A sharp spear or stick is often used to poke animals to make them move forward. Animals who react by kicking instead of moving ahead can cause more pain for themselves. By using this analogy, the Lord helped Saul see that fighting against Him would only bring pain to himself.
"It may be a change of thought, a change in habit, or a change in the direction we are headed. In return for His priceless payment for each of us, the Lord asks us for a change of heart. The change He requests from us is not for His benefit but for ours."
(Becky Craven, “Keep the Change,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 58)
"God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go."
(Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Best is Yet to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 27)
"Satan wants us to think that when we have sinned we have gone past a “point of no return”—that it is too late to change our course. …
"Christ came to save us. If we have taken a wrong course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us the assurance that … [a] safe return is possible if we will follow God’s plan for our salvation. …
"The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness. Because of this gift, the opportunity to make a safe return from the disastrous course of sin is available to all of us."
(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Point of Safe Return,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 99, 101)