1 Samuel 15
When Saul sinned and Samuel was sent to him, Saul acted as if he had done nothing wrong - 1 Samuel 15:13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
The instruction Saul referred to was -This is what the Lord Almighty
says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when
they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the
Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare
them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and
sheep, camels and donkeys.’” 1 Samuel 15:1-3
Saul had partially obeyed God, he tried to cover his sin and kept insisting he had fully obeyed God - 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.”
Saul chose to keep Agag the king of the Amalekites, as well as some of the sheep and cattle of the Amalekites. This was a clear violation of the instructions God had given him, and yet he strutted around, piously professing obedience to God. God detests such behaviour. He cannot stand pretense. He said in His Word - Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.
Saul's heart of pretense did not appeal to God. Saul was more concerned in proving himself to his fellow men. 1 Samuel 15:30 Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” Contrarily, David was a man that put God before men. He danced before the Lord for all and sundry to see -2 Samuel 6:14-16. When Nathan confronted him about his sin, he fasted in repentance before all his men.
God appreciates a broken and contrite heart. A heart that readily repents of sin, and which strives to please Him. God loves the heart that puts Him before men, and chooses Him over pleasing men.
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