Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

1 Samuel 15 Devotional

Obedience Over Offerings

“But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.”1 Samuel 15:22 (BSB)

This is a hard chapter. The LORD commands Saul to devote the Amalekites to destruction, every person and animal (15:3). The reason given is judgment for what Amalek did to Israel on the way up from Egypt (15:2), when, Deuteronomy says, they attacked the weary stragglers and had no fear of God (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). The text presents it as the LORD's judgment, not Saul's ambition, and it does not ask us to find it easy.

Saul obeys partly. He spares King Agag and the best of the livestock, and he sets up a monument for himself (15:9, 15:12). Confronted, he blames the troops, who kept the best animals for sacrifice (15:21). Samuel answers that the LORD delights in obedience more than in offerings (15:22). Saul finally admits he feared the people (15:24), yet even then he asks to be honored before the elders (15:30). God cannot be managed with religious gestures. He wants hearts that listen, and only he can give such a heart. Honest confession, without excuses, is where it begins.

To think about: Is there an area where you have offered God something in place of the obedience he actually asked for?

About 1 Samuel 15: Saul Rejected as King

Saul is sent to destroy the Amalekites but spares King Agag and the choicest animals. Samuel confronts him, teaching that the LORD values obeying Him above offerings and announcing that God has rejected Saul as king. Samuel puts Agag to death and returns to Ramah, never going to see Saul again, though he mourns him.

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