“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the LORD will help us, for nothing can hinder the LORD. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

1 Samuel 14:6

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years.
1 Samuel 13:1

Note: Saul’s age was not found in original manuscripts, and his age was an estimate when written in the Greek Septuagint.

• The Israelites were afraid and started to flee because of fear of fighting the Philistines, whose military was superior.
• Saul was told by Samuel to wait 7 days to sacrifice.
• It was common in the ancient Near East for armies to offer sacrifices and entreat the favor of their gods for victory in battle. Saul was not necessarily abandoning God, but he was not acting in trust by waiting for the right time to offer the sacrifice. 
• Saul’s sin had more to do with not obeying a command than practicing a priestly function. That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him…David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
  2 Samuel 24:18-19a,25
• Jonathan made a quick decision with great risk, not knowing the outcome. However, his heart was humble and he desired to follow God. He was able to discern and move forward because he had learned to listen and wait upon God.
• Our study in Scripture and our relationship with Jesus should continue to bring us discernment in our waiting and our moving forward.
• He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted, but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
  Isaiah 40:29-31 (NRSVUE)

We can learn each day to discern when God wants us to move forward and when He wants us to wait.