Sermon Tone Analysis

I learned something this week.

I learn something every week as I study God’s Word.

There’s no mastery here, only new levels of learning.

I learned that the Hebrew word for “listen” is the same word as “obey”.

That’s significant it seems in 1 Samuel 15.

That word—listen/obey—is repeated several times here (hence the title I gave the sermon).

1 Samuel 15 is a difficult chapter.

It’s bugged me since Bible College (you’ll see why as we get into it).

Keep in mind as we go through this chapter, however, as tricky as some of this is the stress of the text seems to be on listening to and obeying the Lord.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Samuel 15. Keep your Bible open there this morning as we work our way through, bit by bit.

To Listen/Obey Means Submitting to the Lord’s Will

Samuel, with all the authority he has, begs Saul to listen to what the Lord is saying through him.

Samuel wants Saul to listen.

This “thus says the Lord” is a big one; it’s a tough one to swallow.

The Lord wants Saul to destroy the Amalekites.

The Amelekites were a wandering tribe who lived in the desert of Judah (that is, the southern part of Israel).

After the Israelites were brought out of slavery in Egypt, the Amalekites attacked Israel.

The Lord declared war on the Amalekites at that point, saying: “I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven...” Moses affirmed: “The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

So, now, some 300 years after their wandering in the wilderness, the Lord intends for Saul to go and attack the Amalekites.

Talk about the patience of the Lord!

The Lord tells Saul to totally destroy the Amalekites—put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.

That should about cover it.

Samuel tells Saul to listen to the message from the Lord.

Saul’s instructions are clear.

He needs to listen/obey; he needs to submit to the Lord’s will.

Even if he doesn’t like it.

Even if he doesn’t agree with it.

Even if he doesn’t understand it, his is to listen and obey.

It’s the same for us.

Our listening and obedience to the Word of the Lord will naturally lead to our submission—just doing what He’s asked.

It’s more than hearing.

It’s hearing and doing.

Listen/obey.

Jesus taught: Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Hearing and doing.

Listening/obeying.

Submission to the Word of God is absolutely paramount.

The beginning of verse 4 has a positive start.

It begins with “So Saul summoned the men...”

It gives the appearance that Saul might just listen/obey.

Partial Obedience is Disobedience

Sadly, what we have here is a failure on Saul’s part to actually listen to and obey what the Lord said to him.

What Saul decides to do is clearly not good.

Saul might be able to color his partial obedience as a good thing or the better option; he could try to gloss over it.

But, the truth is: partial obedience is simply disobedience.

Like when your parents told you to clean your room and instead of cleaning you just shoved everything under the bed or in the closet.

Not that any of you would do such a thing...

Partial obedience is disobedience.

Saul’s partial obedience reveals his heart and character.

It looks good for a few verses.

And then we get to verse 8; that’s when the wheels start to come off.

Saul, we read, took Agag king of the Amalekites alive.

That wasn’t part of what the Lord told Saul to do.

God’s Word to Saul was clear; it said nothing about taking the Amalekite king alive.

The Lord commanded total destruction.

Saul might not have agreed with it or liked it very much, but there’s no denying it was clear.

Saul couldn’t say, “Oh, I didn’t realize that’s what you meant.

Sorry about that, man.

I didn’t quite understand...”

No. God’s Word to Saul was clear:

1 Samuel 15:3 (NIV)

3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.

Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’

”

We don’t have to like it.

We don’t have to understand it.

We don’t have to agree with it.

But there is on denying it’s clear.

Saul got close, but didn’t totally destroy the Amalekites.

This is what they did instead: Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good.

These they were unwilling to destroy completely.

This partial obedience is blatant disobedience.

The Lord told them not to spare them.

They went ahead and spared Agag and the best livestock.

The Lord told them to totally destroy; they were unwilling to completely destroy some of it.

Partial obedience is disobedience.

Obedience and following the Lord are essential requirements for a king’s reign to be successful.

The Lord Yahweh is sorry that He made Saul king.

Saul has turned back from following the Lord.

This is the Lord’s assessment of Saul.

Saul hasn’t carried out the Lord’s instructions.

Saul has done what Saul wanted to do.

Saul’s disobedience has led to divine regret: “I regret that I have made Saul king.”

This regret or repentance, this sorrow from the Lord is what has bugged me since college.

We saw it in Genesis 6:6 “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”

The regretting or repenting which God does is not like the repenting man does.

In fact, it is so different, it’s not really repenting at all.

This statement of regret has to be taken alongside verse 29 of 1 Samuel 15.

God is not ignorant of what’s going on; He is not unaware of what’s going to happen with Saul.

This is the turning of God’s heart in a new direction, but not a direction that was unforeseen to Him.

God does not repent because He is caught off-guard by some turn of events.

That would indeed be like man.

But the Glory of Israel is not a man that He should repent.

When the Bible says that God repents of or regrets something, it means that He expresses a different attitude than He expressed before.

Not because any turn of events was unexpected, but because the attitude is more fitting for the event at hand.

Obedience and following the Lord are essential requirements for a king’s reign to be successful.

When Saul opts to do his own thing his own way, he forfeits any success in the eyes of the Lord; he foregoes the right to be king.

Obedience and following the Lord are the essential posture of the disciple.

What was required of Saul is required of us.

Jesus makes this plain:

We don’t have to like, understand, or agree with what the Lord commands.