1 Samuel 15-16
John 8:1-20
Psalm 110:1-7
Proverbs 15:8-10
"What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifice
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams."
1 Samuel 15:22
"The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but he delights in the prayers of the upright."
Proverbs 15:8
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul is commanded by God to destroy the Amalek nation. He did not want one living thing to be left. I don't think there is any other way that this command could be interpreted. God is crystal clear in what He wanted: all the people and all the animals are to be destroyed. That's it.
So Saul started out following God's command. He gathered his army and killed all the Amalekites... except their king. And he killed all the animals... except the best ones. In verse 9 it says that they destroyed only the animals that were worthless or of poor quality.
After this, Samuel went out to find Saul. God knew of his disobedience and was sorry that He ever made Saul king. When Samuel found Saul, Saul's tone seemed prideful to me: Look what I did! I did everything God wanted me to do! Unfortunately for Saul, this wasn't fooling anyone. Samuel could hear the animals that were marked for destruction and confronted Saul with it. Saul's excuse? He was going to sacrifice these animals to the Lord. They were meant to be a gift for God. Do you get the feeling that the only reason Saul said this was because he got caught? That the only reason he said they were for God was to cover up what he had done? It's as if he were thinking: "Maybe if I offer them to God, He will overlook my disobedience." As if God's favor can be bought. Because of this, God will take the kingdom from Saul and give it to someone else (David).
We are all guilty of disobedience. We all know what God commands of us and we all still disobey Him. I think Saul's biggest mistake was that he tried to cover up what he did. And then when he was confronted with the truth and had no where else to hide, he just continued to make excuses. God is more than willing to forgive us when we sin if we have truly repentant hearts. We need to admit to Him our sin and ask for His help to stay on the right path. If all we do is make excuses and try to hide our sin, then we are just getting ourselves into more trouble. Proverbs 15:8 says that God detests the sacrifice of the wicked. I can't think of anything worse than doing something that God detests.
Remember that God wants obedience. He wants our hearts to be completely devoted to Him.
So Saul started out following God's command. He gathered his army and killed all the Amalekites... except their king. And he killed all the animals... except the best ones. In verse 9 it says that they destroyed only the animals that were worthless or of poor quality.
After this, Samuel went out to find Saul. God knew of his disobedience and was sorry that He ever made Saul king. When Samuel found Saul, Saul's tone seemed prideful to me: Look what I did! I did everything God wanted me to do! Unfortunately for Saul, this wasn't fooling anyone. Samuel could hear the animals that were marked for destruction and confronted Saul with it. Saul's excuse? He was going to sacrifice these animals to the Lord. They were meant to be a gift for God. Do you get the feeling that the only reason Saul said this was because he got caught? That the only reason he said they were for God was to cover up what he had done? It's as if he were thinking: "Maybe if I offer them to God, He will overlook my disobedience." As if God's favor can be bought. Because of this, God will take the kingdom from Saul and give it to someone else (David).
We are all guilty of disobedience. We all know what God commands of us and we all still disobey Him. I think Saul's biggest mistake was that he tried to cover up what he did. And then when he was confronted with the truth and had no where else to hide, he just continued to make excuses. God is more than willing to forgive us when we sin if we have truly repentant hearts. We need to admit to Him our sin and ask for His help to stay on the right path. If all we do is make excuses and try to hide our sin, then we are just getting ourselves into more trouble. Proverbs 15:8 says that God detests the sacrifice of the wicked. I can't think of anything worse than doing something that God detests.
Remember that God wants obedience. He wants our hearts to be completely devoted to Him.
"If you love me, keep my commands."
John 14:15
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