24 31. The rejection of Saul<\/p>\n
24<\/strong>. I have sinned<\/em> ] Though a formal confession of his sin is extorted from Saul, he does not humble himself before God in genuine penitence. He still tries to shift the blame on to the people, and his chief anxiety is lest the breach between Samuel and himself should become a public scandal and weaken his authority ( 1Sa 15:30<\/em><\/span>). Contrast David’s heart-felt repentance (2Sa 12:13<\/span>; Psa 51:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n I have sinned – <\/B>Compare 1Sa 15:25<\/span>, 1Sa 15:30<\/span>. How was it that these repeated confessions were unavailing to obtain forgiveness, when Davids was? (See the marginal reference.) Because Saul only shrank from the punishment of his sin. David shrank in abhorrence from the sin itself Psa 51:4<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n 1Sa 15:24<\/span><\/p>\n I have sinned.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Temporary religious feeling<\/strong><\/p>\n Some are frightened into a little religiousness in their straits and deep necessities, but it is poor work and superficial work. They are like an ice in thawing weather, soft at top and hard at bottom. They melt, but to no very great extent. It is upon the surface only that they yield to heavenly influences. This is a sorry state of things, for it generally ends in a harder frost than before, and the bonds of cold indifference bind the very soul. Let those in whom there are any meltings of holy feeling take heed, for their danger lies in being content with a partial subjection to gracious influences. Grace will be all or nothing: the ice must all melt, and the soul must flow like a riverse Jesus did not come to create temporary and partial religious feeling, but to make new creatures of us. He will have nothing to do with those Ephraimites who are as half-done cakes, which are black on one side with too much baking, but have never been turned so as to feel the fire on the other side. The centre of the heart must feel the warmth of Divine love, or nothing is done. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I feared the people and obeyed their voice<\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sauls excuse for disobedience<\/strong><\/p>\n Saul makes three excuses for his disobedience, but they all shift the responsibility for his sin. Observe:<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Sauls excuses are identical with those urged by sinners today: I intended to give some of it to God. I was over persuaded. I was overborne by the influence of others. I did not sin wickedly and willfully. it was only a mistake under a good motive.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Saul confesses the flimsiness of his excuses. Some time or other we must all come face to face with ourselves and stop making excuses, and cry, Pardon my sin<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Saul confessed too late. Our sins reach their bounds and meet their penalty.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Saul repented only because he feared punishment.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>Every man should make at once an honest self-examination.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>When convicted of sin, we should without delay confess our sin. (Homiletic Review.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 24<\/span>. I have sinned – because I feared the people<\/B><\/I>] This was the best excuse he could make for himself; but had he feared GOD<\/I> more<\/I>, he need have feared the PEOPLE less<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n I have sinned; <\/B>which confession proceeded not from true repentance, but from the sense of his great danger, and from a desire of recalling that dreadful sentence denounced against him. <\/P> The commandment of the Lord, and thy words, <\/B>i.e. the commandment of the Lord delivered to me by thy words; another hendiadis<\/I>. I feared the people; who, as thou knowest, are set upon mischief, and would probably have broken forth into a mutiny or rebellion, had I done otherwise. But how little he feared the people, may be seen by 1Sa 11:7<\/span>; 14:24<\/span>. But this was a false cause; nor doth he acknowledge the true cause, which was his covetousness, and because he did not fear God. <\/P> <\/p>\n 24-26. I have sinned . . . turnagain with me, that I may worship the Lord<\/B>The erring, butproud and obstinate monarch was now humbled. He wasconscience-smitten for the moment, but his confession proceeded notfrom sincere repentance, but from a sense of danger and desire ofaverting the sentence denounced against him. For the sake of publicappearance, he besought Samuel not to allow their serious differencesto transpire, but to join with him in a public act of worship. Underthe influence of his painfully agitated feelings, he designed tooffer sacrifice, partly to express his gratitude for the recentvictory, and partly to implore mercy and a reversal of his doom. Itwas, from another angle, a politic scheme, that Samuel might bebetrayed into a countenancing of his design in reserving the cattlefor sacrificing. Samuel declined to accompany him. <\/P> I feared the people, andobeyed their voice<\/B>This was a different reason from the formerhe had assigned. It was the language of a man driven to extremities,and even had it been true, the principles expounded by Samuel showedthat it could have been no extenuation of the offense. The prophetthen pronounced the irreversible sentence of the rejection of Sauland his family. He was judicially cut off for his disobedience.<\/P><\/p>\n And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned<\/strong>,…. This confession of his sin does not appear to be ingenuous, cordial, and sincere, and was made chiefly for the sake of getting the sentence of rejecting him from being king reversed:<\/p>\n for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words<\/strong>; which last seems to be added to collogue with Samuel, and to ingratiate himself with him; and Abarbinel thinks that Saul suspected that Samuel had aggravated the matter of himself, and that he did not really transgress the words of the Lord, but as the words of Samuel; and therefore according to the words of Samuel he had sinned, but not according to the words of the Lord only;<\/p>\n because I feared the people<\/strong>; Doeg the Edomite, who was reckoned as all of them, Jarchi says: this was a mere excuse of Saul’s, he stood in no fear of the people, he kept them in awe, and did as he would with them, as a sovereign prince:<\/p>\n and obeyed their voice<\/strong>; in sparing the best of the cattle; so be pretended, when it was his own will, and the effect of his covetousness.<\/p>\n This sentence made so powerful an impression upon Saul, that he confessed, “ I have sinned: for I have transgressed the command of the Lord and thy words, because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice<\/em>.” But these last words, with which he endeavoured to make his sin appear as small as possible, show that the consciousness of his guilt did not go very deep. Even if the people had really desired that the best of the cattle should be spared, he ought not as king to have given his consent to their wish, since God had commanded that they should all be banned (i.e., destroyed); and even though he has yielded from weakness, this weakness could not lessen his guilt before God. This repentance, therefore, was rather the effect of alarm at the rejection which had been announced to him, than the fruit of any genuine consciousness of sin. “It was not true and serious repentance, or the result of genuine sorrow of heart because he had offended God, but was merely repentance of the lips arising from fear of losing the kingdom, and of incurring public disgrace” (C. v. Lapide). This is apparent even from 1Sa 15:25<\/span>, but still more from 1Sa 15:30<\/span>. In 1Sa 15:25<\/span> he not only entreats Samuel for the forgiveness of his sin, but says, “ Return with me, that I may pray to the Lord<\/em>.” The presupposes that Samuel was about to go away after the executing his commission. Saul entreated him to remain that he might pray, i.e., not only in order to obtain for him the forgiveness of his sin through his intercession, but, according to 1Sa 15:30<\/span>, to show him honour before the elders of the people and before Israel, that his rejection might not be known.<\/p>\n Saul’s Dethronement Foretold.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 1065.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD<\/B>, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD<\/B>. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD<\/B>, and the LORD<\/B> hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 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<\/B> hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is<\/I> better than thou. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is<\/I> not a man, that he should repent. 30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet<\/I> honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD<\/B> thy God. 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD<\/B>.<\/P> Saul is at length brought to put himself into the dress of the penitent; but it is too evident that he only acts the part of a penitent, and is not one indeed. Observe,<\/P> I. How poorly he expressed his repentance. It was with much ado that he was made sensible of his fault, and not till he was threatened with being deposed. This touched him in a tender part. Then he began to relent, and not till then. When Samuel told him he was rejected from being king,<\/I> then he said, I have sinned,<\/I> v.<\/span> 24<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. His confession was not free nor ingenuous, but extorted by the rack, and forced from him. We observe here several bad signs of the hypocrisy of his repentance, and that it came short even of Ahab’s. 1. He made his application to Samuel only, and seemed most solicitous to stand right in his opinion and to gain his favour. He makes a little god of him, only to preserve his reputation with the people, because they all knew Samuel to be a prophet, and the man that had been the instrument of his preferment. Thinking it would please Samuel, and be a sort of bribe to him, he puts it into his confession: I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and thy word;<\/I> as if he had been in God’s stead, v.<\/I><\/span> 24<\/span>. David, though convinced by the ministry of Nathan, yet, in his confession, has his eye to God alone, not to Nathan. Ps. li. 4<\/span> Against thee only have I sinned.<\/I> But Saul, ignorantly enough, confesses his sin as a transgression of Samuel’s word; whereas his word was no other than a declaration of the commandment of the Lord.<\/I> He also applies to Samuel for forgiveness (v.<\/I><\/span> 25<\/span>): I pray thee, pardon my sin;<\/I> as if any could forgive sin but God only. Those wretchedly deceive themselves who, when they have fallen into scandalous sin, think it enough to make their peace with the church and their ministers, by the show and plausible profession of repentance, without taking care to make their peace with God by the sincerity of it. The most charitable construction we can put upon this of Saul is to suppose that he looked upon Samuel as a sort of mediator between him and God, and intended an address to God in his application to him. However, it was very weak. 2. He excused his fault even in the confession of it, and that is never the fashion of a true penitent (v.<\/I><\/span> 24<\/span>): I did it because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.<\/I> We have reason enough to think that it was purely his own doing and not the people’s; however, if they were forward to do it, it is plain, by what we have read before, that he knew how to keep up his authority among them and did not stand in any awe of them. So that the excuse was false and frivolous; whatever he pretended, he did not really fear the people. But it is common for sinners, in excusing their faults, to plead the thoughts and workings of their own minds, because those are things which, how groundless soever, no man can disprove; but they forget that God searchest the heart. 3. All his care was to save his credit, and preserve his interest in the people, lest they should revolt from him, or at least despise him. Therefore he courts Samuel with so much earnestness (v.<\/I><\/span> 25<\/span>) to turn again with him, and assist in a public thanksgiving for the victory. Very importunate he was in this matter when he laid hold on the skirt of his mantle to detain him (v.<\/I><\/span> 27<\/span>), not that he cared for Samuel, but he feared that if Samuel forsook him the people would do so too. Many seem zealously affected to good ministers and good people only for the sake of their own interest and reputation, while in heart they hate them. But his expression was very gross when he said (v.<\/I><\/span> 30<\/span>), I have sinned, yet honour me, I pray thee, before my people.<\/I> Is this the language of a penitent? No, but the contrary: “I have sinned,<\/I> shame me now, for to me belongs shame, and no man can loathe me so much as I loathe myself.” Yet how often do we meet with the copies of this hypocrisy of Saul! It is very common for those who are convicted of sin to show themselves very solicitous to be honoured before the people. Whereas he that has lost the honour of an innocent can pretend to no other than that of a penitent, and it is the honour of a penitent to take shame to himself.<\/P> II. How little he got by these thin shows of repentance. What point did he gain by them? 1. Samuel repeated the sentence passed upon him, so far was he from giving any hopes of the repeal of it, v.<\/I><\/span> 26<\/span>, the same with v.<\/I><\/span> 23<\/span>. He that covers his sins shall never prosper,<\/I> Prov. xxviii. 13<\/I><\/span>. Samuel refused to turn back with him, but turned about to go away,<\/I> v.<\/span> 27<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. As the thing appeared to him upon the first view, he thought it altogether unfit for him so far to countenance one whom God had rejected as to join with him in giving thanks to God for a victory which was made to serve rather Saul’s covetousness than God’s glory. Yet afterwards he did turn again with him (v.<\/I><\/span> 31<\/span>), upon further thoughts, and probably by divine direction, either to prevent a mutiny among the people or perhaps not to do honour to Saul (for, though Saul worshipped the Lord, v.<\/I><\/span> 31<\/span>, it is not said Samuel presided in that worship), but to do justice on Agag, v.<\/I><\/span> 32<\/span>. 2. He illustrated the sentence by a sign, which Saul himself, by his rudeness, gave occasion for. When Samuel was turning from him he tore his clothes to detain him (v.<\/I><\/span> 27<\/span>), so loth was he to part with the prophet; but Samuel put a construction upon this accident which none but a prophet could do. He made it to signify the rending of the kingdom<\/I> from him (v.<\/I><\/span> 28<\/span>), and that, like this, was his own doing. “He hath rent it from thee, and given it to a neighbour better than thou,<\/I>” namely, to David, who afterwards, upon occasion, cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe (1 Sam. xxiv. 4<\/span>), upon which Saul said (1 Sam. xxiv. 20<\/span>), I know that thou shalt surely be king,<\/I> perhaps remembering this sign, the tearing of the skirt of Samuel’s mantle. 3. He ratified it by a solemn declaration of its being irreversible (v.<\/I><\/span> 29<\/span>): The Strength of Israel will not lie.<\/I> The Eternity<\/I> or Victory of Israel,<\/I> so some read it; the holy One,<\/I> so the Arabic; the most noble One,<\/I> so the Syriac; the triumphant King of Israel,<\/I> so bishop Patrick. “He is determined to depose thee, and he will not change his purpose. He is not a man that should repent.<\/I>” Men are fickle and alter their minds, feeble and cannot effect their purposes; something happens which they could not foresee, by which their measures are broken. But with God it is not so. God has sometimes repented of the evil which he thought to have done, repentance was hidden from Saul, and therefore hidden from God’s eyes.<\/P> <\/p>\n Saul Repents Too Late, vs. 24-35<\/strong><\/p>\n At last Saul admitted <\/em>that he had sinned by transgressing the commandment of the Lord, but his admission has an insincere air in it. First, <\/em>he continues to put the blame for his transgression on the people, whereas the Lord clearly holds him responsible for what has happened. Then, secondly, <\/em>his confession is certainly partially to get Samuel to come to the sacrifices he has planned. This he desires in order to save face with the elders whom he has invited. Then, lastly, <\/em>judging from the vigor with which Saul resisted the possible succession of his replacement, one must conclude that the king’s admission and confession were not genuine.<\/em><\/p>\n Samuel refused to go with Saul <\/em>because he had rejected the Lord’s word and the Lord had rejected him. As he turned to go away, Saul caught hold on Samuel’s mantle and it was torn. Samuel used this rending as an object lesson of what the Lord was doing to the kingdom of Saul, rending it from him and giving it to his neighbor who was better than Saul. Further, he told him, the Lord, the Strength of Israel, does not change His mind. Saul’s loss of the kingship and the kingdom were irrevocable.<\/em><\/p>\n Once again Saul admits his sin <\/em>and now begs Samuel to come to the worship with him. He also admits that he desires the prophet’s presence in order that he will be held in honor by the elders. Saul was afraid of being embarrassed by the prophet’s absence. So Samuel consented to this, his last appearance with Saul.<\/em><\/p>\n During the course of the worship Samuel called for Agag. <\/em>The Hebrew word translated “delicately” with reference to Agag’s coming, may be more accurately rendered “cheerfully.” Agag though his life had been spared and the worst was over for him. But Samuel denounced him as a murderer <\/em>of women and children, took a sword and chopped him to pieces. <\/em>Following this the prophet returned to his home in Gibeah, never again to see Saul to the day of his death. But he continued to mourn for Saul. Saul returned to his place in Gibeah where his spiritual condition continued to deteriorate as he evidently brooded over what the Lord had revealed to him through Samuel. That the “Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel” is to express in terms of man’s thinking the Lord’s abandonment of Saul when he had proved himself incorrigible and left him to his eternal fate (Pro 29:1<\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n Lessons: 1) God’s purposes are to be carried out by his people, even when former generations have postponed them; 2) <\/em>men often try to revise God’s commands to fit their own ideas with eventual regret; 3) those who defy God will be utterly destroyed in His judgment; 4) true Christians should accept the Lord’s chastisement as deserved and not try to excuse themselves by accusing others; 5) there is no better thing for the godly than to obey the commands of God’s word; 6) all will repent at last, but many, many will repent too late; 7) insincere repentance, for selfish reasons, is no repentance at all in God’s sight.<\/em><\/p>\n CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:25<\/span>. Pardon my sin.<\/strong> He offers this prayer to Samuel<\/em>, not to God<\/em>. Turn again with me.<\/strong> According to 1Sa. 15:30<\/span>, to show him honour before the elders of the people, and before Israel, that his rejection might not be known. (Keil<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:29<\/span>. The strength of Israel.<\/strong> A phrase which occurs only here. It means glory, perpetuity, trust. The Hebrew word, Netsah<\/em>, signifies what is bright or shines continually, and therefore what may be relied uponas the sun, or stars. (Wordsworth<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:31<\/span>. So Samuel turned again.<\/strong> Not, of course, to yield to his selfish opposition to Gods honour, but to preserve unimpaired in the eyes of the people the position of Sauls kingdom, which, though theocratically rejected, yet still in fact by Gods will remained, and especially not to be wanting in the sacrifice of the people. (Erdmann<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:32<\/span>. And Agag came unto him delicately.<\/strong> The phrase is obscure. The last word is derived from a verb, meaning to live daintily, softly<\/em>. Wordsworth translates, joyfully<\/em>. Can it mean fawningly, flatteringly, with a view of appeasing Samuel? (Biblical Commentary<\/em>. The bitterness of death is passed.<\/strong> Some commentators see in these words of Agag a heroic contempt of death, and others an assumed courageousness. Most, however, think that Agag, not having been slain by Saul, felt sure that Samuel would spare his life.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:33<\/span>. As thy sword,<\/strong> etc. From these words it is very evident that Agag had carried on his wars with great cruelty, and had therefore forfeited his life according to the lex Talionis<\/em>. (Keil<\/em>.) Before the Lord,<\/strong> i.e.<\/em>, before the altar of Jehovah there; for the slaying of Agag, being the execution of a ban, was an act performed for the glory of God. (Keil<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:35<\/span>. And Samuel came no more.<\/strong> The Hebrew is, saw him no more, i.e.<\/em>, did not visit him, which does not contradict 1Sa. 19:24<\/span>.<\/p>\n MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.<\/em>1Sa. 15:24-35<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n SAULS CONFESSION<\/p>\n I. Sauls confession of sin was satisfactory as to word.<\/strong> I have sinned, is the acknowledgement of responsibility and accountability. I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, is an acknowledgment on the part of man that there is a Being who has a right to lay down laws for the guidance of His creatures. There are men in the world who deny that there is such a thing as sinwho affirm that they are creatures of necessity, and are therefore undeserving of blame for any action. But Saul here admits his personal responsibility, and allows that his negative sinhis non-observance of a plain commandwas a positive transgression. True it is that he admits this with reluctance, and that he involves the people in the act of disobedience. But whether he speaks the truth or not in relation to them, he does not now attempt to palliate his sin by laying the blame directly on them. He acknowledges his own personal guilt in the same words as David used to express his deep and heartfelt repentance, and as the prodigal uttered when he came first to himself and then to his fathers home. So far as the language of the confession goes it leaves nothing to be desired.<\/p>\n II. It is possible to use words which express true repentance and yet lack the spirit of it.<\/strong> A dead body is complete so far as the form goes, no limb is wanting, and all the beauty of the most perfect symmetry of form may be there. But it is only a corpse notwithstanding, and because the living spirit is wanting even the form will vanish after a time. So a man may use a form of sound words (2Ti. 1:13<\/span>) which in language may leave nothing to be desired. He may acknowledge that he is a sinner, and that he merits punishment, and his language may be that of general humility, and yet the spirit of true repentance may be absent. But the wear and tear of human life will soon make apparent whether the outward form is inhabited by a living soul or whether it is only a lifeless body. If it is a true repentance the actions proper to it will follow, but if it is not, the very form will cease to exist, and the man who once had the form of repentance without the power will cease even to possess the form, and become more and more subject to the law of sin and death. Even Pharaoh said, I have sinned (Exo. 9:27<\/span>), but in his mouth the words were not the outcome of a sense of sin, and he soon became too hardened even for such a formal confession. So was it with Saul. We here see him preserving some outward form of godliness although he was denying the power thereof (2Ti. 3:5<\/span>), and later on in his life he repeats this confession (1Sa. 26:21<\/span>), but as on neither occasions it was dictated by the spirit of true and godly sorrow for sin, there came a time in his life when even the formal confession vanished from his lips. The words of repentance were not wanting, but there was no correspondence between the language and the deedsit was left to another to carry into effect the Divine commandment which Saul here confesses he had transgressed, but which it does not appear that he now made any attempt to obey. It was left to Samuel to do the work of Saul, and thus to prove that there was one man in Israel who would carry out to the letter the bidding of Jehovah.<\/p>\n OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS<\/em><\/p>\n Beware of a Sauls confession<\/em>. That you may do this, it is necessary to know two things. <\/p>\n 1. What a Sauls confession is<\/em>. <\/p>\n 2. What a Sauls confession works<\/em>.J. Disselhoff<\/em>.<\/p>\n He confesseth not till the sin be wrung from his mouth; he seeks his peace out of himself, and relies more upon anothers virtue than upon his own penitence; he would cloak his guiltiness with the holiness of anothers presence; he is more tormented with the danger and damage of the sin than with the offence; he cares to hold in with men, in what terms soever he stands with God.Bp. Hall<\/em>.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:29<\/span>. The heathen saw God as a passionate, capricious, changeable Being, who could be angered and appeased by men. The Jewish prophets saw Him as a God whose ways were equal, who was unchangeable, whose decrees were perpetual, who was not to be bought off by sacrifice, but by righteous dealing, and who would remove the punishment when the causes which brought it on were taken away. In their own words, when men repented, God would repent. A boat rows against the stream, the current punishes it. The boat turns and goes with the stream, the current assists it. But the current is the same, it has not changedonly the boat has changed its relationship to the current. Neither does God change. We change, and the same law which executed itself in punishment now expresses itself in reward.Brooke<\/em>.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 15:30<\/span>. If Saul had been really penitent, he would have prayed to be humbled rather than to be honoured.St. Gregory<\/em>.<\/p>\n Many men pass (i.e., care)<\/em> so little for their consciences, yet stand so much upon their credit. As Saul, who using no diligence to regain the favour of God, was yet very solicitous that his honour might be preserved in the opinion of the people.Bp. Sanderson<\/em>.<\/p>\n Samuel and Saul Parted Permanently. 1Sa. 15:24-35<\/span><\/p>\n 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. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.<\/p>\n 30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.<\/p>\n 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the Lord. 16.<\/p>\n What was Sauls final confession? 1Sa. 15:24<\/span><\/p>\n Saul finally came to the place where he said, I have sinned. Before, he had tried to pass all the blame onto the people. At last he admitted that he was a transgressor. He said that he had transgressed the commandment of the Lord. He apologized to Samuel for disobeying his commandments, saying that he had transgressed the words which Samuel had spoken to him. He still blamed the people partially and excused himself by saying, I fear the people and obey their voice. As far as the record is concerned, we have no evidence that the people caused Saul to spare Agag. Neither do we have any notice of their demanding that some of the best of the flocks of the herds be spared for sacrifice. This is a rationalization of a mans sin by the man himself.<\/p>\n 17.<\/p>\n Why did Saul want Samuel to worship with him? 1Sa. 15:25<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps Saul wanted to offer a trespass offering or a sin offering. He was not eligible to offer the offering himself. He knew that Samuel was Gods spiritual leader, and he wanted his presence with him. His repentance was too late. If he had been totally sincere about it, he could have gone to the Tabernacle and offered a sacrifice there under the leadership of the priests. His plea seems to be more of an outpouring of the spirit of the moment. It was not a long-lasting nor deep-seated repentance.<\/p>\n 18.<\/p>\n Why did Saul tear Samuels skirt? 1Sa. 15:27<\/span><\/p>\n In his desperation Saul grabbed the skirt of Samuels mantle and tore it. This is typical of the action of a man who is beside himself with emotion. Had he learned self-control in other matters, he might not have gone to this extreme in his demonstration of his grief. Joel found the Israelites making a great show of their repentance in his day and he told them to rend their hearts and not their garments (Joe. 2:13<\/span>). Samuel seized upon this drastic action of Sauls and used it as a sign of Gods judgment. He said that God had torn the kingdom of Israel out of Sauls hands on that day and had given it to a neighbor of his. He describes the neighbor as being better than Saul, but he does not identify him by name.<\/p>\n 19.<\/p>\n Who is the Strength of Israel? 1Sa. 15:29<\/span><\/p>\n Samuel used the title, the Strength of Israel, to describe God himself. Many different names are given to God throughout the Old Testament. Abraham described him as the Judge of the whole earth (Gen. 18:25<\/span>). God told Moses to tell the people of Israel that his title was I Am (Exo. 3:14<\/span>). The everlasting God is the strength of His people.<\/p>\n 20.<\/p>\n Why did Samuel finally yield to Sauls entreaty? Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
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.
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 neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.<\/p>\n
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.<\/p>\n