When thou wast little in thine own sight
1 Sam. 15:16 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?
As we can see from the text these are words spoken by Samuel the prophet to Saul the king. The occasion being that Samuel had received instructions from the LORD God to give to Saul. Samuel indeed delivered the instructions to Saul. The instructions may sound a bit harsh to us today, but since they came from the LORD God we must bow down to the fact that they are holy, just & right. We know that the Judge of the earth will always do right. He’s to just to do wrong and He’s too wise to make a mistake.
The reason for the instructions to Saul is noted in v2:
1 Sam. 15:2 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.
The account of the Amalekite ambush is recorded in Deuteronomy 25:17-18:
Deut. 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; 18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
The instructions to Saul are noted in v3:
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.
The way Saul carried out his orders is noted in v7-9:
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.
The LORD assessed Saul’s performance in v11:
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.
Saul assessed his own performance in v13:
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.
Samuel questions Saul’s statement v14:
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
Saul insists that he has obeyed v15:
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.
Samuel’s reveals the LORD God’s mind?
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?
As we read through this account it probably seems so obvious to our minds that Saul has plainly and outright disobeyed the Lord. It seems foolish for him to argue the point especially with the bleating of Agag’s sheep and the lowing of Agag’s oxen in the background. When we consider the fact that the Lord had told him to take his army and go into the city of the Amalekites 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, it may well seem to us that disobedience, while not optional, was certainly understandable. Basically his instructions were to destroy everything that moved. In our time and in our environment it may be hard for us to imagine participating in the wholesale slaughter of an entire nation. It may be hard for us to imagine killing women, children, senior citizens, invalids and newborn babies. In fact today we protest our soldiers behaving in such a manner when they go off to war. We expect them to govern themselves by a moral standard that is too high to allow such action. More and more we are insisting that if they must be punished if they fail to maintain the acceptable code of ethics. Now I’m certainly not suggesting that we should totally annihilate nations we war with. We have no such mandate from God. But what I am suggesting is that we may be more like Saul than we realize. Saul was not a master of a high code of ethics. He was the victim of a “SELECTIVE CODE OF ETHICS”. His code of ethics allowed him to pick and choose what he thought was right. His code of ethics allowed him to go with the flow. If you will, notice this: Saul had no problem killing all those people. In fact he did kill all but the king. But it just didn’t seem right to slaughter all those perfectly good animals. Even though the LORD said to kill them, Saul thought he had a better idea in this situation, to offer them as a sacrifice.
THE LORD HAS A UNIVERSAL CODE OF ETHICS.
Rom. 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
THE LORD HAS A PRIORITIZED CODE OF ETHICS.
Matt. 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Luke 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
THE LORD REVEALS THE #1 CAUSE FOR SAUL’S DISOBEDIENCE.
HE WASN’T SMALL IN HIS OWN SIGHT
He was small at one time.
He wasn’t small any more.
He was to big to submit