“Thy God”

And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? (1 Samuel 15:14 KJV)

Saul had been commanded to wipe out the Amalekites. Everything had to go, the people, the livestock – nothing was to be left. Yet, Samuel could hear sheep and oxen. Obviously, a job left undone. Samuel called that to Saul’s attention:

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. (1 Samuel 15:18 KJV)

No – I’m not going to discuss why God would have destroyed a whole people, though I may revisit that in another post.  I want to look at two specific thoughts that came from this chapter.

First comes almost at the end of the story, after Samuel has told Saul that his kingdom would be given to another:

Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. (1 Samuel 15:30 KJV)

Notice the last two words.  Saul doesn’t say “that I may worship the Lord my God.”  He used the same “thy God” in an earlier verse:

But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:21 KJV)

That leads me to the second thought – what brought Saul into this situation:

And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (1 Samuel 15:24 KJV)

He used the people as his excuse earlier:

But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:21 KJV)

As their king, it was his responsibility to lead – not to follow what his people wanted. Obedience is greater than sacrifices:

And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22 KJV)

A lack of obedience is rebellion.  Saul’s had consequences:

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Samuel 15:23 KJV)

Had Saul looked upon Him as “The LORD my God,” then followed His commandments as such, the lack of obedience could have been avoided.  I know from my own experience that maintaining a close relationship to my Lord assists in being obedient. I need to be closer.