[Samuel the prophet had crowned Saul king at the Lord's command. Now he brought Saul a message from God:] "I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for refusing to allow My people to cross their territory . . . Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalek nation - men, women, babies, little children, oxen, sheep, camels, and donkeys."

   Then Saul butchered the Amalekites . . . He captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites, but killed everyone else. However, Saul and his men kept the best of the sheep and oxen and the fattest of the lambs - everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. Then the Lord said to Samuel, "I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has again refused to obey Me." . . . When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. "Hello there," he said, "Well, I have carried out the Lord's command!"

   "Then what was all the bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen I heard?" Samuel demanded. "It's true that the army spared the best of the sheep and oxen," Saul admitted, "but they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God; and we have destroyed everything else." Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!"

   "What was it?" Saul asked. And Samuel told him, "When you didn't think much of yourself, God made you king of Israel. And He sent you on an errand and told you, 'Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.' Then why didn't you obey the Lord? Why did you rush for the loot and do exactly what God said not to?" [Saul continued to argue:] ". . . it was only when my troops demanded it that I let them keep the best of the sheep and oxen and loot to sacrifice to the Lord."

   Samuel replied, "Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. He is much more interested in your listening to Him than in your offering the fat of rams to Him. For rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols. And now because you have rejected the word of Jehovah, He has rejected you from being king."

Taken from I Samuel 15, The Living Bible. For free Lifescope book,
write to Box 1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.