1 Samuel 15-16
We are being taught a very important thing in the verses that tell us of Saul’s rise and fall. He starts out as a righteous king doing the Lord’s work. When he starts experiencing success, his focus shifts to himself.
In 1 Samuel 15:12 he “sat him up a place”. My attention was drawn to the true purpose of this place. He created a monument to himself so the people would see his greatness! It wasn’t the Lord he was giving credit for their success. Where is Saul’s heart? Is he being obedient to God?
And then Saul lies and tries to justify his actions. He plays the blame game. V24 He recognizes he disobedience because he was seeking the approval of the people. Good coaches and good leaders take the blame when things go wrong; they give credit to the Lord and the team when they go well.
Chapter 16 – v9, the Lord looks on the heart. God chooses His leaders because of their goodness. God chooses people fully in line with His teachings — 100%.
My take away from this morning’s study: We must align ourselves to the will of God. He knows the end from the beginning and He has a work for us to do. We can choose to be part of that work or fall to our demise as did Saul. Even though annihilating an entire city seems like a pretty drastic order to me, it was saving some of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord that was the problem. I can imagine what they were thinking: “Why should we destroy these perfectly good animals. They aren’t the problem; it’s the people!” Do the words “Exactness and Honor” come to mind? They should. It should be something we think of every day. Are my thoughts and actions in line with the Lord’s will. Is it His work I’m doing? Am I taking the credit for the success? Think on this. “Obey is better than sacrifice.”
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