Saul stood tall, head and shoulders above the rest, a man respected and revered by men; a man able to command men.
David was small, overlooked and unimpressive. David had not received much attention in his life.
Saul 'feared the people and obeyed their voice' and was rejected as king, 'the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.'
David danced undignified in public and was despised by his queen for behaviour unbecoming of a king. David was honoured by Yahweh for having a heart set true.
David has never been without a son on his people's throne. Saul had the throne ripped out from under him.
Here's a hypothesis:
Due to his appearance (tall in stature) Saul often had the attention of others, and it was this attention that ultimately distorted his soul. He was ensnared by the fear of man. His whole life people would have commented on his appearance whenever they met him
“oh you’re tall!”
and they would have drawn attention to it so often that he believed it was this that had qualified him for the role of king in the first place (and he wasn't wrong).
He had made it, he was established - he'd become a king no less, based and built on this foundation.
After a time, when for so long people comment on your appearance and your performance, this becomes the thing you notice most about yourself as well. It becomes your source of confidence, the thing you draw strength from. The trouble is it's a foundation that lacks any depth; it's all hollow underneath.
Doing what people wanted was what kept saul in the love and affection of others, it was what made him strong as a king, or so he thought.
After being rebuked by Samuel for offering unlawful sacrifices and allowing people to take illegal plunder he's honest enough to admit that it was 'because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.'
He's at fault and he knows it, but isn't he also simply reaping the effects of years of being objectified by others. Isn't this the price of appearances? The attention of others has led him to believe that he can do whatever he wants (error number one) and also that he is most secure when he gives the people what they want (error number two). He was pushed up the greasy pole of social status by the superficial praise of others, and he has learnt that to stay there requires him to keep himself within their affection.
The people are at fault for sure, but then we shouldn't expect any better from people should we? A herd acts without rational reflection, a herd acts based only on what it sees and feels. With people, what's novel gets noticed and no doubt all of us can testify to the sense of security and assurance that comes simply by being around and included by people who are physically strong or tall, capable and competent or even simply 'cool'. We want those people to be the hero that their appearance makes them appear to be. For women of course this is even more of a challenge since it's their appearance that gets commented on or stared at almost all the time. Again, the people aren't to blame - they're just people, and the world being what it is (a bloody and dangerous place) we all draw security from whatever idol or image is on offer to us.
Her beauty, his strength, draw our attention and elevate them over us and so we look upon them and up to them - so help them God.
So help them God indeed since outward appearance is no indicator of character or the competency required to lead or establish a household. The bimbo is an airhead who's admired from afar but despised by those closest to them. Worse still than the bimbo (who at least knows their own hollowness), is the ruler who keeps the illusion going as long as he/she can. Ultimately they come unstuck when, acting out of the habit of a lifetime, they give the people what they want and lead them off a cliff or into a dead end or into chaos and agony.
So Saul suffered the consequences of being a man noticed by others. He was too busy being stared at and commented on that he never dug out a proper foundation for his character. If Small Man syndrome is the temptation to over compensate for a physical deficiency, what do we call this? Tall Man syndrome, or Handsome Man syndrome; an overinflated estimation of oneself that overlooks the importance of deep formation. This is the man who's content with the attention of other men and cares little for the attention of God.
A man like this formed in public better claw out a proper foundation for his soul in private, or else he'll come to ruin and most likely bring the entire house down upon him as well.
God have mercy. Save us from becoming Saul.