GRIEVING GOD

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As 1st Samuel, chapter 15 opens, we find Saul visited by the prophet Samuel…the one who anointed him (Saul) as Israel’s first king…the one who also brought messages to the king and others from God. The scriptures show us how Samuel indeed had another message from the Lord to share with Saul as he said:

“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 in hand, 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”. Before this took place, we read where Saul showed mercy to the Kenites because they had “showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt”.

And so the “Kenites moved away from the Amalekites” and as a result, were spared.

Then Saul and his men “attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt”. Everything went just as God commanded but then things went bad as Saul and his fighting forces decided to turn away from what God expected.

The scriptures tell us that Saul “took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive” while killing all the rest of “his people…with the sword”. Additionally, they “spared…the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves, and lambs”, keeping “everything that was good” for themselves while totally destroying “everything that was despised and weak”.

Why did they fail to “destroy everything” as God demanded?

Because “they were unwilling”…or in other words, they were disobedient…more interested in fulfilling their own desires than God’s.

So what was the outcome of their defiance?

We read where their actions grieved the Lord. We know this through His own words as He said this 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.”

In response to this, the scriptures tell us that Samuel was troubled, crying “out to the Lord all that night”.

All this got me wondering this:

How often have we been like Saul and his men?

Every single believer is called and purposed by the Lord to carry out His will and way with absolute compliance through clear instructions issued either through His Word or by way of the Holy Spirit. After that, the response is on us and there can be three potential outcomes:

1. We can carry out His wishes in absolute obedience.

2. We can completely turn away from what He calls us to do in absolute disobedience.

3. We can only partially carry out what He wants us to do, mostly because we think we’ve done enough if we are able to be somewhat successful. We are willing to settle for good enough as it is just that…good enough.

It isn’t. In fact, it’s almost as bad if not equally as bad as not conforming to His will at all.

For God demands and expects nothing but the total fulfillment of anything and everything He calls us to do. Nothing less than this is acceptable because God won’t be satisfied with just our second best. Rather, He always gives us His best and wants ours in return.

So what happens when we fail God?

Well, we saw in our passage today what happens. He grieves.

Indeed, it grieves our Lord...our Heavenly Father…when we let Him down, just as a wayward child grieves their father when they decide to do something wrong, contrary to what they were taught. Like those rebellious kids, we bring grief on God when we selfishly decide to do what we want instead of what He desires.   

The bottom line is that our choices have consequences that can be positive or negative. My prayer today is that we will increase our sensitivity toward carrying out the Lord’s calling without deviation, doing what He wants in the way He wants it done. Let’s commit ourselves to always please God, living our lives in a way that blesses and honors Him…in a way that glorifies Him and brings Him the fullest joy possible.

For when we do this, we can make sure we don’t grieve our Lord in any way.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.