And the king said to the guards who were attending him, "Turn around and put the priests of the LORD to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me." But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to attack the priests of the LORD. Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn around and attack the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.
Here we see one of many examples of why God rejected Saul as king. David, the man God had chosen to replace Saul, was helped by a priest. When Saul finds out, he wants to kill the priest and all his family! Talk about overkill! Saul's servants were wise in that they didn't want to obey Saul for these men were not enemies of Israel, (or even common men,) but the faithful servants of God! That didn't stop Saul though. He searched until he found someone who would do as he said, and he eventually found this person in a non-Israelite. This man not only did what Saul wanted, but he was cruel and unjust in his obedience. He killed the men, their women, children, animals, and even burned the town. We can look at this and agree with God that this is a horrible thing, but we can do something similar. When we want to do something, do we seek those who will tell us the truth or simply those who agree with us. If we only seek those who agree with us, we do the same thing as Saul, and it will always result in destruction and suffering. Don't surround yourself with people who agree with you, but seek the council of those who will speak plainly what God thinks, no matter what. Then you will be spared from making destructive mistakes and God will be present in your life in a mighty way.
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