destitute

Samuel just a few chapters ago told Saul;

1 Samuel 10:8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.

Then when Samuel arrived;

1 Samual 13:11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. 
 Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

Though Samuel had given complete instruction, Saul went against what the Lord had commanded and did what at first glance seemed appropriate. He offered a sacrifice to the Lord, though he was neither a priest or a prophet. Old testament law stated that common people could bring a sacrifice to the Lord, yet only priest could perform the sacrifices.
Why would Saul do this? Why would he go against what the prophet Samuel had told him?
He was scared
He thought some sort of sacrifice would win him favor
He wanted to appear ‘religious’ for his followers to trust him.
Maybe Saul felt that if he could just ‘pull off’ this sacrifice, he would find favor with God, that God would somehow bless this mess he had created.

Matthew Henry’s commentary suggests “Men destitute of inward piety, often lay great stress on the outward performances of religion”

How many times have you (or someone you know) prayed that if God would just get him out of this really really bad situation, they would NEVER do it again. When was the last time they prayed? Or when was the last time they even showed up in church? Probably the last time they were in a jam….like God is some magical genie, who gives us wishes…when we show up at his house. MH nails it when he says those “destitute of piety” rely on “outward performance”. Destitute means; lacking the means to live; totally impoverished. I think the fact that we even try to earn favor…shows how destitute we really are. Its like when the Homeless Guys tell us, they will do something (anything) for those cheeseburgers….they have nothing to offer of real value…. Just words.

Lastly, the fact that the Israelites were fighting with farm implements all lay at the feet of Saul. He had ruled for 3 years now, and were still without blacksmiths. A small oversite for a king who has now wakend the Philistine army with Jonathon’s attack.

So much for Israel’s thought that a king would solve all of their problems.