God’s rejection of Saul

In the Bible, the story of God’s rejection of Saul in 1 Samuel 15 is one of the hardest stories to read.  From the advantage point of all these many years later it is easy to see where Saul started to get off track.  God had made him king and the adoration of the people convinced him that God had definitely made the correct choice.  He was royalty.  He had a few victories under his belt and the power to make decisions.  He knew God was with him because he had been the least in his family, his family had been the least of the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of Benjamin was the least of all of the tribes of Israel (1 Samuel 9:21).  Surely God had not made a mistake when He picked Saul. Even Samuel, the man of God had confirmed that he was God’s choice to be king of the nation of Israel and anointed his head with oil before the people.  Not surprisingly, Saul maintained as long as he remembered from where God had brought him.  In the early days of being king, he listened diligently to hear God’s voice and he obeyed when God spoke.  However, there came a time when Saul made the fateful choice to listen to his own leading and to what the people wanted him to do.  Each incident involved disobedience concerning the sacrifice.  Twice Saul offered a sacrifice that was not pleasing to God.  First, his impatience caused him to unlawfully offer up what only Samuel has been instructed to do.  Secondly, his pride got the better of him when he made the decision to keep what God had instructed him to destroy.  First Samuel 15:3 indicates the directives were clear to totally destroy the Amalekites and everything they owned.  The spoil was to be a sacrifice to God and was not for Saul or the people to touch.  Instead of obeying the Word of the Lord they kept the best for themselves and decided to give a portion to God as a sacrifice.  Had Saul been obedient his kingdom would have been established forever.  Clearly, as stated in 1 Samuel 15:22, “obedience is better than sacrifice.”  Impatience, peer pressure and pride will cause us to make foolish mistakes, just as they did Saul, if we let them.  When we obey, we choose to give our best and that is what God asks of us.