Bible Study Notes on 1 Samuel 15: God Rejects Saul as King

It is one of the saddest stories of the Old Testament: God raises up a man, Saul, from the least of the clans of the smallest tribe of Israel (Benjamin) and makes him the first king of Israel. (See 1 Samuel 9:21) Saul becomes powerful and respected and God uses him to do great things for Israel. Six chapters later the Lord rejects him as king because of his disobedience and another (David), is chosen in his place.

In my devotions tonight I found myself reading 1 Samuel 15 and pondering Saul's fall from grace. His disobedience was clear, no question about it. He was ordered to have all the Amalekites killed (see 1 Samuel 15:3), yet he spared the life of King of Agag. He was ordered to kill all over the Amalekites' livestock (cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys), yet he allowed his army to spare the best of the sheep and cattle. (See 1 Samuel 15:9)

Samuel confronts Saul, and Saul does eventually admit his guilt and ask for forgiveness. Look at how contrite he sounds here in 1 Samuel 15:24: "I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord." And then later in 1 Samuel 15:30: "I have sinned."

Saul admitted his guilt. He asked for forgiveness. Why wasn't that good enough?

For it clearly wasn't good enough. Samuel let Saul know right then and there that the Lord had rejected him as king and that it was a completely and utterly done deal, as we say in modern vernacular. "You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!" (see 1 Samuel 15:23, 26) and "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors -- to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." At the end of this chapter we see that Samuel never, ever again attempted to see Saul, though he mourned greatly for him. (See 1 Samuel 15:11, 35)

I think this complete and utter separation of the righteous Samuel from Saul gives us great insight into Saul's character and true spirit, perhaps even as much as Saul's actual words. In 1 Samuel 15 we have one of the most fascinating and insightful conversations between a king and a prophet recorded in the Bible. If we study Saul's words and actions, I think we can understand why saying "I've sinned" and asking for forgiveness in this case wasn't good enough. God sees beyond the words and into the person's heart. Words are just words if one's character is corrupt.

Firstly, Saul greets the prophet with a blessing and a lie.
"The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions." (See 1 Samuel 15:13) This attempt to cover evil with good must have seemed a stench in the Lord's, and Samuel's, nostrils.

When confronted for the first time, Saul blames his soldiers and tries to deflect from his disobedience by appearing religious.
"The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest." (See 1 Samuel 15:15) Saul expected God to be like man, content with "almost" obedience and with being "bribed" with plunder. After all, Saul "almost" did everything the Lord asked of Him. It must have seemed grossly unfair to Saul to be punished for such a "minor" transgression, especially since he was going to be participating in the religious rituals of sacrifice.

When confronted for the second time, Saul lies again, mixing his lies with the truth.
"But I did obey the Lord. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal." (See 1 Samuel 15:20-21) Saul continues to refuse to repent and acknowledge his guilt. His own words condemn him, as he mixes a lie "completely destroyed the Amalekites" with a true statement "brought back Agag their king." The second statement negates and nullifies the first. Saul is a liar and a deceiver.

The Lord, through Samuel, nail's Saul sin to the wall and makes sure there is no way the king can misunderstand why he is being confronted and judged. "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry." (See 1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Even when apparently admitting guilt, Saul continues to blame others.
"I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." (See 1 Samuel 15:24) This is not the speech of a repentant heart. The blaming of other people negates the apparent remorse of "I have sinned." Also, it is very possible Saul was continuing to lie here about why he did not see that all the animals were butchered. He might not have necessarily been afraid of his soldiers, so much as enjoying basking in their attention and gratitude for letting them keep the plunder. We can see evidence that he was a glory-hound in that he had "set up a monument in his own honor." (see 1 Samuel 15:12)

Saul further shows his arrogance by daring to lay a hand on the Lord's prophet.
"As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore." (See 1 Samuel 15:27) The king, for all his mealy-mouthed words, did not really respect Samuel's authority. If he had, he never would have dared to touch him physically.

Even after being told the Lord has rejected him, Saul only cares about appearances.
"I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God." (See 1 Samuel 15:30) Saul has been rejected by the Lord because of his sin, and yet all he cares about is that if Samuel leaves before the sacrifice, the king will look bad before his people. His heart is clearly hard; there is no repentance here.

Even after being told exactly what his sin was, Saul makes no attempt to correct it.
Saul knows that his disobedience before the Lord was two-fold, that he let Agag live and that he did not have all of the Amalekites' animals killed. Because he cared more about appearances, he went to do the religious sacrifices with Samuel (completely disregarding the prophet's rebuke about how obedience is better than sacrifice), rather than doing what he should have done immediately after their conversation was over: kill Agag. Instead Samuel has to step in on the Lord's behalf and do Saul's work for him. (See 1 Samuel 15:33)

In case you are possibly still harboring some sympathy for Saul and thinking the Lord harsh to do this apparent "one strike you're out" in regards to Saul's disobedience and unrepentance, back up a few chapters and read 1 Samuel 13:1-14. Here you will find the earlier story of how Saul disobeyed Samuel by doing a sacrifice without him and was justly rebuked and warned about the consequences of his not obeying the Lord's command. Saul was given amble time to learn his lesson and repent, but instead he chose rebellion, arrogance, and fear of man over obedience to God and in time it cost him his sanity, his life, and his sons the throne.

Blessings!

Sources
Women's Devotional Bible. New International Version
Compton's Interactive Bible NIV