GRIEVING GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Samuel said to Saul, 'I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' '

So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim — two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then he said to the Kenites, 'Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.' So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs —everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 'I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.' Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

1 Samuel 15:1-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As 1st Samuel, Chapter 15 opens, Saul is visited by the prophet Samuel…the one who anointed Saul king over Israel…the one who also brought messages to Saul and others from God. And scripture shows us that Samuel had another message for Saul from the Lord as he said to him:

'This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' '

And with that order, Saul 'summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim…two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah'…before going to the 'city of Amalek and (setting) an ambush in the ravine'. But before Saul attacked the Amalekites, we read where he showed mercy to the Kenites because they 'showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.' And so the 'Kenites moved away from the Amalekites' and were spared.

Then Saul and his men 'attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt'. Everything had gone just as God had ordered. But then, things started to go bad as Saul and his army began to turn from God’s expectations.

For we read where Saul 'took Agag king of the Amalekites alive' while killing 'all his people…with the sword. 'Saul and the army' also 'spared…the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs', keeping 'everything that was good' while totally destroying 'everything that was despised and weak'. Why? Because 'they were unwilling to destroy completely'. Or in other words, they were disobedient…more willing to meet their own desires than God’s.

And scripture shows us the end result of this disobedient action by Saul and his men…it grieved the Lord. We know this because He told Samuel, 'I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.' And in turn, Samuel was troubled, crying 'out to the Lord all that night'.

Friends, how often are we like Saul and his men? We are chosen by God to carry out His word and will…and then are given instructions by Him as to how to complete what He wants us to do. And then, we either completely fail to do what He wants or we only partially complete what he asks us to do, mostly because we think that just doing part of what He wants is good enough.

It isn’t.

For God demands and expects nothing but our full compliance with anything and everything He wants us to do. Nothing short of this is acceptable. God won’t take our second best. He gives us His best always and wants ours in return.

So what happens when we fail? Well, we saw in our passage today what happens.

God grieves.

He grieves when we let Him down. He grieves when we choose our own selfish desires over His. And He grieves when we fail to give Him our all as He gave us…especially in the way of His Son, our Savior, Jesus.

Question: Are we really willing to grieve God with the way we live our lives?

Let us today recommit to full obedience to God…and live our lives in a way that only blesses Him, glorifies Him and brings Him the fullest joy possible. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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