1 Samuel 15

This chapter is really Saul's final "mistake" which immediately preceeds the anointing of David. Allow me to summarize this chapter for you:

Samuel tells Saul that the Lord intends to punish the Amelikites for the way they had treated Israel while Israel was in the wilderness. The instructions were to...(1)attack the Amalekites, (2)destroy everything, and (3)spare nothing. The key here is #3. Spare nothing! As the chapter progresses, Saul attacked the Amalekites. #1 is accomplished. Good job Saul. He destroyed all of Agag's (king of Amalekites) people with the sword. #2 accomplished...sort of. You see, Saul decided to spare Agag as well as the best sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs. He spared everything that was good.

Then the Lord speaks to Samuel to inform Samuel that the Lord is grieved that He ever chose Saul. So, Samuel confronts Saul. It happens like this:

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?" Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest." "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied. Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?" "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 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. (1 Samuel 15:13-22)

We often shake our heads at Saul after reading this story. How could he have been so thickheaded? How could he have messed up so badly? The problem is this; Saul was trying to do a good thing. He thought that saving the king and the best of the best for sacrifices would be seen as honorable and noble in the eyes of the Lord. At least that is what he says.

We can very easily come down on Saul here...but...how often are we in his shoes? How often do we fall victim to doing things that we think will be "good" in God's eyes when it is not within God's will? This could be anything. It could be trying to keep a ministry alive...when it should die. It could be forcing a relationship into your idea of what it should be...when God's idea of what it should be is different.

I am sure that our intensions are in the right place. The reality is, however, that our intensions may not be right. Our intensions...no matter how good they seem...could be contrary to God's intensions. I don't think that any of us would want to do something contrary to God's will...but it happens. It happens all too often.

Saul did what he thought was right because he did not know what God's will was. I believe that he had to do this. He had to think of something because his relationship with Yahweh was dead. He had a strained relationship with God that made it difficult to follow the will of God.

We do well to ensure that our relationship with God is one that enables us to hear His guidance and His will. If not...we may here the words that Saul heard from Samuel..."Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?"