1 Samuel 15:8-14
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.
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?
When aligning ones commitment to God with what God has commanded to be done, one would be well advised to pay attention to the spirit of what God wants done as well as the letter. Examples exist in the bible that what God’s establishes we are not at liberty to alter or adjust. I am disturbed that the news media and the general public has chosen to cast an image of heroism on a man who has openly admitted that he has chosen a homosexual lifestyle. I am equally disturbed by the tolerance of society with the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars (Rev. 21:8) I get the impression that society is under the misperception that because they are willing to accept new moral standards that God is willing to also. In this case the good news and the bad news are the same; God has not changed. That’s good news for those who are committing their lives to trying to live as God prescribes; you have not struggled to live this way in vain. The bad news is that if an individual has chosen to live outside of Gods will they will be lost because God had not changed. There is a critical danger in doing “almost” doing what God commands us to do.
In 1 Samuel 8 we find an incident that forever changed Israel’s course – and it was a change for the worse.
1. 1 Samuel 8:1-7
a. They rejected God as their King and wanted to be like the nations around them.
b. They were warned of the results of this kind of rebellion… 1 Samuel 8:18-19
2. Saul was the people’s choice to be their first king
a. Saul’s reign was filled with one indiscretion after another.
God tells Samuelthat He is very grieved with the fact that Saul, whom He appointed king, would not follow Him. (Saul could not loose himself in the surrounding circumstances and neither can we.)
b. Saul was disobedient; Some might say, “The ends justify the means,” but God says it is simply disobedience.
3. Saul begs Samuel to stay to help him go to the Lord to ask for forgiveness; Samuel said NO. He says, “You rejected God, now God rejects you. Saul evidently thought that doing only part of God’s command was alright.
4. Samuel informed Saul that to do a part of God’s will to the neglect of other commands is doing evil
5. There are many in the world who think they are doing the good, but are only partially obedient – therefore do evil.
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