The Fall of the King

Prayer and Fasting for persecuted Church...

God desires our heartfelt obedient worship to Him, our King, with our whole lives.

1 Samuel 15:22–23 (ESV)

22 And Samuel said, “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

PRAY...

Recap:

Saul went to battle,

God commanded he wipe out the Amalekites,

Saul disobeyed and spared Agag and the best of the spoils.

God’s Displeasure (vs. 10-11)

Regret - beginning and ending of our text today...

1 Samuel 15:11 ESV

11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.

1 Samuel 15:35 ESV

35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Outside of this passage, this Hebrew Word is only translated regret in one other place,

Genesis 6:6 ESV

6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

God is not saying, I regret, not because I made a mistake. He is saying I regret, I am sorrowful because Saul and all mankind, as in Genesis 6, turned away from Him and did not follow His commands.

We see this confirmation regarding the character of God, inside of our text today when Samuel says to Saul,

1 Samuel 15:29 ESV

29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”

and outside of our text in,

Numbers 23:19 ESV

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Change His mind = Same word

1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart The Problem of Repentance

He is not a “you win some, you lose some” god. Nonchalance is never listed as an attribute of the true God.

If God is regretting, due to making a mistake and having to walk it back, then we don’t have Omniscient God but a partial knowing God who reacts due to decisions people make. Instead of the all knowing unchanging God who is angry, grieved, and sorrowful over sin as our text and the rest of the Bible describes.

So when it says,

1 Samuel 15:11 ESV

11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.

We see God’s displeasure and sorrow over Saul’s sin and now we see,

God’s Desire (vs. 12-23)

Samuel confronts Saul over his disobedience and Saul makes excuses, blames people and says that they disobeyed so they can make sacrifices to the Lord, then Samuel says,

1 Samuel 15:22–23 ESV

22 And Samuel said, “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

God desires obedience to His commands, God views Saul’s partial obedience as rebellion and presumption as iniquity and idolatry.

Divination = understand, control, and manipulate God, His will, and His commands.

Presumption on God , “God will be OK with this” = same as iniquity/doing evil and idolatry/worshipping other God’s

These are serious charges! This shows why God is not pleased when we disobey. When we disobey God ultimately we are saying that I am King and you are not.

Throne - You or Jesus?

Circumstances don’t matter.

Consequences for Saul:

1 Samuel 15:26–28 ESV

26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

God disciplines Saul by removing Him as King and saying that He will give it to another, who is better than Him.

David is the better one but the fulfillment is ultimately in the one who obeys perfectly, the second David, Jesus.

GOSPEL - Hatred of sin and rebellion, mercy for those found in Jesus.

This needs to bring us hope because how often to we feel like Saul?

I obey but...

I’m selfish

I’m manipulative

I’m controlling

Though you are those things, because of Jesus you are still a Child of the King. There may be times you are like Saul and discipline comes your way, your position is secure and because of that we should be motivated to not be like Saul and that is what we see at the end of the text.

1 Samuel 15:32–35 ESV

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Samuel kills Agag

One goes one way and the other goes another.

Saul’s reign is over and now it is just a matter of time for it to come to pass.

Samuel was obedient to do what God had commanded of Saul. Samuel understood that one who is committed to the Lord is committed to His commands.

So when we look at this text today we see,

God desires our heartfelt, obedient worship to Him, our King, with our whole lives.