1 Samuel 15 4/5
24 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.
Now, we wonder why a King would fear people, but Saul was young, and his advisors may have been elders. All kings have advisors. Maybe Saul was intimidated. In the end, a small deviation from a high-up Leader is significant in the Lord's sight. Nevertheless, we see repentance from Saul.
Technicalities of his repentance:
1. "I have sinned." This is a good beginning for genuine repentance — the acknowledgement. We do the same when we sin. We accept the fact that it is what it is and we are therefore sinners.
2. "For I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord." This is also a part of true repentance. Instead of an easier blanket/general regret, he identifies what he has transgressed. We should do the same. In this instance, the commandment was already known…the first, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
He feared the people more than God, and OBEYED THEIR VOICE. They were put on the throne and God removed from it. Some of us have done this many times in life, but it is a boldness we must grow into; that is, the courage to endorse God and His Word above everyone or everything else.
It was God who rescued us and placed us in these high positions of workers in His Kingdom. No person did that so why do we fear them?
We fear the loss that comes with crossing them, whether financial or friendship, so we prefer to break the Lord's commandment because we cannot see Him and, of course, we think He will forgive us. Believe it or not, but in those instances we use the theory of situation ethics, a twist on the truth to get us out of trouble. But, in essence, we are replacing Him on His throne.
3. We adhere to our repentance, thus establishing it as real.
Did Saul do that? Or did he go back on his repentance and pursue God's anointed, David, to kill him?
In effect, although he would never have admitted it, he was pursuing God to kill Him, considering God had interrupted his kingship. Many other kings and so-called priests did the same throughout the Bible. They believed that the prophets who challenged them, as Samuel did to Saul, would discontinue their highly profitable reign, so they must die.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being King over Israel.
This is a sobering reminder of Matthew 24, where people cry out to the Lord for entry into the kingdom but are also rejected. Saul was neither faithful nor wise. He rewrote his Bible, thereby rejecting the word of the Lord. Like a workplace owner whose disobedient manager left them no other option but to sack him, Saul left God no other choice but to send His envoy to do the same thing, remove him from office.
27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the Kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
And there we have the incoming of King David.
Today's prayer: Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I haven't always put your throne of Glory first, but, during conversations, have buckled to the voice of others. Please help me with my inner strength to hold myself accountable. Thank you again for keeping your kingdom free of wickedness, and thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ, without which, I would be lost.
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