1 Samuel 15 God Regrets Making Saul King

Intro:

This is a pivotal chapter in the story of Saul.

The Lord gave him another opportunity to prove himself, but he failed again, lied about it, and was judged.

Saul had a habit of substituting saying for doing and of making excuses instead of confessing his sins.

No matter what happened, it was always somebody else’s fault.

He was more concerned about looking good before the people than being good before God

Read 1 Samuel 15:1-5

I. One Last Chance vs. 1-9

vs. 1 Sent to Anoint

This is the spiritual leader of Israel giving a word of the Lord to the Military leader

Samuel is not putting himself above God, but performing the duties of the prophet

Saul has a history of not doing what God tells him

Saul was given one last chance to do right by god

God is a patient God, slow to anger

We see that with Saul and the Amalekites

vs. 2-3 Destroy Amalekites

The orders from Samuel?

Destroy the Amalekites

He wants Saul to destroy everything including the animals

The Amalekites descended from Esau, the unbelieving brother of Jacob and the enemy of the Jewish people.

The army of Amalek attacked the Jews shortly after Israel left Egypt, and they were defeated because God heard Moses’ prayers and helped Joshua’s army.

At that time, the Lord declared perpetual war against Amalek and Balaam prophesied Amalek’s ultimate defeat

Some people find it difficult to believe that the Lord would command an entire nation to be destroyed just because of what their ancestors had done centuries before.

Some of these critics may depend more on sentiment than on spiritual truth, not realizing how long-suffering the Lord had been with these nations and how unspeakably wicked they were

Nations like the Amalekites who wanted to exterminate the Jews weren’t just waging war on Israel; they were opposing Almighty God and His great plan of redemption for the whole world.

vs. 4-5 210,000 soldiers

Saul summoned the armies and 210K showed up

There is some debate about this number

It is noticeably smaller than when he had 300K

Maybe Saul’s influence is waning

vs. 6 Warns Kenites

Before Saul attacks he warns the Kenites

Knowing God’s covenant with Abraham, Saul allowed the Kenites to escape because they had befriended Israel.

They were descendants of the Midianites, and Moses married a Midianite woman

vs. 7 Saul defeats Amalekites

Saul defeated the Amalekites as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt

That sounds like Saul went a long way

Havilah is along the Red Sea

The wording here is interesting because it could also mean the road to Shur

He wasn’t careful to obey God’s will.

vs. 8-9 Keeps king alive

So far so good for Saul

Maybe he has finally got the obedience thing down… errr wait a second

Do I hear something?

He keeps the king alive?!?

Everything that was vile and worthless he destroyed, but he permitted King Agag to live, and he allowed the Israelite soldiers to save “the best” of the flocks and herds.

But if the Lord says something is condemned, how can we say it’s “the best”?

Isa. 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil”

Serving God acceptably involves doing the will of God in the right way, at the right time, and for the right motive.

God had given Saul another chance and he had failed miserably.

II. Saul is About Saul vs. 10-16

vs. 10-11 God regrets making Saul King

God speaks to Samuel and expresses his regret for making Saul king

He doesn’t follow God

He hasn’t obeyed the commandments

This makes Samuel angry and he remains that way the rest of his life

Samuel warned the people about wanting a king

He had worked with Saul to improve his performance

Now Saul has failed his final chance and Samuel knows God isn’t turning back

vs. 12 Saul makes a monument to himself

Meanwhile, Saul is making a monument to himself

Samuel is on his way to meet with Saul and Saul is celebrating his victory

It’s amazing how quick Saul is to pump himself up, but even quicker to blame others for his failures

vs. 13-15 What is that bleating of sheep?

Saul sees Samuel approaching and declares his obedience

Imagine the arrogance

He knows he hasn’t listened, he defeats the Amalekites, and brings the booty back

Then declares how good he has done

Samuels response?

“What is this bleating of sheep I hear?”

Saul then blames the Israelites

They weren’t give the Word from the Lord, Saul was

But He is blaming them for keeping the animals

Then throws in they were going to use them for sacrifices

III. Saul’s Rebuke vs. 16-23

vs. 16-19 Samuel Speaks

Does Samuel’s emphatic “Stop!” suggest that Saul was turning away, or does it mean “Stop telling lies”?

Perhaps both are true, for Saul had no great desire to discuss his affairs with Samuel.

But Samuel had a message from the Lord, and Saul knew he had better listen.

The day would come when Saul would give anything to hear a word from the Lord

1 Samuel 28:4–6 ESV

The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

vs. 20-21 Saul’s Excuses

He was to annihilate a nation that for centuries had done evil, but he ended up doing evil himself.

Confronted with this accusation, Saul began to argue with God’s servant and deny that he had done wrong.

For the second time he lied when he said, “I have obeyed for the second time he blamed his army ; and for the second time he used the feeble excuse of dedicating the spared animals as sacrifices for the Lord

vs. 22-23 Obedience better than Sacrifice

The prophet rejected all three lies and explained why God couldn’t accept the animals as legitimate sacrifices: the Lord wants living obedience from the heart, not dead animals on the altar.

God doesn’t need any donations from us, and the sacrifice He desires is a broken and contrite heart (51:16–17).

Sacrifice without obedience is only hypocrisy and empty religious ritual

Jeremiah 7:22–23 ESV

For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft

Because Saul rejected the word of the Lord, God has rejected him as being king

This is the second of three times we will hear Saul being rejected

IV. Saul’s Regret vs. 24-35

vs. 24-25 Pardon my Sin

King Saul now moves from “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord” (v. 20) to “I have sinned.”

However, this was not a true expression of repentance and sorrow for sin

He was obviously more concerned about his reputation with the people than his character before God, and that is not the attitude of a man truly broken because of sin.

Saul also admitted that he spared Agag and the animals because he feared the people instead of fearing the Lord and His commandment.

But this was just another indication that he was more interested in being popular with people than in pleasing God.

vs. 26-29 Lord has torn kingdom from Saul

As Samuel turned away, Saul clutched at the tassels on the hem of his garment and tore the prophet’s robe

Samuel used the occurrence as an object lesson and announced that God had torn the kingdom from Saul’s hand.

Samuel called the Lord “the Strength of Israel,” a name that speaks of God’s glory, eminence, and perfection.

1 Samuel 15:29 NKJV

And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

How could such a wonderful God be guilty of changing or of telling lies?

The Lord had announced that Saul would lose the kingdom, and nothing could change His mind.

vs. 30-31 Honor Me

The Word of God simply did not penetrate Saul’s mind and heart, and he continued to worry about maintaining his reputation rather than getting right with the Lord.

Why Samuel changed his mind and decided to worship with Saul is a bit of a mystery

vs. 32-33 Samuel hacks Agag

Samuel publicly butchered King Agag and in that way let it be known that the king had failed to fulfill his commission.

vs. 34-35 Samuel Never sees Saul again

Samuel returned to his home in Ramah and Saul to his home in Gibeah, and Samuel made no more trips to see the king, either publicly or privately