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From Eternity Past
favoring condition. Saul’s disobedience changed his relation to God;
but the conditions of acceptance with God were unaltered, for with
Him there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
James 1:17
.
With an aching heart the prophet set forth the next morning to
meet the erring king. Samuel cherished a hope that Saul might, by
repentance, be restored to the divine favor. But Saul, debased by his
disobedience, came to meet Samuel with a lie upon his lips: “Blessed
be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
To the prophet’s pointed question, “What meaneth then this bleat-
ing of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear?” Saul answered, “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.” In
order to shield himself, he was willing to charge upon the people the
sin of his disobedience.
The message of Saul’s rejection had to be delivered before the army
of Israel when they were filled with pride over a victory accredited
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to the valor and generalship of their king, for Saul had not associated
God with the success of Israel in this conflict. When the prophet saw
the evidence of Saul’s rebellion, he was stirred with indignation that
he should lead Israel into sin. With mingled grief and indignation he
declared, “I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night... .
When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head
of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?” He
repeated the command of the Lord concerning Amalek and demanded
the reason of the king’s disobedience.
Saul Proves His Rebellion
Saul persisted in self-justification: “Yea, I have obeyed the voice
of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and
have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the
Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief
of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice
unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.”
In solemn words the prophet swept away the refuge of lies and
pronounced the irrevocable sentence: “Hath the Lord as great delight
in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?