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.