1 Samuel 15 -- Saul Loses The Kingdom

"Saul was more concerned about looking good before the people than being good before God...  he wasn't careful to obey God's will.  Everything that was vile and worthless he destroyed, but he permitted King Agag to live, and he allowed the Israelite soldiers to save the best of the flocks and herds.  But if the Lord says something is condemned, how can we say it's the best?" my commentary began.

"Serving God acceptably involves doing the will of God in the right way, at the right time, and for the right motive."

"Saul's greeting to Samuel was sheer hypocrisy.  He had no blessing to give Samuel and he had not performed the will of the Lord.  First he lied to himself in thinking he could get away with the deception, and then he lied to Samuel who already knew the truth.  He even tried to lie to God by saying he would use the spared animals for sacrifices!"

"Saul had once been a modest young man, but now for the second time he had willfully disobeyed the Lord's will and even erected a monument in honor of the event ... The Lord wants living obedience from the heart, not dead animals on the altar.  God doesn't need any donations from us, and the sacrifice He desires is a broken and contrite heart."

"The prophet went on the reveal that the sins of rebellion and stubbornness (arrogance) controlled Saul's heart and in God's sight, they were as evil as witchcraft and idolatry.  Both sins were evidences of a heart that had rejected the Word of the Lord.  To know God's will and deliberately disobey it is to put ourselves above God and therefore become our own god."

Father, if I sin in this way, please prick my heart and cause me to know without a doubt that I am willfully choosing to sin against You.  Draw me back to You and remove any blinders that Satan places over my spiritual eyes.  Let me not fail to see the obvious as Saul chose to do.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford