Friday 29th March 2019 - Daily Reading:
1 Samuel 15 - Regrets by Becky Brooks
We stay in 1 Samuel 15 today, as we prepare to take a short break from our journey through 1 Samuel. Saul has reached the end of the road. He will continue to reign as king for some time yet, but God has rejected him, Samuel will no longer speak to him, and his successor is about to be revealed.
It is a very sad thing when a person who begins a big project as well as Saul did, ends it in such a dismal way. Saul’s problem was a very human one – in essence, he too often considered himself above God, and only paid lip service to honouring the Lord. We have seen that he had the skills and the aptitude to be a great king – after all, God chose him and God does not make mistakes – but it is said that power corrupts, and perhaps that is what we see happening with Saul.
No human is perfect. No leader is a perfect leader. We expect – and God expects – human leaders to make mistakes. Saul’s successor, David, was himself no stranger to sin. Yet David was honoured by God while Saul was rejected. Why?
There are clues in this passage. Look what happens when Samuel confronts Saul with his disobedience. Firstly, Saul claims that he wasn’t disobedient and that he followed God’s instructions. The lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep all around shows that to be untrue.
Then Saul blames others. It was the soldiers who brought the animals from the battle, not him. He did what he did because he was afraid of the men. Yes, they didn’t follow the Lord’s instructions, but it wasn’t really his fault. In this context, Saul’s confession of his own sin doesn’t really ring true. It sounds a lot like Saul will say whatever it takes to get Samuel to take back what he said about the Lord rejecting him as king.
What Saul is experiencing here is not repentance – it is regret, and regret is not enough. Perhaps if Saul had confessed his sin immediately, and come to the Lord in sincere repentance, the outcome might have been different. We will never know.
Each one of us has sinned. Each one of us relies utterly on the grace of God. There is nothing to be gained by trying to hide our sin from God, and ignorance of our sin is no defence. If we allow his Holy Spirit to search our hearts, he will reveal our sin, and then is faithful and just to forgive it. The story of Saul’s decline is very sad, but, if we choose it, our story can be very different.