1 Samuel 15
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?
A person can get used to being disobedient e.g. a child who gets reprimanded continually because of his disobedience. Eventually that child goes to school and the teacher sits with the problem.
If a child is not bent and learns to humble himself at home he becomes very difficult later in life.
Disobedience also has its reward.
In our text we read of a man of God who did not keep the instructions of God. It is one thing to disregard the instructions of your superior here on earth but totally different if you show disregard for God.
God is holy and He expects us to be holy.
Saul’s story is amazing. God chose him and gave him His Spirit. Saul was humble and didn’t see himself worthy of the honour bestowed on him.
Saul started off very well. God worked through him and gave Israel the victory. He overcame many nations.
But as time went on he became used to things and placed his trust in himself and his own ability.
Eventually he disregarded God’s word and did what was good and right in his own sight. He feared the people more than God.
He returned victorious from the Amalekites but was totally oblivious that he had disobeyed God and that God was greatly displeased with him.
Even when he greeted Samuel he greeted him with a lie that he had done the commandments of the Lord. When Samuel challenged him he continued with his sins by shifting the blame to the people, “They wanted to keep the best of the livestock”. He did exactly like his forefathers when Adam blamed his wife and she blamed the serpent.
You might also be placed in a position of authority and hide your failure from others. But there is One who sees right through your hypocrisy and lies. You cannot hide your sin from God. He sees everything.
Samuel still cried for Saul but God instructed Samuel not to waste his time with someone who had been rejected. Saul rejected God’s commands and God rejected him from being king.
God expects us to hallow His Name at all times. Moses hit the rock when God instructed him to speak to the rock and because of that he could not enter the promised land.
We might say that God is harsh, but He gave His own life so that we can be delivered from our sins and receive everlasting life. He gave His life so that we can receive the power to hallow His Name.
Maybe you’ve destroyed all the ugly and lean sins in your life but the king of those sins and all the sins which seem nice and profitable you have spared. Unless God is gracious to you to be delivered from those sins you too will be rejected and destroyed because of those sins.
Disobedience to God usually goes together with pride. A person is ashamed to acknowledge his failure and shortcomings lest others should despise him.
The outcome of disobedience is very heartsore. Think of Jonah. Think of the two sons of Aaron who brought a strange fire before the Lord and was consumed by God’s fire.
These strange fires can come in so subtlety without us noticing it. They come in through the radio, TV or internet. Although those things are done in secret, their outcome is seen in the life of a person whose spiritual life ebbs away.
Rather turn to Him today Who has given us His only Son so that we might be delivered from our sins and hallow His Name.