Truth in Love

Samuel.

Today I read about Samuel and Saul.

Samuel is the messenger, but more than the messenger he is the friend; the brother.

In 1st Samuel 15, Saul is supposed to go and take over the Amalekites and spare NOTHING.

If you don't know who the Amalekites are they are the people who attacked the Israelites on their journey to the Promise Land from Egypt. 

“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget."

Deuteronomy 25:17-19

They came from behind and attacked the weak. 

The Lord promises to give the Israelites rest and then blot out remembrance of Amalek.

Don't mess with God's chosen people.

So, here we are in 1 Samuel 15 where the Lord is fulfilling His promise.

Saul, anointed as King, is given a message from Samuel to take over Amalek.

Destroy EVERYTHING.

"Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

1 Samuel 15:2-3

Spare nothing.

Samuel brings this message and off Saul goes.

However, when Saul returns he has destroyed all, EXCEPT:

The King, Agag, and 

the the best of livestock.

I don't know about you but I think "spare nothing" means two different things to Saul & the Lord.

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

1 Samuel 15:9

Not only that but Saul proceeds to build a monument for himself.

Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,  “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 

1 Samuel 15:10-11

Samuel grieved.

His heart was tender and invested in Saul.

Now He must speak truth in love to Saul.

It broke Samuel's heart to have to speak such an unbearable truth.

But, the truth is the truth and Samuel was obedient to the Lord.

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

And he said to him, “Speak on.”

So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’  Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.  But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

So 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 heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He also has rejected you from being king.”

1 Samuel 15:16-23

I imagine saying that last sentence to Saul was one of the hardest things He has ever had to say.

You are rejected.

You are not accepted.

You have rejected the Lord's heart and now He rejects you.

I believe that while Samuel is saying these things he wants to scream,

"I still love you!"

"Why are you choosing disobedience?!" 

"Stop being full of pride Saul!"

The truth hurts.

Speak truth in love.

I believe that if you are not grieved in speaking a truth such as this you are not tenderhearted.

You should not be speaking that truth.

Samuel felt every pain that Saul was receiving.

Samuel chose obedience but He never lost his love for Saul.

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

 But 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.”

And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”  So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:24-31

I can see the pain in Samuel's eyes as I read this.

He must choose to reject Saul as Saul rejected the Lord.

But it is all in love.

I never thought that a rejection could be so loving.

So loving that Saul worships the Lord.

Samuel speaks truth in love and is so obedient that Saul worships.

Samuel, sweet Samuel.

I want a heart like this man.

A man who is so rich in love and obedience that his rejection leads to worship. What a hope that the Lord allows Samuel to hold on to.

Samuel turns back to worship instead of bitterness and hatred.

The Lord knows what He is doing all we have to do is yield. 

Now Samuel must finish what was promised.

Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.

And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.  And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15:32-35

The Lord ALWAYS keeps His promises.

Agag's comment makes my heart cringe.

"Surely the bitterness of death is past."

No, the Lord doesn't forget His people.

The Lord fulfilled His promise, and Samuel never forgets Saul.

I know this is super long but you must know that speaking truth in love is what we are called to do.

It is so easy to allow pride to dictate truth.

It's easy to know truth and speak it but without love it only causes hardened hearts.

Speaking truth in love leads to healing, restoration and repentance.

I'm not sure where Saul's heart was after that but I believe the Lord did not forget Him. We all make mistakes and allow our human nature to get the best of us. I believe that the Lord offers hope to us just as He did to Samuel when Samuel turned back to see Saul worshipping.

When we allow our hearts to be tender and vulnerable the truth might hurt, but it creates a new world of healing.

I often stop myself from saying something that I know is truth because, though it may sound righteous, my heart isn't right and until it is I cannot speak truth in love.

  So my friend,

Think before you speak truth.

Where is your heart?

Is it tender? Loving? Pure? 

If so, carry on and let truth reveal itself.

If not, lay your heart before the Lord.

Let Him reveal Himself and when the time comes to reveal truth you will know.