Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 15:13
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
13. Blessed be thou of the Lord] Cp. Gen 14:19; Gen 24:31; Rth 3:10; 2Sa 2:5. Saul attempts to conciliate Samuel with a friendly greeting. His conscience can scarcely have been so hardened that he was insensible of his sin.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gilgal being within 15 miles of Ramah, Samuel might easily have come from Ramah that morning. Self-will and rashness had hitherto been Sauls chief faults. He now seems to add falsehood and hypocrisy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Blessed be thou of the Lord; I thank thee, and I beg that God would bless thee, for sending me upon this employment, and giving me this opportunity of manifesting my obedience to God.
I have performed the commandment of the Lord, to wit, for the main and substance of it, to wit, the extirpation of that wicked people; for he thought the sparing of Agag and the cattle very inconsiderable in the case, though indeed it was expressly contrary to Gods command; but self-interest made him exceeding partial in his own cause: or else, like a bold hypocrite, he pretends that for his part he had obeyed God; resolving, it seems, to cast the blame upon the people, as he did.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13-23. Saul said unto him, Blessedbe thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of theLordSaul was either blinded by a partial and delusiveself-love, or he was, in his declaration to Samuel, acting the partof a bold and artful hypocrite. He professed to have fulfilled thedivine command, and that the blame of any defects in the executionlay with the people. Samuel saw the real state of the case, and indischarge of the commission he had received before setting out,proceeded to denounce his conduct as characterized by pride,rebellion, and obstinate disobedience. When Saul persisted indeclaring that he had obeyed, alleging that the animals, whosebleating was heard, had been reserved for a liberal sacrifice ofthanksgiving to God, his shuffling, prevaricating answer called fortha stern rebuke from the prophet. It well deserved itfor thedestination of the spoil to the altar was a flimsy pretexta grossdeception, an attempt to conceal the selfishness of the originalmotive under the cloak of religious zeal and gratitude.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Samuel came to Saul,…. At Gilgal:
and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord; signifying that he had abundant reason to bless the Lord on his account, not only that he had anointed him king, but had sent him on such an errand, in which he had succeeded so well, and it was a pleasure to him that he might report it to him:
I have performed the commandment of the Lord; either he was really ignorant that he had done amiss; and thought that his sparing Agag, when he had destroyed all the rest, and reserving some of the best of the cattle for sacrifice, could not be interpreted a breach of the orders given him; or if he was conscious he had broken the commandment of the Lord, this he said to prevent Samuel’s reproof of him, and to sooth him with flattering words.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Samuel met him there, Saul attempted to hide his consciousness of guilt by a feigned friendly welcome. “ Blessed be thou of the Lord ” (vid., Rth 2:20; Gen 14:19, etc.) was his greeting to the prophet; “ I have set up the word of Jehovah.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES
1Sa. 15:4. Telaim. Most likely the same as Telem (Jos. 15:21; Jos. 15:24), a city lying on the eastern border of Judah, and therefore near the territory of the Amalekites. Ten thousand men of Judah. This implies that the two hundred thousand were from the other tribes. (Keil.) The separate mention of the men of Judah shows how little union there was between Judah and Ephraim even at this time; a circumstance which throws light upon the whole after history. (See 2Sa. 11:11). The presence of these men arose, no doubt, from their tribe being the chief sufferers from the inroads of the Amalekites. (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa. 15:6. Kenites. A tribe first mentioned in Gen. 15:19. Their origin is hidden from us, but we may fairly infer that they were a branch of the larger nation of Midian, from the fact that Jethro, who in Exo. 2:15, etc., is represented as priest or prince of Midian, and is in Jdg. 1:16; Jdg. 4:11, as distinctly said to have been a Kenite They were therefore descended immediately from Abraham by his wife Keturah, and in this relationship and the connection with Moses we find the key to their continued alliance with Israel. The important services rendered by the sheikh of the Kenites to Moses during a time of great pressure and difficulty, were rewarded by a promise of firm friendship between the two nations (Num. 10:32). And this promise was gratefully remembered long after (1Sa. 15:6). The connection then commenced lasted as firmly as a connection could last between a settled people like Israel and one whose tendencies were so nomadic as the Kenites. They seem to have accompanied the Israelites in their wanderings (Num. 24:21-22, etc.) But these over, they forsook the neighbourhood of the towns and betook themselves to freer airto the wilderness of Judah, which is to the south of Arad (Jdg. 1:16), where they dwelt among the people of the districtthe Amalekites, who wandered in that dry region, and among whom they were living when Saul made his expedition there. (Smiths Biblical Dictionary.)
1Sa. 15:7. HavilahShur. Havilah, according to Gen. 25:18, the boundary of the Ishmaelites, probably therefore in the south-east on the border of Arabia Petrea and Arabia Felix. Shur is the present wilderness of Jifar, the portion of the Arabian desert bordering on Egypt, into which the Israelites entered after the exodus (Exo. 15:22). Saul thus smote the Amalekites through their territory from south-east towards the west and north-west. (Erdmann.)
1Sa. 15:8. Agag. Evidently a reduplicate variety of the Egyptian Hak (ruler). This was the common title of the Amalekite king. Saul spared him probably to enjoy the glory of displaying so distinguished a captive. Josephus distinctly asserts that the beauty and tallness of his body made so fine an appearance, and Saul admired it so much, that he thought him worthy of preservation (cf. 1Ki. 20:32-34). (Jamieson.) All the people. That is, speaking generally, some survived, of course; the Amalekites appear afterwards, 1Sa. 27:8; 1Sa. 30:1; 2Sa. 8:12. Their complete annihilation is mentioned in 1Ch. 4:43. (Erdmann.)
1Sa. 15:9. Fatlings. Literally of the second tort. Kimchi and others understand the word to denote animals of the second birth, which were thought better than others.
1Sa. 15:13. Samuel came to Saul. In the place (Gilgal) where he had solemnly pledged Saul and the people to unconditional obedience, he now executes judgment for disobedience to the Divine will. (Erdmann.) I have performed, etc. Self-will and rashness have hitherto been Sauls chief faults. He now seems to add falsehood and hypocrisy. (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa. 15:15. The people spared, etc. The falsehood and hypocrisy of these words lay upon the very surface; for even if the cattle spared were really intended as sacrifices to the Lord, not only the people, but Saul also, would have had their own interests in view (vid. 1Sa. 15:9), since the flesh of thank-offerings was appropriated to sacrificial meals. (Keil.) Every word uttered by Saul seems to indicate the breaking down of his moral character. There is something thoroughly mean in his attempt to shift the responsibility of what was done from his own kingly shoulders to those of the people, One feels that after the scene so forcibly described in this chapter, Saul must have forfeited his own self-respect, and that his downward career was henceforth almost inevitable. (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa. 15:17. When thou wast little. The reference here to Sauls own words (1Sa. 9:21), is beyond doubt. It is the humiliating reminder to the haughty Saul of the low position whence he had been elevated to the headship of Israel, and of the modesty and humility which he then possessed. (Erdmann.)
1Sa. 15:18. Sinners. As though God would justify his commission to destroy them. So it is said of the men of Sodom, that they were sinners before the Lord. (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa. 15:19. Fly upon. Expressive of eagerness, passionate craving. (Erdmann.)
1Sa. 15:21. The Lord thy God. As if he had been showing honour to Samuel, as well as to God, when he was disobeying both. (Wordsworth.) As if he had more zeal for the glory of God than was felt by Samuel. (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa. 15:22. Hath the Lord, etc. This fundamental ethical truth is affirmed, with unmistakable reference to these words of Samuel, in the classical passages Psa. 50:8-14; Psa. 51:18-19; Isa. 1:11; Mic. 6:6-8; Hos. 6:6; Jer. 6:20. (Erdmann.) There is a poetical rhythm in the original, which gives it the tone of a Divine oracle uttered by the Spirit of God, imparting to it an awful solemnity, and making it sink deep in the memory of the hearers in all generations. (Wordsworth.)
1Sa. 15:23. Literally, Rebellion is the sin of soothsaying, and opposition is heathenism and idolatry.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPHS.1Sa. 15:4-9; 1Sa. 15:13-23
SAULS SECOND ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE
I. God will not accept a partial obedience to any of His commands. There is nothing strange or unreasonable in this. If a human ruler gives a command, he will not be satisfied if the person to whom he gives it obeys it just so far as it suits his convenience or agrees with his fancy and no farther. Anything less than a whole obedience is no obedience in the estimation of a fellow-creature. If a soldier receives an order from his general to execute a certain military movement, he is not expected to consult his own wishes or his own judgment, but he must sink his own will entirely in the will of his superior, and fulfil his command to the very letter. However stern may be the work to be done, whatever sacrifice of personal feeling may be involved, anything less than an observance of the commandment in its entirety will be counted as grave a crime as the non-observance of the whole. If a father directs his son to perform a given task, and the son executes about half of that which is required of him, the father will consider that his command has been disobeyed. If this is the case with human superiors, it cannot be expected that the Holy and All-wise God, whose commandshowever stern they may sometimes seemare always perfectly just and good, will be satisfied with less than an entire obedience to His commands. He is surrounded by ten thousand faithful and mighty angelic servants, who render to him a perfect and unquestioning service, and although imperfect and sinful creatures cannot offer to Him a service equal to theirs, yet there are Divine commands which men are able to carry out to the letter, and which they must so carry out if they would not incur the penalty of disobedient servants of the Most High. Such a command was that which was here given to Saulit was one which he could obeyone for the non-observance of which he could not plead inabilityone which he did not attempt to say he was unable to perform. His partial obedience was rejectedhis non-observance of all the details of the Divine command was accounted as direct an act of defiance of Gods directions as if he had taken no action whatever against the Amalekites. And so God will ever account compliance with His commands, which is measured not by His requirements but by mans inclinations.
II. Where the condition is not fulfilled which is included in the Divine plan of blessing, God repents, not by changing His mind, but by changing His method in relation to the sinner. It is obvious that God cannot undergo a change of disposition or of motive. He is perfect in goodness, and therefore, in all His dealings with His creatures He must always have their welfare in view. He must always be willing to do for them that which is best for their highest interests. It is not possible for the Ruler of the world to act from any of the unworthy motives which sometimes influence men in their conduct towards each other. And being as infinite in wisdom as He is in goodness, He can have no better plans than His original plans, no second thoughts which are better than His first. When, therefore, God speaks of Himself as repenting, He speaks of a change of His dealings with a man, which are the result of a change in that mans attitude towards Himself. Such a change is quite compatible with an unchangeable character and disposition, and is, indeed, the result of it. To men of the same character Gods attitude is the same now as it was ages ago, and it will be the same to the end of time, and when a mans relations to God are altered it is in consequence of a change in himself, and not in the unchangeable God. There was no change in God when, in consequence of Sauls non-compliance with the conditions of kingship, God rejected him from being king over Israel. He had been anointed by the Lord to be captain over His inheritance (1Sa. 10:1)in other words to be His vicegerent in Israel, and when he refused to act in that capacity God proved His own unchangeableness by changing His method of dealing with him. A purpose of blessing on the part of God towards men always includes a condition to be fulfilled on their part, and a purpose of judgment always includes a continuance on the part of the sinner of the conduct which has provoked the judgment. This is the explanation of the repentance of God in relation to the men of the old world, and in relation to the Ninevites. In the first case God sent judgment because the offenders refused to repent, and in the second instance He revoked His sentence of judgment because the men of Nineveh were willing to forsake their sins and return to Him for pardon. (See Gen. 6:5-6; Jon. 3:10).
III. Obedience is better than the offering to God of any other sacrifice.
1. Because it is a sacrifice of far higher value. Obedience is the giving up of the will to the will of anotherit is therefore the sacrifice of the whole man. When a man has given himself thus to God, he has offered to Him all that he has to offerall his powers of soul and body as well as all his material possessions. This was the sacrifice which Adam offered to his Maker before he sinned, and this is the offering which has been for ages offered to God by His sons who have never at any time resisted His will. This is far more precious, and therefore far more acceptable to the Lord, than thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil (Mic. 6:7), because it is a spiritual and moral sacrifice.
2. It is a sacrifice which can be offered at any time and in any place. The sacrifices of the Levitical law were required to be offered in certain places. A man who desired to sacrifice to the Lord could only do so by coming up to the place appointed, and hence his offerings could only be made at intervals. But obedience is a sacrifice which can always be rendered to Godan expression of love to Him which can be made everywhere and always.
3. It is a sacrifice which every man can offer for himself. Even in Israel there might have been men at times too poor to be able to bring the least costly material offering to the altar of the Lord; but none is ever too poor to offer his will to Godto give himself up to His guidance and submit to His commands. And this is a sacrifice in which there is no need of the intervention of a third personan offering in which every man can be his own priest.
4. It is the sacrifice which alone can make any other sacrifice acceptable. All other offerings without this are vain oblations, and even an abomination (Isa. 1:13) unto Him who owns every beast of the forest and the cattle upon a thousand hills (Psa. 50:10). To expect a Holy and Spiritual Being to be willing to accept anything less than the offering of the heart, is to expect Him to be satisfied with less than would often content a fellow-creature. Many a man would spurn a gift which was not an outcome of inward feeling, and yet Gods creatures sometimes act as if they thought their Maker could be bribed by such an offering.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa. 15:6. Thus does every good thing reward itself; nothing remains forgotten; often in later centuries the seed sown in an old past yet everywhere comes up gloriously, and children and childrens children derive advantage from the good done by their fathers.Schlier.
He that is not less in mercy than in justice, as he challenged Amaleks sin of their succeeding generations so he derives the recompense of Jethros kindness unto his far descended issue.
If we sow good works, succession shall reap them, and we shall be happy in making them so. It is the manner of God, first to separate before He judge, as a good husbandman weeds his corn ere it be ripe for the sickle, and goes to the fan ere he goes to the fire. Why should we not imitate God, and separate ourselves, that we may not be judged; separate not one Kenite from another, but every Kenite from among the Amalekites, else if we will needs live with Amalek we cannot think much to die with him.Bp. Hall.
1Sa. 15:13. Here is a proof that a man may be blinded by his own self-will, and that he may imagine that his own way is right, while it is leading him to the gates of death.Wordsworth.
Could Saul think that Samuel knew of the asses that were lost, and did not know of the oxen and sheep that were spared? Much less, when we have to do with God Himself, should dissimulation presume either of safety or of secresy. Can the God that made the heart not know it? Can He that comprehends all things be shut out of our close corners? Saul was otherwise crafty enough, yet herein his simplicity is palpable. Sin can besot even the wisest man; and there was never but folly in wickedness No man brags so much of holiness as he who wants it. True obedience is joined ever with humility and fear of unknown errors. Falsehood is bold, and can say, I have fulfilled the commandment of the Lord.Bp. Hall.
1Sa. 15:14. Let us aim after such a walk and conversation as that we can be natural in our demeanour, and not artificial and forced; such a life as will bear inspection behind the scenes, and as will not compel those who watch for souls to ask, as they look around, What meaneth this or that? and while asking the question to feel the sad truth of the matter to be, that the thing which calls forth the question is in our own case, as it was in Sauls, only so much spared of that which God has commanded us to subdue and destroy, so much permitted to live which God had required us to conquer and to slay.Miller.
1Sa. 15:16. We must not look to what hypocrites say of themselves, but to what Gods word says of them.S. Schmid.
1Sa. 15:17. Observe the contrast between Saul and Paul. Saul of Gibeah lost an earthly kingdom by pride, but Saul of Tarsus gained a heavenly kingdom by humility (1Co. 15:10).Wordsworth.
There is an ingratitude in every sin, and that is to be considered. Good turns aggravate unkindness, and our offences are increased by our obligations.Trapp.
1Sa. 15:20. Men are apt to cry out with Saul, I have obeyed the commandment of the Lord; but, alas, when it comes to be examined, how have they obeyed Him? Possibly they have, with Saul, destroyed the Amalekites; have constantly and openly opposed the declared enemies of religion. Moreover, perhaps, whatever was vile and refuse that they have destroyed utterly. Whatever sins did not easily beset them, nor offer them strong temptations, these sins they have both heartily avoided themselves, and severely condemned in other men. But the best of the sheep and of the oxen, the things which were dear to them, like a right hand or a right eye, these they could not spare. And yet, as Saul endeavoured to transfer the blame upon the people, so, in the other case also, it is not the men themselves, it is not their reason and judgment, that chooses the sin, but their inferior appetites, their passions and affections choose it for them, and drive them into it, even perhaps in a manner against their wills.Dr. S. Clark.
1Sa. 15:22-23. It was as much as to say that the sum and substance of Divine worship consisted in obedience, with which it should always begin, and that sacrifices were, so to speak, simple appendices, the force and worth of which were not so great as obedience to the precepts of God.Calvin.
All conscious disobedience is actually idolatry, because it makes self-will, the human I, into a God. So that all manifest opposition to the word and commandment of God is, like idolatry, a rejection of the true God.Keil.
This saying of Samuel came literally true in Sauls case. Through disobedience he was forsaken of God, and became a prey to the Evil Spirit, and was led on in time to resort to witchcraft (1Sa. 27:7), and perhaps to consult seraphim (see 1Sa. 19:13). Here is a solemn warning for these latter days.Wordsworth.
When the Lord expressly says Thou shalt, and His rational creature dares to persist in saying I will not, whether the contest be about an apple or a kingdom, it is stubbornness and rebellion.Scott.
May we then take good care that, even when we mean to render the Lord service or obedience, we yet beware of our choice and fancy, and follow only the traces of the Divine will. Obedience is the mother-grace, the parent of all virtues. It makes the eye see, the ear hear, the heart think, the memory remember, the mouth speak, the foot go, the hand work, and the whole man do that, yea that alone, which is conformed to the will of God It is impossible for him who is not obedient to God to lay any command upon men. That is what these words (The Lord hath rejected thee,) and the aim of God therein mean. The authorities must not proceed from their own will and notion, but in everything must take Gods word and will for their rule. If He does not drive apostate rulers from their position, like as He did Nebuchadnezzar, but leaves them ruling, as He also did Saul for a while, yet they are and remain rejected in His sight, and vainly write themselves by the grace of God, when He Himself does not so acknowledge them.Berlenberger Bible.
God rejects Saul from being king over Israel who had rejected God from being King over Saul.T. Adams.
Every ceremonial law is moral; the outward act is never enjoined but for the sake of the inward thing, what it picturesrepresents. Never is there body without spirit. But the fleshly sense would have none of the spirit, and laid hold solely of the body, which, thus isolated, became a corpse.Hengstenberg.
It is a holier and a better thing to do ones duty, than to make duties for ones self and then set about them.Spurgeon.
Why was sacrifice good, but because it was commanded? What difference was there betwixt slaughter and sacrifice but obedience?Bp. Hall.
Saul lived to give in his own person the painful but the clearest evidence of the identity, as far as concerns a common origin and principle of action, which may exist between two very different crimes The same disposition which evinced itself in those acts of rebellion, which he committed all the while he was crying down witchcraft, induced him to do the very thing which he censured when occasion pressed The security against our being guilty of any particular form of transgression is not that we condemn it, but that the evil principle within us which excites to its commission, is subdued and removed by Divine grace.Miller.
1Sa. 15:4-23. The fall of King Saul shows:
(1) How unrepented and only whitewashed sin at the first severe temptation breaks out as manifest and criminal self-seeking.
(2) How this self-seeking is so blinding as to tell itself and others the lie that it is a labour for the Lord.J. Disselhoff.
We may see in the history of Saul how important it is that we should make the most of the opportunities which God sets before us. There came to the son of Kish a tidal time of favour, which, if he had only recognised and improved it might have carried him, not only to greatness, but to goodness. But he proved faithless to the trust committed to him, and became in the end a worse man than he would have been if no such privileges had been conferred upon him. His career is a melancholy illustration of the truth of the Saviours words: From him that hath not, shall be taken away even that he hath.Dr. W. M. Taylor.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(13) Blessed be thou of the Lord.Saul must have been fully conscious that he had failed to carry out the will and command of the Eternal King of Israel. In the late war, undertaken for the definite and solemn purpose of exterminating a wicked and bloodthirsty people, whose continued existence worked terrible evil upon the adjacent countries, he, disregarding the express instructions of the prophet of the Lord for his own covetous purposes, had not destroyed all, but reserved some of the living spoil for himself. Conscious of all this, he still dared to come forward, and to congratulate the prophet upon the fulfilment of the Lords command. But Sauls words of self-gratulation were evidently feigned; in his heart he knew he had been faithless.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. I have performed the commandment of the Lord This is the language of hypocrisy, by which the disobedient warrior presumes to hide his guilt.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 298
SAULS SELF-DECEIT
1Sa 15:13-16. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night.
IF the Holy Scriptures exhibit to us the most perfect patterns of righteousness, they also bring to our view men devoid of righteousness, and living characters of wickedness under all its diversified forms and operations. In truth, if we read them only as records of past events, without an application of them to our own business and bosoms, we may be amused and instructed by them, but we shall not be greatly edified. But if we view them as mirrors, in which our own countenance, and the countenances of those around us, are reflected, then, indeed, do we reap from them the benefit which they were intended to convey. Let us, then, take this view of the history before us, and see in it the state of the ungodly world at this time. Let us see in it,
I.
Their presumptuous confidence
Saul had been commanded to destroy the whole nation of Amalek, and every thing belonging to them: but he spared the best of their cattle; and yet boasted to Samuel, that he had performed the commandment of the Lord. In this we see the conduct of multitudes around us.
We all have received a commandment to wage war with our spiritual enemies, and to destroy the whole body of sin [Note: Rom 6:6.]
[Not only is our reigning lust to be mortified [Note: Rom 6:12.], but every sinful disposition, though it be dear to us as a right eye, or apparently necessary to us as a right hand [Note: Mat 5:29-30.].]
But, whilst much remains unmodified, we take credit to ourselves as having fulfilled the will of God
[The great majority of men, if not living in very flagrant iniquity, think, and wish others to think, that they have fulfilled the will of God, so far at least as not to leave them any material ground for shame and sorrow on account of their iniquities. See the self-complacent state of all around us. In the habit of their minds, they plainly say, We have performed the commandment of the Lord, and have ground for commendation on that account ]
But they stand reproved, one and all of them, by,
II.
Their glaring inconsistency
The very beasts which Saul had spared, convicted him of falsehood
[It was impossible for him to resist the evidence which the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen gave of his disobedience.]
And is there not equal evidence of the self-deceit of those around us?
[You say you have obeyed the voice of the Lord. Let me then ask, What means that worldliness which is so visible to all who behold you? Is it not clear and manifest, that the great mass of those who take credit to themselves on account of their obedience to God, are as much addicted to the world as any other persons whatever? They may be free from its grosser vices; but their cares, their pleasures, their company, their entire lives, shew indisputably whose they are, and to whom they belong. They are altogether of the earth, earthly.
And what means their impenitence, which is as manifest as the sun at noon-day? Who ever sees their tears, or hears their sighs and groans on account of indwelling sin? Who ever beholds them crying to God for mercy; and fleeing, like the man-slayer, with all possible earnestness, to the hope set before him in the Gospel? Does the heart-searching God behold any more of this in the secret chamber, than man beholds in the domestic circle, or in the public assembly?
I say, then, What means all this indifference to heavenly things? It is as clear a demonstration of their disobedience to God, as were the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen, of Sauls hypocrisy.]
But in the reply of Saul to his reprover, we see,
III.
Their vain excuses
Saul cast the blame of his misconduct upon the people
[Not only does he speak of them as the agents whom he could not control, but he declares that they were the authors of his disobedience, inasmuch as he was constrained to sanction their conduct through fear of their displeasure [Note: ver. 21, 24.].]
This is the very rock on which all self-complacent Pharisees are wont to stumble
[It is not owing to any want of inclination in themselves, that they do not serve God more perfectly, they will say, but to their situation and circumstances in life. It would be in vain for them to stem the torrent that carries all before it. Were they to follow the Lord fully, and to carry into effect the commands of God according to their full import, they should be altogether singular: and therefore they conform to the will of others, not from inclination, but necessity.
But let me ask, Are we to obey man in opposition to God? Are we to follow a multitude to do evil? Even Saul himself acknowledged, that in such a compliance he had greatly sinned [Note: ver. 21, 24.]: and we may be sure that no such excuses will avail us at the judgment-seat of Christ.]
Let me, then, declare to you,
IV.
Their impending fate
Saul was rejected of his God
[He might have urged in his behalf, that the command which had been given him, left him a discretion to exercise mercy: and, at all events, his desire had been to honour God with sacrifices which must otherwise have been withheld. But the commands of God leave nothing to our discretion. We are not at liberty to restrict any one of them; but are bound to execute them all in their full extent. And as Saul, in deviating from Gods command, had, in fact, rejected the word of the Lord, God, in righteous indignation, rejected him [Note: ver. 23.].]
And what better fate awaits us who limit the commands of God?
[It is in vain for us to dispute against the commands of God, as too strict, or too difficult. We are not called to dispute, but to obey. Nor is it a partial obedience that will suffice: nor are we at liberty to commute obedience for sacrifice. Nothing is left to us, but to obey: and, if we would please the Lord, we must follow him fully: our obedience must be entire and unreserved: and, if it be not unreserved, we are guilty of direct and positive rebellion, which is declared by God himself to be, in his sight, even as idolatry: for, whatever we may think to the contrary, there is little to choose between disobedience to the true God, and obedience to a false one [Note: ver. 23.].
I declare, then, to all of you, my Brethren, that, to whatever privileges you have been exalted by God himself, you will have reason to curse the day wherein you ever listened to man in opposition to God, or withheld from God the entire obedience of your souls. By whatever excuses you may palliate such conduct, I declare to you, before God, that it is rebellion against him, and that, as rebels, he will reject you in the day of judgment.]
As an improvement of this subject, there is one thing only which I would say; and that is, Take the Holy Scriptures, in every thing, for your guide
[Call not any thing A hard saying [Note: Joh 6:60.]. You may not be able to understand the reasons of Gods commands, or to appreciate his reasons aright, if they were stated to you. Doubtless, to study their real import is your duty: but when that is once ascertained, you have nothing to do but to obey them. You are not to sit in judgment upon them, or to lower their demands. If the whole world urge you to depart from them, you are in no wise to comply. For God you are to live: and, if need be, for God you are to die. It is on these terms alone that you can ever be acknowledged as Christs disciples [Note: Mat 10:38-39.]. If, then, you have been called to Gods kingdom and glory, see that you walk worthy of your high calling. Be faithful unto death, and God will give you the crown of life.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(13) And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. (14) And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? (15) And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. (16) Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. (17) And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? (18) And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. (19) Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? (20) And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. (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 from being king.
We have here the solemn conference between Samuel and Saul, on the subject of Saul’s disobedience, and the awful consequence of it, in the Lord’s determining to dethrone him. We behold, in the pointed language of the prophet, the unalterable purpose, and fixed displeasure of God against sin. And we behold in Saul, what every man’s heart is void of grace, full of excuses and justifying pretences, like the first sinners in Eden, to soften their transgressions. Alas! there is not a man alive but covers himself under this covering. And until God the Holy Ghost convinces of sin, none of Adam’s posterity are ever convinced of it, so as to see the absolute necessity of a Saviour. Precious Spirit of truth! do thou fulfil that blessed office which the Son of God promised thou shouldst perform in the minds of his people, and convince me of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Make Jesus precious to my view, for he is only so to them that believe. Joh 16:8-11 ; 1Pe 2:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
Ver. 13. Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed, &c.] Which if he had done indeed, he would never thus have boasted, but by glossing speeches he thinks to stop Samuel’s mouth, from whom he might well fear a reproof. He gives good words, when his deeds were evil: he protests his obedience against his conscience, and faceth out his protestation against a reproof. In a word, there needeth no other character of hypocrisy than Saul in the handling of this one business with Agag and Samuel, as a very grave and learned divine a hath well observed.
a Dr Hall, Contempla.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I have performed. See 1Sa 15:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Blessed: 1Sa 13:10, Gen 14:19, Jdg 17:2, Rth 3:10
I have performed: 1Sa 15:9, 1Sa 15:11, Gen 3:12, Pro 27:2, Pro 28:13, Pro 30:13, Pro 31:31, Luk 17:10, Luk 18:11
Reciprocal: Num 20:11 – smote Num 31:14 – wroth Jdg 16:15 – when thine 1Sa 15:20 – Yea 2Sa 14:32 – if there Psa 36:1 – The transgression Pro 16:2 – the ways Pro 30:12 – that are Jer 2:23 – How canst Jer 48:10 – Cursed Mat 25:44 – when Luk 15:29 – Lo Luk 18:12 – fast
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the {f} commandment of the LORD.
(f) This is the nature of hypocrites to be impudent against the truth, to condemn others, and justify themselves.