Samuel and Saul
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
The failure of Samuel’s children as judges led to Samuel’s next disappointment: Israel’s request for a king. Samuel’s answer was to pray. He faithfully warns the people of God about the consequences of choosing a king and pleaded with them not to go down that
route. But, having had the joy of leading the people back to God, he experienced the bitterness of having his spiritual advice ignored. God tells Samuel to give the nation a king. So begins the next pivotal relationship of Samuel’s life: his relationship with Saul. This is the man who, in chapter 10, Samuel anoints as the first king of Israel. Saul is symbolic of man’s view of things. At the beginning of chapter 9 Saul is described as a mighty man of power. He was more handsome than anyone else in Israel and stood head and shoulders above the rest of the people. Such an attractive man appealed to the people then as it does today. We are so often interested in the surface rather than the substance. But God intervened to give Saul other advantages. He gave him another heart and the gift of the Spirit (10:9-10). Saul was also marked by humility (10:22) and a following of faithful men “whose hearts God had touched” (10:26). Success followed. Soon Saul was established as king over God’s people with the support of God’s servant, Samuel.
In chapter 12 Samuel faithfully addresses the people of God in the power of a life lived serving God and His people. He demonstrates God’s power in nature in verses 17-18 to show their dependence on the Lord. The people ask Samuel to pray for them. The tender heart of this old servant of God is summed up in verse 23: “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.” The mark of a dedicated servant of God is the care he will always have for God’s people, despite the failure that so often characterises them. A true shepherd never forsakes the flock.
It is touching to see Samuel’s spiritual care for Saul. As Samuel had interceded for a nation, so he did for his king. Yet despite this support and the early promise, Saul’s reign ends in disobedience, and God rejects him as king. This is summed up in chapter 15 in Samuel’s words to Saul,
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams …
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
These words reflect the foundations of Samuel’s service. His whole ministry emerged from his mother’s obedience in giving him to God. His was a powerful ministry because he listened to and obeyed the word of God. He was prepared to confront a nation and a king rather than dishonour his God. His life teaches us how vital obedience is. The Lord Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Saul never saw Samuel again, until after Samuel’s death. Samuel mourned for king Saul. But God was about to open Samuel’s eyes to a new king, David, “a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). Samuel reminds us we are never too old to learn the ways and the wisdom of God and how, through Christ, He can turn our sorrow into joy.
