1 Samuel 15

v.3

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.‘”

The Amalekites, in their persistent refusal to fear God (Dt 25:18), sowed the seeds of their own destruction. God is patient and slow to anger, “abounding in love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6); he nevertheless “does not leave the guilty unpunished” (v.7). The agent of divine judgementcan be impersonal (e.g., the Flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah) or personal (as here), and in his sovereign purpose God permits entire families or nations to be destroyed if their corporate representatives are incorrigibly wicked (cf. Jos 7:1, 10-13, 24-26).

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v.9

But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

When reproved by Samuel for not slaughtering even the best animals (vv.14, 19), Saul gave the excuse that his “soldiers” (vv.15, 21) intended to sacrifice them to the Lord. If Saul is sincere at this point, his reluctance to accept responsibility and his haste to shift the blame to his men are disquietingly reminiscent of similar situations (Ge 3:12-13; Ex 32:21-24). The text, however, states that Saul and his men are “unwilling” to destroy—a verb specifically linked elsewhere with the sin of rebellion (Dt 1:26).

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God’s desire to empower and use willing hearts is complementary for his detest for the unwilling whose sin is their rebellion to all God has called them to do.

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v.11

“I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

v.19

Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?”

College.

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v.22

But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

See also v 17.

v.23

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

v.24-25

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the LORD’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. ²⁵Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

v.29

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”

v.35

Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.