QT 11/25/2022 1 Sam 15:1-9, Tests reveal the true me

1 Samuel 15:1-4,7–9 (ESV) —

1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

… 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

 

NOTE: This is a difficult passage, but for God it has been almost 400 years since the event, and apparently Amalekites had neither confessed their sin nor turned from their idol worship in that time. God gave the Amorites, people of the land, 400 years as well.

 

Genesis 15:16 (ESV) — And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

 

The command is a test. Samuel has already prophesied that the kingdom would be taken from Saul. I'm not sure what would have happened if Saul had passed the test. And then again, maybe the test was not for God, since he already knew Saul's heart, but rather for Saul -- to reveal to Saul his own sinful heart. Saul was given a command -- destroy everything. He saw all the riches of the Amalekites, "he best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good" -- and he chose the things of the world over the command of God. Would God had not given him, Saul, so much more if he had only obeyed? Saul chose what he could see, the here, now, and temporal, rather than the future unseen hope he could have in God. Saul does repent in tears, but it is not a true repentance. It is a repentance of "being caught."

 

PONDER:

1. What am I really living for -- God or things?
2. God tests us to show us our true heart. Do I truly recognize how evil my heart is?

 

PRAYER: Father, David used to pray:

 

Psalm 139:23b–24 (ESV) — 23b … Try me and know my thoughts!

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

 

David knew his heart. He did not want sin to separate him from his relationship to God. We are all sinners in daily need of cleansing and renewal. Father, forgive me for my sin. Give me grace to live this day for you.