35 Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this.
36 Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.”
“Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied.
But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.
Saul was king for several years. Then, it seems as an afterthought, he built an alter to God. It was a last resort. Saul’s problem was that he consulted God only after he had tried everything else. Saul would have been much better off had he gone to God first with all his needs. God is too great to be an afterthought. When you turn to God first, you will never have to turn to him as a last resort.
