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PART
2
Sau~
the people's choice for king, fai/ed with God in the execution of his office. Self-centered,
unrepentant and egotistic, though handsome and head-and-shoulders taller than his subjects, Saul was
not God's choice. Instead, God chose an insignificant shepherd boy, David, while Saul yet reigned.
Then God arranged David 's training for his future k ingship by bringing him into Saul's court. This
remarkable story sets the theme f or David's triumphs and his failures.
uccessful Saul, impatient in seek–
ing favor and pressed by the
threat of foreign invasion, lost the
possibility of having his dynasty
rule Israel forever by rebelling
against Samuel and God in assuming to himself the
priestly duty ofsacrificing (1 Sam. 13: 12-14). But he was
yet to commit a greater blunder and lose the very king–
ship itself.
"One day Samuel said to Saul, ' 1 crowned you king of
Israel because God told meto.
Now be sure that you obey
him.
Here is his commandment to you: " J have decided
to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for refusing
to allow my people to cross their territory when Israel
carne from Egypt. Now go and completely destroy the
entire Amalek nation ..."'" (l Sam. 15:1-2,
The Living
Bible
used throughout article).
A difficult and odious task, granted.
lt
amounted to
genocide. But one thing to remember is that it was a
command from God. He is the one who holds a ll life in
His
hands. He gives and He takes away. This was nota
human decision, but ajudgment from the Alm ighty.
With 210,000 troops Saul began to fulfill God's com–
mand. Even every animal was to be destroyed. Then
Saul began to hedge.
It
seemed such a shame to destroy
so many good animals. Saul and his army slew only the
poor quality and worthless animals-saving the best for
themselves, on the spiritual-sounding pretext of using
them to "sacrifice to the Lord." Saul himself spared the
Amalekite king, Agag-perhaps fearing the slaying of
34
kings might become popular and so endanger his own
throne.
It
was "mission unaccomplished"!
When confronted by Samuel on his mismanaged raid ,
Saul insisted he had obeyed the injunction of the Lord ,
despite his obvious distortion of the orders and his feeble
excuse of saving the besl to sacrifice lo the Lord.
Samuel's classic answer to this line of reasoning is a
lesson for us all: " Has the Lord as much pleasure in your
burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience?
Obe–
dience isJar better than sacrifice.
He is much more inter–
ested in your listening to him than in your offering the
fat of rams to him. For rebellion is as bad as lhe sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping
idols. And now because you have rejecled lhe word of
Jehovah, he has rejecled you from being king"! (1 Sam.
15:22-23.)
Saul's Outward Repentance
n the wake of lhis devastating
1'
1
procla~alion , S~ul~s
response was
1
superficial and msmcere. He
said
...___..___• he had sinned and disobeyed (jusl
as he previously
said
he had
obeyed); but he begged Samuel's backing of his kingship
in lhe eyes of the
people!
" 1 have sinned; bul oh, al leasl
honor me before lhe leaders and before my people by
going with me to worship the Lord your God," Saul
begged Samuel (verse 30).
Note that the real problem here is one of the deep
inner attitude of the heart- not of outward profession .
The
PLAIN TRUTH June/July 1978