I’m trying to settle on a good title for 1 Samuel 15.
How to Ensure Your Failure
15 Ways to Screw up Your Kingdom
Disappoint Your God Today
Poor Saul! He didn’t have a single day of success in his entire 42-year reign as king of Israel. Sure, he may have won some battles, but He never won the heart of God. He screwed it up in 1 Samuel 13 when he offered burnt offerings without waiting for Samuel to arrive. He starved his own army in Chapter 14. In Chapter 15 Saul continues to disobey God’s commands by sparing King Agag and the best of his livestock.
1 Samuel 15:10-11 “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.” Oh, LORD, may I never ever grieve You! May I seek to obey You and to carry out Your instructions to the best of my ability. Have you ever cried out to the LORD all night over anything? If yes, then you know what Samuel was going through. He loved the nation of Israel, and He was trying to figure out how to fix the mess their new king was creating. Samuel felt the responsibility heavily on his shoulders because these were his beloved people, whom he had led in following God for years.
1 Samuel 15:13-14 “When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" Come on, Saul. Just how stupid do you think Samuel is? Samuel, the guy who told you your donkeys were found, the guy who foretold miracles that came true, the guy who anointed your head with oil!!! Saul was one of those habitual liars who didn’t even realize anymore that he was lying through his teeth. He blames the whole situation on his innocent army. When Samuel asks Saul why he didn’t obey in verse 19, Saul says in verse 20, “But I did obey . . . .” Liar, liar, pants on fire. Do you notice how Saul says “I, I, I” in verse 20, and then blames the bad decisions on the soldiers in verse 21? “Devoted to God . . . for sacrifice,” yeah, right.
1 Samuel 15:22 “But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” This has always been a favorite verse of mine. It was really good for me to read it in context today to remember where these words come from. Saul’s life is a good reminder for us as we strive to please God in our daily lives. Doing good things for God is not always obedience. Maybe Saul really did think he was doing the right thing by saving the livestock. Perhaps he really did desire to make sacrifices to God. But that was not what God had asked of him. Our Holy God demands obedience. LORD, help me pay attention to Your Holy Spirit every moment of every day.
After Samuel confronts him, Saul seems to repent, but I think Samuel was tired of hearing it. He lost complete respect for Saul and never went back to see him during his reign as king. Saul reigned for 42 years. We don’t know exactly where 1 Samuel 15 falls in those four decades, but I assume it was earlier rather than later. Can you imagine trying to run a kingdom without God’s direction? No wonder Saul went mad in his old age. “And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.”
Sorry this chapter was such a downer. Maybe we will enjoy meeting David in 1 Samuel 16-20 tomorrow.
Saul says "I have carried out the Lords instructions." Saul carried them out after he rearranged those instructions to suit him. He was afraid of the people and what they thought, or would say or do. I know that I have had times where I thought, you want me to do what? Are you sure Lord? What will others say? Who am I to question the Lord's plans. What opportunities and blessings I may have missed by this. Oh, to think about grieving the Lord. That makes my heart so heavy. I don't know what else to say...Lord, forgive me for questioning you and not following You and Your Word in everything. It's not up to me to choose what works into my life, please help me to not grieve you Lord.
ReplyDeleteMelinda, I am really glad you mentioned verse 24 where Saul says, "I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." Do you think he was truly afraid of them? I think more than anything he was afraid of looking stupid in front of them. I know that is what keeps me from obeying God's instructions more often than not. I don't want people to think I'm too weird (I already know they think I am sort of weird; I just don't want to go over the top.) At the final judgment, let's be sure we stand blameless before God because we seek His approval rather than man's. We will grieve the LORD every time when we seek to please man rather than God.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to get caught up with you gals! I have been pondering vs 14 ever since I read it this morning. It was puzzling to me too. My translation states that God sent a distressing spirit. The distressing spirit (consequence of disobedience), I believe, was sent by God to Saul to let him know that he would no longer be under the protection of God. That in and of itself would be enough to drive you nuts. To have tasted of the Lord’s goodness as he did when he first became king experiencing the victories and blessings (the fullness of the Lord) and to have that removed from you for good, I cannot imagine the heartache. I know how I feel when I am going through a dry season wondering if it will ever end but Saul knew it would never end for him. It grieved Samuel too. So that distressing spirit did indeed turn evil as his heart grew cold and hard. Saul’s madness reeks havoc and it truly does become all about him which is what caused him his trouble to begin with. I feel sorry for him in a way but at the same time it causes me to tremble because of my own disobedience. Oh what we do to ourselves when we decide we are more important than God and we begin to create our own little empires and we set our idols up one by one on our shelves. Father forgive me as I know I have grieved you on more than one occasion. Break my heart Lord where my sin is concerned. Give me a greater awareness to the prompting of your Holy Spirit. Mold me into a vessel that can be used by you at all times!! Father thank you for your Word and the way that it speaks so clearly to our hearts, minds, soul and body. Bless these my sisters who diligently seek you. May they feel Your pleasure! I love you Lord! Cindy
ReplyDeleteI has never caught the part about God sending a bad, distressing etc spirit on Saul. It makes the nurse in me wonder, how many people that are considered insane or crazy are actually vexed by a bad spirit from the Lord because of their disobediance to him. Can it be possible that some of the mental illnesses are actually caused by disobeying God?
ReplyDeleteAs I sit here pondering these verses, I'm left with a question. If Saul had truly repented, then wouldn't God have forgiven him? When things got so bad for Saul, did he ever turn back to God? How do I know if I truly repent and God does forgive me? I may say I repent of my sin, but only to go back to the same sin. Does that mean I'm not forgiven of some of my sins? This is so confusing sometimes!!! I have also thought that I am being punished because of my sins and that is why my life is the way it is. Is that the case, am I being punished and for what, what sin am I being punished for? I'm very confused and torn about all of this!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Saul truly did repent. He was such a poser. He said what he thought Samuel wanted to hear. Saul could fool himself, but he couldn't fool God. Even after Samuel confronted Saul about his sin, Saul tried to blame it on the soldiers. A truly repentant heart takes full and complete responsibility for wrong choices. Half-hearted repentance tries to find someone else to pin the circumstances on. When you go through tough times, do you say, "I put myself in this position"? Or do you say, "Well if so and so hadn't done such and such," or "Why didn't God bail me out of this situation?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's not "punishment" for sin, it's just reaping consequences for decisions we may not have prayed through in the first place.