This is a pivotal chapter in the story of Saul. The Lord gave him another opportunity to prove himself, but he failed again, lied about it, and was judged. Saul had a habit of substituting saying for doing and of making excuses instead of confessing his sins. No matter what happened, it was always somebody else’s fault. He was more concerned about looking good before the people than being good before God. Consider the stages in this event that cost Saul the kingdom and eventually his life.
Disobeying God (vv. 1–11). The Amalekites descended from Esau, the unbelieving brother of Jacob (Gen. 36:12, 15–16; Heb. 12:14–17) and the enemy of the Jewish people. The army of Amalek attacked the Jews shortly after Israel left Egypt, and they were defeated because God heard Moses’ prayers and helped Joshua’s army. At that time, the Lord declared perpetual war against Amalek (Ex. 17:8–16). and Balaam prophesied Amalek’s ultimate defeat (Num. 24:20). See also Deuteronmy 25:17–19.
Some people find it difficult to believe that the Lord would command an entire nation to be destroyed just because of what their ancestors had done centuries before. Some of these critics may depend more on sentiment than on spiritual truth, not realizing how longsuffering the Lord had been with these nations and how unspeakably wicked they were (see 1 Sam. 15:18, 33; Gen. 15:16). God’s covenant with the Jewish nation includes the promise, “I will curse him who curses you” (12:3), and God always keeps His word. Nations like the Amalekites who wanted to exterminate the Jews weren’t just waging war on Israel; they were opposing almighty God and His great plan of redemption for the whole world. People are either for the Lord or against Him, and if they are against Him, they must suffer the consequences. Knowing God’s covenant with Abraham, Saul allowed the Kenites to escape (1 Sam. 15:6) because they had befriended Israel. They were descendants of the Midianites, and Moses married a Midianite woman (Ex. 2:16, 21–22; see Judg. 4:11). History shows that nations that have persecuted Israel have been severely judged.
We admire Saul for being careful to protect the Kenites, but he wasn’t careful to obey God’s will. Everything that was vile and worthless he destroyed, but he permitted King Agag to live, and he allowed the Israelite soldiers to save “the best” of the flocks and herds. But if the Lord says something is condemned, how can we say it’s “the best”? “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isa. 5: nkjv). Saul certainly had sufficient men to get the job done right, but he decided to do it his own way. The prophet Samuel knew about Saul’s disobedience before the army returned from the battle and it grieved him. The Hebrew word means “to burn” and suggests a righteous indignation, a holy anger. For the remainder of his life, Samuel mourned over Saul (1 Sam. 16:1) and cried out to God (15:11).
Serving God acceptably involves doing the will of God in the right way, at the right time, and for the right motive. God had given Saul another chance and he had failed miserably. No wonder his mentor Samuel was angry and brokenhearted. Saul was God’s choice for king and Samuel wanted him to succeed. In the end, Saul’s failure to exterminate all the Amalekites resulted in his own death (2 Sam. 1:1–10).
In the matter of God’s “repenting” (1 Sam. 15:11), there is no contradiction between this statement and verse 29. (See endnote 4.)
Saul lies to Samuel (vv. 12–15). In the eyes of the soldiers and the Jewish people, Saul had won a great victory over a long-time enemy, but in God’s eyes he was a failure. Yet the king was so impressed with himself that he went to Carmel and erected a stone monument in his honor and then went to Gilgal, where he had previously failed the Lord and Samuel (13:4ff.). Was he trying to avoid meeting Samuel? Perhaps, but his efforts were futile. It was fifteen miles from Samuel’s home in Ramah to Gilgal, perhaps a day’s journey for the old prophet.
Saul’s greeting was sheer hypocrisy. He had no blessing to give Samuel and he had not performed the will of the Lord. First he lied to himself in thinking he could get away with the deception, and then he lied to Samuel who already knew the truth. He even tried to lie to God by saying he would use the spared animals for sacrifices! (See 1 John 1:5–10.) Saul blamed the soldiers for sparing the spoils, but surely as their commander-in-chief, he could have controlled them. “They” spared the best, but “we” utterly destroyed the rest! With Saul, it was always somebody else’s fault.
Saul argues with Samuel (vv. 16–23). Does Samuel’s emphatic “Stop!” suggest that Saul was turning away, or does it mean “Stop telling lies”? Perhaps both are true, for Saul had no great desire to discuss his affairs with Samuel. But Samuel had a message from the Lord, and Saul knew he had better listen. The day would come when Saul would give anything to hear a word from the Lord (28:4–6).
Saul had once been a modest young man (9:21), but now for the second time he had willfully disobeyed the Lord’s will and even erected a monument in honor of the event. He was to annihilate a nation that for centuries had done evil, but he ended up doing evil himself. Confronted with this accusation, Saul began to argue with God’s servant and deny that he had done wrong. For the second time he lied when he said, “I have obeyed” (15:13, 20); for the second time he blamed his army (vv. 15, 21); and for the second time he used the feeble excuse of dedicating the spared animals as sacrifices for the Lord (vv. 15, 21).
The prophet rejected all three lies and explained why God couldn’t accept the animals as legitimate sacrifices: the Lord wants living obedience from the heart, not dead animals on the altar. God doesn’t need any donations from us (Ps. 50:7–15), and the sacrifice He desires is a broken and contrite heart (51:16–17). Sacrifice without obedience is only hypocrisy and empty religious ritual (Isa. 1:11–17; Jer. 7:21–26; Ps. 40:6–8). “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:6). The religious leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t understand this truth (Matt. 9:9–13; 12:1–8), although occasionally somebody in the crowd would see the light (Mark 12:28–34).
Samuel was a Levite and a prophet, so he certainly wasn’t criticizing the Jewish sacrificial system. The Lord through Moses had established Jewish worship, and it was right for the people to bring their sacrifices to the Lord. This was His appointed way of worship. But the worshippers had to come to the Lord with submissive hearts and genuine faith, or their sacrifices were in vain. When David was in the wilderness and away from the priests and the sanctuary of God, he knew that God would accept worship from his heart. “Let my prayer be set before you as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141: nkjv). Christian worship today must be more than simply going through a liturgy; we must worship God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3: nkjv).
But the prophet went on to reveal that the sins of rebellion and stubbornness (arrogance) controlled Saul’s heart, and in God’s sight, they were as evil as witchcraft and idolatry. (Later, Saul would actually resort to witchcraft.) Both sins were evidences of a heart that had rejected the Word of the Lord. To know God’s will and deliberately disobey it is to put ourselves above God and therefore become our own god. This is the vilest form of idolatry.
Saul is rejected by God (vv. 24–29). King Saul now moves from “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord” (v. 20) to “I have sinned.” However, this was not a true expression of repentance and sorrow for sin, because when he repeated it later, he added, “Honor me now … before the elders of my people” (v. 30). He was obviously more concerned about his reputation with the people than his character before God, and that is not the attitude of a man truly broken because of sin. Saul also admitted that he spared Agag and the animals because he feared the people instead of fearing the Lord and His commandment. But this was just another indication that he was more interested in being popular with people than in pleasing God.
Samuel refused to join Saul at the altar because he knew the Lord wouldn’t receive the king’s worship because He had rejected him. In his previous disobedience, Saul forfeited the dynasty (13:14), but now he lost his throne. He was no longer the king of Israel because Samuel would anoint young David to be king. Saul had already been warned about this judgment, and now it would be fulfilled. As Samuel turned away, Saul clutched at the tassels on the hem of his garment (Num. 15:38–39) and tore the prophet’s robe (see 1 Kings 11:29–39.) Samuel used the occurrence as an object lesson and announced that God had torn the kingdom from Saul’s hand. Samuel called the Lord “the Strength of Israel,” a name that speaks of God’s glory, eminence, and perfection. How could such a wonderful God be guilty of changing or of telling lies? The Lord had announced that Saul would lose the kingdom, and nothing could change His mind.
Saul is rejected by Samuel (vv. 30–35). The Word of God simply did not penetrate Saul’s mind and heart, and he continued to worry about maintaining his reputation rather than getting right with the Lord. Why Samuel changed his mind and decided to worship with Saul is a bit of a mystery, but the prophet’s actions after that left no doubt where Samuel stood with reference to the king. Samuel publicly butchered King Agag and in that way let it be known that the king had failed to fulfill his commission. Samuel returned to his home in Ramah and Saul to his home in Gibeah, and Samuel made no more trips to see the king, either publicly or privately. Saul did visit Samuel once in Ramah (19:23–24).
Our hearts go out to Samuel who certainly suffered much because of the people and the king they so desperately wanted. When the kingdom was introduced in Israel, Samuel was replaced by a leader who was inferior to him in every way. Samuel did his best to advise the king and strengthen the kingdom, but Saul insisted on having his own way. Each time Saul was assigned a task, he failed, and when he was confronted, he lied and blamed others. When Israel experienced victories, it was usually Jonathan who led the way. It was a difficult time for Samuel, but God was still on the throne and had His true king waiting to be anointed.
King Saul had lost his dynasty, his character, and his throne and crown. He had also lost a godly friend. When David appears on the scene, Saul will lose his self-control and his good sense, and eventually he will lose his last battle—and his life.