Saul Argues with Samuel (1 Samuel 15:16-23)

5/31/2010 8:43:53 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Saul argues with Samuel

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  1 Samuel 15:16-23

            Message of the verses:  “16  Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!" 17  Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel, 18  and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ’Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19  "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?" 20  Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21  "But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 22  Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23  "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.’”

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that it seems that Saul was trying to get away from Samuel and the Word from the Lord that Samuel was about to give him.  There would be a time in his life, near the end of his life that Saul would go to great extremes to get a Word from the Lord, and even a word from the dead man Samuel.

            Saul again lied to Samuel telling him that he had obeyed the Lord doing all that he was told to do.  From the surface you would think that Saul would have got a grade of B+ or possibly even an A- for the test that had been given to him by the Lord through Samuel.  I want to point out something that I have been thinking about for a long time, something that has bothered me because I did not understand it, and that is the difference between Saul and David, for the sins that David committed were far worse than the sins that Saul committed.  Take for instance this sin of disobeying the Lord in not fulfilling this job completely with the sin of adultery and murder that David committed, or even the numbering of the nation of Israel.  I think that the great difference between Saul and David is the heart and it can be seen here, especially in the two critical verses that of 22 & 23, for in these verses the heart of Saul is opened up and what is seen is truly not pleasing to the Lord and in the dying days of Saul this will manifest itself in true actual idolatry and divination as Saul seeks out a witch to raise up the dead Samuel because there is no word from the Lord for Saul.  As I look at the heart of David after his adulteress and murderess sin I see true repentance when confronted with these sins, for when one reads the two Psalms that David wrote after his sin with Bathsheba, Psalms 32 & 51 you can see a broken hearted man because of the sin that he had just committed, as sin, as all sins are, committed against our Holy and righteous God.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think about the wonderful that David had it is no wonder that God said that he was a man after His own heart for even though David sinned as everyone does his heart was truly broken over that sin and desired to confess it and get back into the wonderful, sweet fellowship with the Lord.  I know that I have a long way to go to have a heart like David, but I want the Lord to give me this kind of a heart so that I will detest the sin that I commit and desire always wonder, sweet fellowship with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Psalm 51:16-17 “16  For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

5/31/2010 9:42:21 AM