To Obey Is Better than Sacrifice

Saul’s false zeal to exalt his own name drove many people into sin, but he did not repent. He took the credit for Jonathan’s honest faith and still did not repent, and that showed what a pretender he was. Even so, God kept giving Saul victory in battle. That is because his victories were to become the strength David would have when he became king. Seeing Saul win in battle, one might think that God helps the wicked, but God was preparing to give David the kingdom Saul had built up. So the success of the wicked is a preparation for the righteous. Because of that, we must not complain about how things are or lose heart.

Saul won a great victory in the war with the Philistines, and he struck Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah and the Amalekites, winning great victories. As the victories continued, Saul’s royal power grew ever firmer, and in the war with Amalek his soldiers numbered as many as a hundred and thirty thousand. When God commanded Saul to go to war with Amalek, he told him to leave nothing of all that Amalek had but to utterly destroy it, killing both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. God commanded this in order to destroy them utterly, so that they could never attack Israel again. From a human point of view it is cruel, but God told them to kill Amalek this cruelly in order to call them to account for the sin of tormenting the people when Israel came out of Egypt.

Look at Deuteronomy 25:17-19. Amalek attacked the weak who were lagging behind among the people coming out of Egypt, and killing the weak was the same as the sin of opposing God, who is Israel’s king. God was angered by this, and he was now keeping his promise that once Israel settled in the land of Canaan, he would blot out the name of Amalek. God did not forget that promise, and he was fulfilling it through Saul. God spent a long time making plans for the exodus, raised up Moses, and at last brought Pharaoh to his knees. Amalek, which attacked such a people of God, was God’s eternal enemy. In the same way, the world must never torment believers who are powerless. Because the Father of those who live by faith is God himself, to despise them is to oppose God.

1 Samuel 30:1-2 says that when David and his men arrived at Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the town, burned the houses and taken captive all the women who were there. God’s command may seem cruel, but if even a small spark is left, it becomes a great fire again like this and torments Israel. That is why, in telling them to utterly destroy Amalek, he commanded them to kill everyone, down to the nursing infants.

But though Saul heard God’s command, he did not obey it, and so in later days Israel came under attack again and again. This incident, in which the Amalekites carried off David and his people, took place while David was being hunted by Saul and living in Ziklag, in the land of the Philistines. Achish, king of the Philistines, preparing for war with Saul, called David, who happened to be living among the Philistines to escape Saul, and proposed that they attack Saul together. But fortunately the Philistines objected, saying that however much David was living among them to escape Saul, he might betray them in the middle of the battle. So David narrowly avoided a war against Israel and returned to Ziklag, where he had been staying.

While David was away to meet Achish, the Amalekites attacked and carried off David’s wives and the soldiers’ wives and children, who could put up no resistance. David and his soldiers were furious and attacked the Amalekites. The Amalekites, having won their battle, were drunk with the joy of victory. David and his soldiers launched an all-out attack on the Amalekites and killed them all, man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey, except four hundred young men who fled. Compare David, who utterly destroyed the Amalekites, with Saul, who brought back what looked good to him, and you will see how different the faith of the two men was.

Sin, in whatever form, must be cast away without fail. If we know that something is sin before God, yet like Saul we do not let go of the greedy thought that since it is useful, it will not be too late to throw it away later, it will grow full grown and bring our faith down.

Chapter 15, verse 7 says that Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt. That means the mighty Amalekites of that time held the whole region. It was not Saul’s ability but God’s will to judge Amalek that brought such a great victory over the Amalekites scattered across so wide a region. Yet though it was God’s will that Saul utterly destroy the Amalekites, Saul disobeyed God’s command. However much God’s will is to destroy Amalek utterly, if Saul, that is, if people do not obey, Amalek will survive, and God’s plan may be pushed further back. That is why it is so important to obey according to the Word.

To raise up his own glory, Saul spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, kept the best of the animals, and killed what seemed worthless and trivial to him. Saul even set up a monument at Carmel to leave his name behind. He was what he was thanks to God, by God’s help and by God’s sacrifice, and yet he was raising his own name higher than God.

When hardships disappear, everyone forgets to be thankful and strives to raise their own name and honor, and at such times they will likely see God as the greatest stumbling block. We see that the more grace people have received, the farther they run from God into the world to forget that love, and the more they slander God. That is because they think only then can they cover God’s grace with evil. But this we must know for certain: God’s love and grace cannot be covered by shallow human words and deeds. Just as darkness cannot hide the light, Saul cannot overcome God.

1 Samuel 15:15

15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest.”

When Samuel heard that Saul had set up a monument and then returned to Gilgal, he came to Gilgal to meet Saul. Saul welcomed Samuel warmly and boasted that he had performed the commandment of Yahweh. But since Saul had set up a monument to raise his own name, nothing he said would be able to persuade Samuel.

What God and Samuel wanted from Saul was not a great victory. Anyone can win a great victory if God helps, and that is why what God wanted was a Saul who understood his will and obeyed. What you need to know is that God is always at work with the fulfilling of his covenant and the saving of souls as his purpose. Only when you live your life of faith knowing this can you live according to God’s will, but people fail in the life of faith because they try to push their own will through first. Just as Saul lived a life that had nothing to do with God when he was satisfied in the world, those who seek their own satisfaction can neither understand God’s will nor live by the Word, and so they cannot help but live a life of constant wandering.

God commanded that no plunder at all be brought back from Amalek, but Saul took the Amalekite king captive and brought the good animals back alive. Samuel rebuked Saul for not listening to God’s command, but Saul instead made the excuse that he had spared them in order to offer sacrifice to God with good offerings. When Samuel grew angry at the excuse, Saul pushed all the sin onto the people, saying that it was not he but the people who had done all this. When he heard that Saul had set up a monument at Carmel, Samuel prayed all night in tears, and his rebuke came from a heart that loved Saul’s soul, but Saul would not listen.

God raised Saul up so that he could become a true king, but Saul did not obey even a single one of God’s commands. Saul was even thinking, foolishly, that even if he broke the command, God would accept everything as long as he offered sacrifice with good animals. Believers think that even when they do not worship in spirit and truth, God will be pleased if they offer their devotion through service or offerings. This is a mistaken human judgment and a sin of not knowing God at all.

Isaiah 1:11

11“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

God is saying that he will refuse a faith that only tramples the courts without sincerity. Offerings not given according to the law are all worthless and detestable. When God receives an offering, he is receiving the heart of the believer who offers their faith, so if the heart is not whole, he does not receive the offering either. Since Samuel, who knew this heart of God, rebuked him, that rebuke was Samuel’s love, and it meant Saul was being given another chance. If Saul had seized that chance, which would never come again, and repented, he would surely have been forgiven by God.

In verse 22, to Saul, who did nothing but make excuses to the end, Samuel said that Yahweh delights in obeying his word more than in burnt offerings and other sacrifices. Saying that to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams, he urged Saul to repent. Defying God’s word is like the sin of witchcraft, and being stubborn, wrapped in pride and falsehood, is like the sin of bowing down to idols.

Because Saul had rejected Yahweh’s word, he would now lose Yahweh’s help and be removed from being king. It was God who had set him up, and so it was God who withdrew his grace. People are foolish in this: they forget that if it was God who answered them in their trouble, it is also God who can take that answer back. If so, the wise thing would be to offer sacrifice according to the law God commanded and to live as God wishes, but once they get what they want, they commit the folly of abandoning God and end up losing everything.

God does not receive offerings because he is poor or lacking. He receives them because the offering died in place of the sin of his beloved child, and because it carries a faith that believes in God and relies on him. In all of this sin, Saul was deceived by Satan and defied God, so every chance he had been given has now passed him by.

Saul heard God’s heart, that God had made him king when he was little in his own sight, and yet, for his own purposes, he had no thought of killing Agag. Look at him, and you see how frightening human righteousness is. For if only we can keep the honor and power we now enjoy, we are ready to abandon God as often as it takes.

It was God who set Saul up as king. And it is God who can remove him. Then whom should Saul serve as his master? God is there, setting up and removing and ruling over human history, and yet human nature keeps trying to live in the world as it pleases. When God commanded Saul to utterly destroy Amalek, if he had destroyed Amalek completely according to the Word, he would have received even greater blessing. For obeying God’s word is itself power.

The people were many, and Saul meant to lean on their numbers for strength. That is why he shifted the sin onto the people. But the people of the world slip through one’s fingers like oil one tries to grasp, so in the end Saul is left with nothing at all. If Saul had relied on God instead of clinging to the people, God would have helped him live on as king. He grabbed hold of Samuel, who was about to go back, and begged him to go with him to the people, offer a grand sacrifice, and uphold his face and his standing. This is how far a person can fall apart to protect what is theirs. Saul, who did not walk wholly before God and yet clung to Samuel, begging him to save his face so that people would praise him, is someone the kingdom of God has no need of.

The angry Samuel called for Agag, king of the Amalekites, who had been brought back as a captive. Then Agag, thinking that Samuel the priest would spare him, was glad and rejoiced that the bitterness of death was past. As Agag came out smiling, Samuel rebuked him for all the evil he had done and put him to death. The man of God may seem far too cruel, but if God’s will is to destroy Amalek utterly, we must be as resolute as Samuel.

Samuel cut off the evil of Amalek, who had mercilessly killed the frail among the people. Samuel obeyed the Word because he knew the heart of God, who would not forgive Amalek for tormenting God’s people. Just as Samuel ruthlessly put Agag to death, you too must cut out the Amalek that has settled in a corner of your heart. Otherwise it will attack your faith again, like Haman the Amalekite, who tried to kill Esther and the Jews.

1 Samuel 15:6

6Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

There are peoples God commands to be destroyed cruelly, like Amalek, but there are also peoples to whom he shows grace, telling them to leave quickly so that they will not be destroyed. The Kenites had shown kindness to Israel when Israel was worn out during the exodus.

Judges 1:16 records that Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite. His father-in-law Jethro was well disposed toward Moses, gladly let him go when he left for the exodus, and later was the one who came up with the wise idea of rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, so that the people could be governed efficiently. God did not forget the love the Kenites had shown Israel in its hardship, and he gave grace to their descendants. God repays even a little love shown to Israel; then would he forget the service of believers who sacrifice themselves for God?

God is the one who does not forget the faith of believers who devote themselves unseen, and he blesses their descendants. He repays with reward the conduct of believers who humble themselves to exalt God’s name, so if we heed God’s voice and obey, he will give us more grace and blessing than we can contain. When we strive in all things to live by God’s word, God sees our heart, and so we can live all our days in grace.

May you always strive to live your life according to the Word. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 16:11-23

11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. 14Now Yahweh’s Spirit departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. 15Saul’s servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. 16Let our lord now command your servants who are in front of you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. Then when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will play with his hand, and you will be well.” 17Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” 18Then one of the young men answered, and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and Yahweh is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21David came to Saul, and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer. 22Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight.” 23When the spirit from God was on Saul, David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.