1 Samuel 15
Desiring to elevate his image and giving undue attention to other worldly matters, this king, Saul, disobeyed God. As a result, God told Samuel He regretted making Saul king. Saul is weak and not the type of man we should desire to be.
Obstacles to obedience:
1. Casualness to God. We may be tempted at times to go the way of Saul, to go down our own road, ignoring God’s direction. The first thing Saul was told to do was listen. He failed. God is very precise on what He asks for. Self seeking results from casualness towards God. Our own desires take precedence. Saul honors himself by building a monument to himself. Samuel calls him out for his disobedience. Saul’s initial reaction was denial. When that doesn’t fly he blames others, he blames the people. They did this. When that also doesn’t work he tries to minimize the damage he has done towards God.
2. Presumption (knowing better than God.). God has made it very clear what He wants and yet you decide to go your own way, you think you know better. He’s no different than our current day politicians, who proclaim their spirituality and yet they lie, cheat and steal and do whatever it takes to elevate and promote themselves. Rationalization goes along with presumption. Why should we destroy perfectly good livestock? We can put them to better use. We are the creation. We have a Creator. We are in no place to question God. Who is Saul to question God? God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. Beware, partial obedience is disobedience!
3. Fearing people (submitting to man). This could be the biggest obstacle. Fear is weakness. Saul says he listened to the voice of the people, I was afraid. Samuel will have none of that. You’re the king, he says. You say NO when the people suggest ideas contrary to God. So God gives him over to his own desires. Samuel no longer has anything to do with Saul. It’s no different than us being unwilling to tell our children we’ve made a mistake. We think that will undermine our authority when actually, the very opposite is true.
Let us be diligent in honoring and obeying God, and less concerned about our own image.
