“21.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. 22. 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. 23. 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 as being king.”
King Saul has been given some very clear direction! Go into Amalek and destroy everything; I Samuel 15:3 “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” Amalek has been an enemy of Israel since the departure from Egypt. God has had enough of them and He has given direction to wipe this sinful nation away. We can all apply this thought to our lives of sin. God does not want us to live with any sin in our lives at all. When we deal with sin, we must remove it all. When we refuse to deal with all the sin in our lives it is most certain it will begin to grow again! The mistake king Saul made is that he looked to the things that he thought were good and kept them for himself. King Saul would have been wise to hearken unto the voice of God, but He chose to follow his eyes and his heart. Going back to the garden of Eden we can remember that Eve made this same mistake, rather than obey God, she chose to take a peak at what she thought was good; Genesis 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” We must obey God, when we begin to look at the things God tells us to get away from, we will find ourselves in a world of destruction. Sin always hinders us from God’s work. Verse 22 of the main context is the focus of today; “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.” Israel thought that offering these animals of the Amalekites as a sacrifice would please God, but God was more interested in obedience than the offering. A good example in todays world would be like skipping church on Sunday to go hunting so you could provide the wild game at your church dinner at the end of the month, or even being able to be a blessing to others in your church by giving them some wild game. That thought may be good, but God is more interested in obedience. Look at what God says about being in church; Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;…” Another example could be playing the lottery. Some say to themselves, “If I could just win the lottery I could give more to the church.” God is more concerned about obeying than how much you can give.” I Timothy 6:8-10 “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Don’t overlook the simple things that God wants from us. Obey God! Trust Him, even when you may not understand! Many times our intentions may be good, but if its against God’s leading, its nothing more that sin. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…”
Memory Verse Week 1/13/19
I Samuel 15:22
“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.”
nice deer