that language? “Saul died for his breach of faith”. What a phrase, “his breach of faith”. In the next phrase, “He broke faith with the Lord”. What does that mean to “break faith with the Lord”? Well, it goes on to say, “in that he did not keep the command of the Lord”. So, to disobey God’s commands is to break faith with God. And then it says he consulted a medium seeking guidance from a spirit. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. That’s breaking faith with the Lord. And this led to Saul’s death.

1 Chronicles 10:13–14 warns against ignoring God’s commands.

Now there’s a sense in which this is all of our story. This is Romans 3:23. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And Romans 6:23, “The wages of that sin is death”. We die because of our breach of faith, because we have not obeyed the commands of the Lord, because we have not sought the guidance of the Lord. We’ve done things our own way. We’ve disobeyed his commands, and as a result, we die.

And yet we know the gospel, the greatest news in the world, is that Jesus has paid the price for our disobedience. Jesus has been faithful where we have been unfaithful, and he’s paid the price for our sin and conquered sin and death and the grave. He’s risen and ascended on high as our Savior and Lord, so we trust in him.

So then let’s live with faith in him. Let’s not break faith with the Lord. Let’s obey all the commands of the Lord today, let’s seek guidance from the Lord. I don’t know what you’re walking through in your life, but to walk by faith means to walk seeking guidance from God, looking to God, praying to God, seeking God for help, and then living according to what he says, specifically what he said in his Word, what he’s given us in his commands.

1 Chronicles 10:13–14 shows why we must seek God’s guidance daily.

And so God, we praise you for making a way for us to be saved from the consequences of our breach of faith, for us to be saved from death. Jesus, we praise you for never breaching faith, never breaking faith. We praise you for your sinless life, for your substitutionary death on the cross for us, for your resurrection from the grave, for your ascension to Heaven, and sending your Holy Spirit down to live in us that we might have power to obey your commands and we might have you living in us, your Spirit guiding us.

So we pray, God, help us to live by faith today. Keep us from breaking faith today. Keep us from doing anything apart from seeking your guidance. God, please help us to walk in step with your Spirit, to walk in obedience to your commands. Please guide us, direct us. Lead us in every single thing we do. Trusting that when we breach faith, it leads to death, but when we walk by faith, this is life. Oh God, help us to experience life to the full today. Walking by faith in you. And God, we pray that you’d help us to encourage others and their faith in you and to lead others to faith in you.

Prayer for the Tirole Kunbi People

We pray specifically today for the Tirole Kunbi people of India. For 383,000 Hindu men, women, and children worshiping all kinds of different gods, not trusting in you as the one true God, you Jesus as the one true Savior. We pray that you would draw the Tirole Kunbi people to faith in you. Bless all those who are working among this people group and raise up more workers so that the Tirole Kunbi people might experience life through faith in you. We pray all this in the name of Jesus, the Faithful One. Amen.