1 Samuel 13:14 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Now thy kingdom shall not continue. — The succession was thus formally transferred elsewhere; still, when the words of doom were spoken by the prophet, David, the son of Jesse, the man after God’s own heart, could at that time have been but a mere child. Had King Saul repented what he had done, he might have been forgiven, “for God’s threatenings, like His promises, are conditional. There is no fatalism in the Bible, but a loving discipline for man’s recovery. But behind it stands the Divine foreknowledge and omnipotence, and so to the prophetic view Saul’s refusal to repent, his repeated disobedience, and the succession of David were all revealed as accomplished facts.” — Dean Payne Smith.