Monday, November 25, 2013

Saul lies to Samuel (1 Samuel 15:12-15)

5/30/2010 7:57:10 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Saul lies to Samuel

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 15:12-15

            Message of the verses:  “12  Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal." 13  Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD." 14  But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 15  Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.’”
            I would suppose a causal reading of this section by someone would seem to show that everything was alright with what Saul had done.  Saul was given an order from Samuel that came directly from the Lord to go and kill all of the Amalekites along with all that they possessed and Saul seems to change the orders humanly speaking for what seemed to be a good cause, but in so Saul was lying to Samuel and truly lying to the Lord.  Saul was a person who admired himself a whole lot even to the point of building a monument for himself after this battle was over, and I suppose that the people of Israel thought that this was a great victory given to them by their leader, just like they had asked Samuel to give them a king who would go out and fight for them and keep them safe.  Saul was also a person who liked to blame others for his wrong doing as in the case where he tells Samuel that his soldiers kept the choice animals to sacrifice them to the Lord, this was another lie. 
            Dr. Wiersbe advises his readers to read 1 John 1:5-10, verses that describe how a person who has a desire to walk with the Lord will follow, but something that Saul did not follow:  “5 ¶  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
    “8 ¶  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see from this passage the importance of telling the truth, the importance of confessing my sins to the Lord, and the importance of not blaming others for my sinful behavior.
My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Be honest with the Lord.
2.      Trust the Lord to search my heart to see any hidden sin that has not been confessed.
3.      Don’t blame others for my sinful behavior.


5/30/2010 8:18:27 AM

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