Saul acquitted himself creditably in the matter of the Ammonite invasion; but the real test, whether or not he could walk with God in his new position of exaltation, was yet to come, and it came very soon. After the victory at Jabesh-gilead he dismissed his huge army of 330,000 men, but two years later he established a small standing army of 3,000. Two thousand of these formed his own personal bodyguard in Michmash, and the remaining 1,000 were with Jonathan his son in Gibeah of Benjamin (1 Sam. 13:1-2). We discern prudence in this arrangement certainly, but scarcely faith, for as Jonathan said a little later “there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6). Faith needs no guards.
The real test for Saul developed when the Philistines again got the upper hand of the people of Israel. It was especially for the overcoming of these enemies that Saul was anointed king. But in this connection Saul was a miserable failure, and in the sequel, the Philistines cut off his head, and fastened his dishonored body to the wall of Bethshan (1 Sam. 31).