1 Samuel 13:5-7 – Don’t be limited by fear

Saul summoned the people to him at Gilgal. This would be the most obvious place for the gathering. Why? According to 1 Samuel 11:4, this was where Samuel called the people together so that they could renew the kingdom. More significantly, this was the place Samuel told Saul to wait for him when he had dealt with the Philistines at Gibeah. Apparently, Saul remembered this instruction although it probably wasn’t him who had initiated the call to meet at Gilgal.

Saul, of course, had his 3,000 chosen men. According to 1 Samuel 13:2, two thousand of them were with him in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel and one thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. This combined force of 3,000 men all moved to Gilgal. Verse 5 shows us how massive the Philistine army was. They were assembled to fight with Israel. Their massive army comprised of 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance. Here we are told that they came up to Michmash, east of Beth-haven.

So massive was the army of the Philistines that when the Israelites saw them they were terrified. So verse 6 said, “When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits.” Saul, however, did not hide himself. For, after all, he was the king. Verse 7 said he was in Gilgal and those who followed him there who were not in hiding were trembling in fear.  

Fear has a debilitating effect on people. It causes one to become disheartened and discouraged. In Christian life, when we focus on circumstances, there is a tendency to forget that the God we worship and serve has no equal. Focusing on problems can only bring fear. It always seems to make the problem bigger than it seems. No one or nothing can take us down without God’s permission. The way to live an overcoming life is to learn to look away to God. We must learn to focus on Jesus, the one who calls us to faith and the one who will perfect our faith. He will guide us into an overcoming life. Praise be to Him!