author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and turn to. 1 Samuel 15. We are going to look at a familiar story tonight. One you have no doubt heard taught and preached before, the story of Saul's disobedience.

Let's go ahead and read the whole chapter, it is not long, and then I have a few points I'd like to make about it.

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:1-35 - KJV

1. Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
2. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4. And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10. Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
11. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
14. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15. And Saul said, 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.
16. Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17. And Samuel said, 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?
18. And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
20. And Saul said unto Samuel, 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.
21. 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.
22. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
24. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
26. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28. And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
29. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
31. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.
32. Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
34. Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35. And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

There is a lot to unpack in this chapter, and I want to get right into it.

I think the theme of this chapter is that God is the true king and judge. God is the king. God gets to make the rules and mete out justice. God is the judge. He gets to choose who is punished and when and when someone is guilty. God is the true king and judge.

Saul had done a pretty good job up to this point. He was a decent leader. He was a good military man. He hadn't made any major leadership mistakes. But starting in this chapter, it's the beginning of the end for Saul.

I think what probably happened is that Saul became the victim of his own success. Saul started to think he was something.

When Samuel found him he was just looking for donkeys. When the people anointed him he was hiding out in the luggage. He was just a nobody that God lifted up.

But by this point, he started to believe his own press clippings. He started to think highly of himself. And whenever that happens, the end is near.

Both James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 tell us this:

[!bible] James 4:6 - KJV ...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Pride is one of those sins we think is a little sin. But it's the sin that caused the whole mess we are in. It was pride that put Lucifer out of heaven. It was pride that caused 1/3 of the angels to defect.

Pride causes God to resist us. To oppose us.

There are a few verses I want you to look at in this chapter. Look at verse 12.

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:12 - KJV 12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

Notice the phrase here "he set him up a place." What does that mean? Well most likely, what Saul had done here is to make a memorial for his battle. A memorial to himself. I think Saul was starting to think very highly of himself.

Look at another phrase with me. Look at verse 29:

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:29 - KJV 29. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

See that phrase "the Strength of Israel." Notice it is capitalized. It's referfing to God. It's a title for God. He was the strength of Israel. But I think Saul got to the point where he thought that was him.

There was one ultimate King and Judge - and it is God. There was one ultimate Deliverer of Israel - and it is God.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning of the story and I want to give you four points tonight about how God is the true King and Judge.

The first point is...

1. God is the true king and judge, and reserves the right to dispense judgment.

So at the beginning of this chapter, God gives a word to Samuel and Samuel brings it to the king. Israel is to mount up an army and completely destroy the Amalekites. I mean, completely destroy them.

Specifically, God said:

slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

That's complete destruction.

Now, this shouldn't have been news to Saul. Twice in the law, (once in Exodus 17:14-16 and once in Deuteronomy 25:17-19) God had said that when Israel has rest in the land, they were to completely destroy the Amalekites.

One reason for that was because the Amalekites took advantage of Israel when they were in a time of weakness. As Israel was moving out of Egypt during the Exodus, the Amalekites raided their weak and straggling. God did not like that.

Another reason is because throughout the history of Israel, the Amalekites were Israel's enemies. They were mentioned with the enemies of Israel several times in the book of Judges.

But I think the main reason the Amalekites needed to be eliminated is because God, who is the ultimate judge and who knows all, had had enough.

Much like God destroyed Sodom and Gamorrah and God destroyed various armies in the Old Testament. God was going to bring judgement on the Amalekites. Because they were wicked and worthy of His judgement.

We can pretend to have a problem with this. We can wince as we read this with our "modern sophisticated" ears. But the truth is we believe God will judge all mankind and send those who reject Him to an eternal hell and that God is just to do it.

God is the judge. God is the king. God is the executor. He is right to be so and in this case, God was deputizing Israel to be His executioner.

They were not to spare anyone. They were not to enrich themselves. This was purely an act of God's judgment. Not an act of opportunism for Israel. It was serious and somber.

At the end of the chapter Samuel did what Saul wouldn't do and killed Agag the king "before the Lord." God was in it.

Now, we do not have that same mission today. No Christian should use this as an excuse to hate people or hurt people. This was a specific command given by God to Israel for this time, not to us.

We are not to be God's executioners. We are sent to preach the gospel to every creature and to be minister's of reconciliation. We are in the age of grace, not of law.

But the age of grace will not last forever, and someday God will return, not in grace, but in judgement. And He is right to do it.

God is the true king and judge, and reserves the right to dispense judgment.

author: Ryan Hayden

So Saul mounts his army and they go attack Amalek and do you know what? They mostly obey God's command.

• They mostly kill off Amalek.
• They mostly destroy the property.

But Saul spares the king and lets the people keep some of the best sheep.

Actually, the king is not all who Saul spared. We know this if we keep reading scripture.

There are several examples I could show you, but lets just look at one:

[!bible] 1 Samuel 27:8 - KJV 8. And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.

Did you notice who David was fighting against? The Amalekites. But I thought Saul killed all the Amalekites!?!

Nope. This is less than twenty years later. And there are enough Amalekites still around that David has to go and fight military battles against them.

Saul spared a lot of them. You can see them again in 1 Samuel 30 and 2 Samuel 8 and in the book of Esther.

So Saul didn't completely obey this command.

And that brings me to the second point I want to make tonight:

2. God is the true king and judge, and He demands full obedience.

Saul did not give God full obedience. He spared some Amalekites and he took some spoil in direct disobedience to God.

Then he had the gumption to brag to Samuel in verse 13 saying "I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

Saul thought "I've obeyed. I've done God a favor." But that's not how God saw it at all.

God came to Samuel in a dream and said "it grieves me that I made Saul the king. He doesn't follow me anymore and he doesn't perform my commandments."

God wasn't impressed with Saul's half-obedience. To God incomplete obedience is the same as disobedience.

Really, what you have going on here is that Saul decided that he was going to make himself the king and judge over God.

God said "kill them all" and Saul said "not all of them." God said "take no spoil" and Saul said "but that is a waste." Saul was putting himself in a place of judgement and authority over God.

And that is a dangerous, dangerous place to be. But let's be honest, every time we sin, we do the same thing.

• God says "This is evil" and we say "it's not that bad."
• God says "this will destroy you" and we say "it's not hurting anyone."
• God says "this is my truth" and we say "oh, but it's so judgmental and mean."

Who made you God? Who gave you the right to judge? Who made you the lawgiver? That is God's role and His alone.

So...

• God is the true king and judge, and reserves the right to dispense judgment.
• God is the true king and judge, and He demands full obedience.

The third point I want to make from this passage is...

3. God is the true king and judge, and sees through our pathetic attempts at self-justification.

You see, Samuel confronted Saul. Saul said "Look, I've obeyed the word of the LORD." (He had no shame) And Samuel said "Well, what is the meaning of these sheep I hear bleating."

Then Saul went off on a string of excuses. Look at verse 15:

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:15 - KJV 15. And Saul said, 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.

The first thing Saul tried to do was blame shift. They did it. It wasn't me. It was the people. It was "them."

Then Saul invoked the quality of the animals. They weren't really that bad. Look. See they are good.

Then Saul tried to use religion as justification: "I saved them to sacrifice to the Lord. It would be a waste if we just killed them all."

But Samuel said to Saul in verse 16 "Stay." Do you know what that means? It means (kid's plug your ears) "Shut up Saul." Be quiet. Stop making excuses.

You know, we are really good at justifying our sin. We are really good at it. We do exactly what Saul did here:

• We blame other people - it's not my fault. He made me do it. She made me do it.
• We question the command - see it's really good, it's not bad.
• We invoke false religious justification - I was going to give it to God.

And do you know what God says to our pathetic excuse making? "Stay. Be quiet."

Do you think God didn't see right through Saul? Do you think He didn't see right through Adam in the garden? He sees right through your excuses and my excuses too.

Again, at the heart of our sin, the heart of our excuses, is that we think we are king. We think we are judge. We think we should get to make the rules and we should get to decide how they are applied. But that is God's place.

Every time we do this we are in essence saying:

• "God I don't think you are doing a good job."
• "God, I don't think you have good motives."
• "God, I think I can do better."
• Ultimately, we are saying "God, I don't think you are good."

It's just sin heaped on sin.

• God is the true king and judge, and reserves the right to dispense judgment.
• God is the true king and judge, and He demands full obedience.
• God is the true king and judge, and sees through our pathetic attempts at self-justification.

author: Ryan Hayden

Look at the next thing Samuel says to Saul. This really shows us the heart of all of this: (Verse 17)

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:17 - KJV 17. And Samuel said, 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?

You see, the problem was Saul thought too much of Saul. That was the problem. Too much Saul and not enough God.

So that brings me to the fourth point tonight.

4. God is the true king and judge, and our pride will put us in opposition to Him.

Saul's pride was the problem. Sadly, Saul's pride kept him from truly repenting.

Even after Samuel delivers His word from God, Saul is still in self-justifying mode. He is still blame-shifting, still white washing his sin, still claiming good motives. He cannot say "I was wrong."

In verse 24 Saul gives a "kind" of confession. It starts out good:

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:24 - KJV 24. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words:

But notice the end

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:24 - KJV because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

He is still saying "it was the people's fault."

Now let's contrast that with a real confession. Let's look at David. Psalm 51.

[!bible] Psalms 51:2-4 - KJV 2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

David didn't try to make excuses. He didn't try to sugar coat his sin. He didn't try to shift blame. He said "I sinned against you. It was my sin, my transgressions, my iniquities."

Saul tried to get Samuel to change God's mind. Like it was that easy. As Samuel turned to walk away after announcing that God was taking Saul's kingdom away, Saul grabbed his garment and it tore.

He was holding on too tight. Just like he was holding on too tightly to his pride. And Samuel saw an apt metaphor.

Do you want to see where Saul's heart was? Look at verse 30:

[!bible] 1 Samuel 15:30 - KJV 30. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

Do you know what Saul was concerned about? Looking good. Keeping up his image.

He was proud. His pride led him to sin and put him at emnity with God.

He put himself in this battle with God over who was the king and who was the judge.

And our pride does the same thing for us. We put ourselves in contention with God over who is going to be the king of our life. Who is going to get to make the judgments with us.

When God points it out, too often we hold on so tightly too our pride and it tears our life apart like Samuel's garment.

[!bible] James 4:6 - KJV 6. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

• Are you a humble David or a proud Saul?
• Who is the king in your life?
• Who is the judge in your life?
• Are you justifying incomplete obedience to God?
• How is your pride involved in that?

Let's stand and pray as we consider these things.