I ministered the sermon To obey is better than sacrifice this Sunday at the first service of my local Church. It’s my sequel to the sermon: Activating God’s favour.
”16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night." And he said to him, "Speak."
17 And Samuel said, "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, 'Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?" 20 And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal." 22 And Samuel said,
"Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
1 Samuel 15:16-23 ESV
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king."
Saul’s disobedience and God’s judgement
1 Samuel chapter 15, verses 16 and 17 introduce us to a possible altercation between two (2) great biblical characters, Samuel, the prophet of God, and Saul, the king of Israel, over the latter’s disobedience of God’s command (1 Samuel 15:1-9). This altercation took place after God had sent Samuel to command Saul to destroy the Amalekites and everything they possessed, which Saul didn’t fully execute, as recorded in 1 Samuel 15:1-23.
God’s command and Saul’s disobedience
Specifically, Samuel told Saul that the Lord God, who had sent him to anoint him king over Israel, was then commanding him to go and strike Amalek and destroy everything they had (1 Samuel 15:1-3). But Saul and his people spared the king of the Amalekites and the best of their sheep, oxen, and all that was not despised or worthless (good) (1 Samuel 15:4-9).
God’s judgement
Therefore, God sent Samuel to tell Saul, “He regretted making him king on account of his disobedience”. But God’s words angered Samuel, and he cried to God all that night (1 Samuel 15:10-11). And early in the morning, Samuel went to meet up with Saul over God’s words (1 Samuel 15:12).
When Samuel met up with Saul, Saul told him that he had obeyed God’s commandment (1 Samuel 15:13). And Samuel asked him about the bleating of sheep and the lowing of oxen that he had heard (1 Samuel 15:14). To which Saul told Samuel that they had spared the best to sacrifice to God (1 Samuel 15:15). And Samuel told Saul what God had told him concerning his kingship and disobedience (1 Samuel 15:16-19), to which Saul insisted that they’d obeyed God and spared the best of what the Amalekites possessed to sacrifice to God at Gilgal (1 Samuel 15:20-21).
Lessons from Saul’s disobedience and God’s judgement
God told (reminded) Saul that He anointed him king over Israel
God told (reminded) Saul, through Samuel, that He anointed him king over Israel despite him being small in his own eyes (1 Samuel 15:16-17), when Israel demanded a king (1 Samuel 8-10). That is, God sent him to anoint him king over Israel, essentially raising him from nothing to the position of being the leader of His people.
The Lord God is reminding you (and me) that He raised you to where you are and who you are now. You are, therefore, God, not self-made. Because when you forget that you are God-made, you will disobey God.
Saul disobeyed God’s command
After that, Samuel reminded Saul that God commanded him to destroy the Amalekites and what they possessed (1 Samuel 15:18). He then asked him why he disobeyed God (1 Samuel 15:19). And Saul told him that he had obeyed but his people took the things that were devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord at Gilgal (1 Samuel 15:20-21).
Voices
Saul’s justification of his disobedience of God’s command teaches you (and me) that there could be a voice (or a person or thing) that drowns the voice of God in your life. Because the voice of his people carried more authority than the voice of God. Yet God’s voice was supposed to be the ultimate authority in his life and kingship.
So the question is: Who’s voice or what’s voice carries more authority in your life and vocation than the voice of God? Because that is the voice that makes and keeps you disobedient to God, especially in families, peer groups, workplaces (marketplaces), and even cults.
If there is such a voice in your life, then you need to free yourself from its authority so that you can resubmit to God’s voice (1 Samuel 15:24). Because when you reject God’s word, He will reject you (Read: How you can hear the voice of God).
Overcome the fear of repercussions (reprisals)
You, consequently, need to overcome your fear of the repercussions of not obeying such a voice. Because the laid-out repercussions may be holding you hostage to the authority of the voice.
When you give God the position of being the Lord of your life, you will not obey any other voice. You will live in and enjoy the freedom that God avails in Christ.
To obey is better than sacrifice
Then Samuel asked Saul which of sacrifice and obedience God delighted in more than the other (1 Samuel 15:22). And he informed Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
God is delighted more in obedience (you) than sacrifice (your offering). Most probably because you are more valuable than the things you offer to Him. Remember, He made you in His image. And God is the Supplier of your offerings to Him.
So, to obey is better than sacrifice. And you will do well to obey the voice of God over any other voice.
