Hill Thread

2 Samuel 11:14-17
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

2 Samuel 11:26-27
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

2 Samuel 12:8-14
8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”

Related Text:
Romans 6:23
Numbers 32:23
2 Samuel 12:15-25
Proverbs 26:27
Matthew 1:1-6
Hebrews 13:4

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Just a Thought

There were times David could have stopped and confessed his sins before Uriah was killed and before David brought Bathsheba into his house as his new wife. The problem was, he was so consumed with and afraid of the consequences of his adultery, that his only focus was covering it all up.

We have choices, always. We have the power to make our own choices in life. To be obedient, or disobedient. To walk with God or not. To develop and strengthen our spiritual relationship with our savior or not. And when we screw up and sin, we also have a choice. We can confess and turn from our sin (no matter how difficult it may be to confess, it’s always a option), or we can try to hide it, cover it up on our own, pretend like nothing ever happened, and possibly sin more in our attempts to hide it.

When we’re so focused on hiding our sin from others, we tend to lose focus of God in our lives and our relationship with our savior. It eats us up inside. It turns us into someone we never thought we would be.

My prayer is that when we mess up and sin, we will come humbly before God and His throne of grace, confess our sins and accept His forgiveness, and learn from our mistakes so that we will be guarded from falling into the same sin trap over and over.

2 Samuel 11:1-9
1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

Related Text:
Deuteronomy 5:18
Job 31:1
Psalm 119:9-16
Proverbs 5-6
1 Corinthians 6:9-11

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Here’s the Deal

David was tempted when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath on the roof. Although David’s resulting actions were not acceptable or obedient to God, most people can understand the temptation. The sin we read about in today’s scripture was not the temptation itself, but rather it was acting on the temptation that was sinful. It was the actions David took after He saw Bathsheba bathing that was disobedient to God. Then, David sinned again when he tried to cover up his first sin. He messed up big time . . . and this guy loved God!

It is not uncommon to be sexually tempted. Sex is everywhere in our society, sexual images and innuendos are used for all kinds of advertising, network tv progressively allows more and more sexual situations on their airwaves as the years go by, advertisements on just about any website have the chance to contain some sort of sexual reference. You can almost make the argument that the only way to avoid the temptations of a sexual nature is to close your eyes and plug your ears, or go to sleep.

But the next time you are tempted, you can do something that David didn’t do; you can use self control and decide not to act on those temptations. Got has given us the tools necessary to be obedient to him and to avoid sin by not acting on those temptations. God knows we will be tempted, but He has given us self control. It’s totally up to us to decide whether or not we will use it.

Develop a plan of action for when you are tempted. Memorize some scripture that will give you the strength to get out of the situation. Some scholars, after reading verse 1 of 2 Samuel 11, say that David should have been out leading His army, but for whatever reason, he stayed in Jerusalem. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and this could be the first step to fight through the temptation: don’t allow yourself to be in situations where temptation is possible. Now, we don’t know the future, so we can’t always know where temptation will occur. But we’re not stupid people either, God has given us a brain. We can all think of places where we know temptation is a guarantee. Whatever our struggle is, whatever keeps making us stumble and fall, we need to run from those situations and places where we know temptation is waiting for us. But ultimately, it’s up to us. We have the power to choose.

Psalm 23:1-6
1 The LORD is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths
for His name’s sake.
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff -they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
as long as I live.

John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Related Text:
Isaiah 40:10-11
Micah 5:2-5
Hebrews 13:20-21
1 Peter 2:21-25
Revelation 7:15-17

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Don’t Forget to Stretch

Here’s a unique exercise with Psalm 23. Read it again, verse by verse, and re-write it in your own words. We’re not re-writing the Bible, but the idea here is to personalize this God-praising hymn and make it specific to our lives. Personalize this psalm by using specific examples of how God is your shepherd.

Here are some questions that you may think of to get the ball rolling as you re-write your own personal Psalm 23. What are your green pastures and quiet waters that God has supplied you with? How has He directed your path? What dark valleys has He carried you through?

2 Samuel 7:1-16
1 After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.”
4 That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying:
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ‘
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
” ‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me ; your throne will be established forever.’ ”

Related Text:
1 Chronicles 17
Psalm 2
Psalm 89
Jeremiah 33:14-26
Romans 1:1-4

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In Other Words

In the scripture passage today, you can see God promising great things through David’s family. This is one of the prophecies that refers to the birth of Jesus. God promised that a great king would be born through David’s family. This king would live forever and build an eternal kingdom. Sound familiar?

The Bible has recorded this specific prophecy about the coming king through several different prophets and time periods. Hundreds of years later, God used Mary, who was from the family line of David, to give birth to Jesus – the King of kings.

God’s plans have worked out, and will continue to work out as H intends. Take a moment to thank God for His unique plan related to your life, and let Him know you want to be a part of His eternal kingdom. He definitely has room for you. Seek God’s direction, pour out your heart to Him, spend some time with God, ask Him what He needs from you.

1 Chronicles 10:1-14
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him.

4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me.”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together.

7 When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon.

11 When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

Related Text:
1 Samuel 28 & 31
2 Samuel 1
2 Samuel 16:15 – 17:23
Matthew 27:1-5
Acts 16:22-28

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Just A Thought

In Saul’s life, his disobedience to God resulted in him losing the kingdom of Israel and losing his life. From this story, however, we certainly cannot conclude that every person’s disobedience will be punished by death. But there will always be consequences for our actions, and for our disobedience.

Don’t, though, fall into the trap of following God’s commands and seeking His will because you are afraid of punishment. Too often we turn our lives into a repetitive action of marking off a checklist, going through the motions without our heart being involved. Instead, through your close, and ever growing and strengthening relationship with God, serve Him through love and delight in the Lord.

Spend some time with God today and praise Him for all that He has blessed you with. Ask Him for ways to serve and tell Him you are willing to be used in whatever way He needs.

1 Samuel 17:38-50
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

Related Text:
2 Samuel 21:15-22
Psalm 27
Hebrews 11:32-34

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Facing a giant warrior and certain death, David knows the Lord will be victorious; and if victory comes from the Lord through a young boy, then so be it. I always get goose bumps when I read 1 Sam. 17:45, “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’”

David isn’t guessing that the Lord will be victorious. He isn’t hoping that God will be mightier than this giant Philistine that stands before him. He knows. He knows without any doubt in his mind or heart that God will be victorious. Man I wish I could live like this 24/7. It seems like life is a constant battle between worries, fears, uncertainties and plain old tough decisions vs. our faith and trust in God Almighty. Accepting Jesus as our savior is an overall lifestyle change. Complete reversal of how we were living before we came to Christ. Part of the new life Jesus has given us (it’s s Huge part) is to live our life trusting in God, knowing without any doubt that He is in control.

I know that is easier said than done. And it may take small steps at first. But we must live in faith and hope and trust in our Savior. We must be in communication and a relationship with the one who died for us. He will give us His strength when we seek Him.

1 Samuel 17:12-19
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

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Broaden Your Scope

David was obedient. He was obedient to his father Jesse, and he was obedient to God later at the battle against Goliath. What I would like to focus on today is the fact that David was obedient in the small things and the big things. He had a willing heart.

The scripture we read today wasn’t anything earth shaking really. David wasn’t a part of the army, he had to stay at home as a shepherd while his brothers went to serve Saul. Every now and again he would be the delivery boy, bringing food to his brothers and bringing back word to his father. With a war brewing with the Philistines, being a shepherd and delivery boy probably wasn’t the most important job in the eyes of many of the people.

The scale of his responsibilities didn’t matter to David. what mattered was that he followed through with what he was given. So many times, we get bogged down with serving God because we think it’s not that important. We get discouraged or our pride gets in the way if we don’t think our “job” God has given us is as important as someone else.

Our responsibility is to be obedient to God, where ever He has called us to go or what ever He has called us to do. To question if we have been given enough or too much responsibility is to question whether or not God really knows what He’s doing. Let us have faith in God, trusting Him and living obediently, and let us not fall into the trap of labeling our responsibilities menial or prestigious. Let us have the hearts of servants.

1 Samuel 17:1-11
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels ; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

1 Samuel 17:32-40
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

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Digging Deeper

A lot of people want to tell students that they are the “church of tomorrow” or that they are the “Christian leaders of the future”. On the flip side, a lot of people believe that they are too old to be productive for God, or that their time to be used by God has passed them by. They say, “if I could only go back, I would do this or do that for God, but I’m too old now.”

Here’s the problem with these ideas; God decides when and who and how. It’s not up to us to say when we are no longer useful for God’s plans. He’s God. He can use a young boy to rescue Israel, or an old man and woman to have a baby well passed their prime.

Our job is not to decide when we think we are useful or no longer useful to God. Our job is to be willing to be used by God whenever He calls us to action. God has used young and old, and will continue to use those who want to live for Him.

1 Samuel 16:1-13
1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”
5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

Related Text:
Psalm 78:70-72
Matthew 5:8
Matthew 12:33-35
Luke 6:43-45
Acts 13:21-23

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Make the Change

God doesn’t make decisions based on what we think would be deciding factors. God anointed David as king, but before he met David, Samuel thought David’s older brother Eliab would be the one God would anoint. Samuel took one look at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here”. We aren’t told exactly what Samuel noticed to make him think Eliab would be anointed as king, but he saw something. His appearance, physical build maybe, his height. Whatever Samuel saw, it made him think that God would choose Eliab.

Then God throws a curve. Ok, maybe not a curve, but God tells Samuel why he’s doing what He’s doing. In verse 7, God says, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

God’s telling Samuel that He thinks differently than we do. God doesn’t base His decisions on the things that we as humans base our decisions on. God’s trying to teach us to look beyond appearances and to trust in Him.

1 Samuel 15:1-23
1 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. 2 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. 3 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.’ ”
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim-two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 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.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 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.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 “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.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
16 “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?”
20 “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”

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Something to Think About

God places a higher level of moral responsibility on Christian leaders. God wants all of His followers to live right, be obedient, and follow Him, but He wants His leaders to be godly examples. God knows that even Christian leaders aren’t perfect. But God also knows that Christian leaders are watched by others, and there’s a big responsibility that comes with that. For example, Saul, who was chosen to be king and leader, lied to Samuel. He also knew what God had commanded, but Saul thought he knew better. So instead of destroying everyone and everything and being obedient to God, he saved some stuff to offer as a sacrifice. God didn’t want a sacrifice, He wanted obedience.

A strong leader will try to always obey and please God, even when it seems difficult. If you are in any sort of leadership role, be reminded that you are a model to others of what it looks like to follow Jesus with your life. Let’s take that one step further. If you are a Christian, you are always a leader in some form or another. In the simplest way, the way you live your life may be the only way someone comes to know Christ. As a Christian, you are responsible for being used by God to help lead others to Christ. God wants us all to be faithful leaders.