Samuel and Saul
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Many years before, God had appointed Amalek to utter destruction.
They had lifted up their hands against God, and his throne, and had
taken oath by their gods that Israel should be utterly consumed, and
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the God of Israel brought down so that he would not be able to deliver
them out of their hands.
Amalek had made derision of the fears of his people, and made
sport of God’s wonderful works for the deliverance of Israel performed
by the hand of Moses before the Egyptians. They had boasted that their
wise men and magicians could perform all those wonders. And if the
children of Israel had been their captives, in their power as they were
in Pharaoh’s, that the God of Israel himself would not have been able
to deliver them out of their hands. They despised Israel, and vowed to
plague them until there should not be one left.
God marked their boastful words against him, and appointed them
to be utterly destroyed by the very people they had despised, that all
nations might mark the end of that most proud and powerful people.
God proved Saul by intrusting him with the important commission
to execute his threatened wrath upon Amalek. But he disobeyed
God, and spared the wicked, blasphemous king Agag, whom God had
appointed unto death, and spared the best of the cattle. He destroyed
utterly all the refuse that would not profit them. Saul thought it would
add to his greatness to spare Agag, a noble monarch splendidly attired.
And to return from battle with him captive, with great spoil of oxen,
sheep, and much cattle, would get to himself much renown, and cause
the nations to fear him, and tremble before him. And the people united
with him in this. They excused their sin among themselves in not
destroying the cattle, because they could reserve them to sacrifice to
God, and spare their own cattle to themselves.
Samuel visits Saul with a curse from the Lord for his disobedience,
for thus exalting himself before the Lord, to choose his own course,
and follow his own reasoning, instead of strictly following the Lord.
Saul goes forth to meet Samuel, like an innocent man, greeting him
with these words, “Blessed be thou of the Lord. I have performed the
commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said. What meaneth then the
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bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear? And Saul said. They have brought them from the Amalekites;
for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice
unto the Lord thy God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”