1 Samuel 15

Last week I blogged on some of my favorite scriptures in 1 Samuel.  I wanted to return to one of those.  We are all familiar with Saul's disobedience when the Lord commanded him to destroy everything associated with the Amalekites where he spared Agag and to the spoil of the best of the sheep, oxen, lambs with the excuse that these were for the purpose of sacrifice to the Lord.  As Samuel approached Saul -

"...Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD."  (Old Testament | 1 Samuel 15:13)

And then the coversation continued and Samuel responded -

What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal."  (Old Testament | 1 Samuel 15:14 - 21)

I find it interesting that as Saul feels the chastisement of Samuel, he begins to poin the finger, "the people took of the spoil".   And when he was really cornered, Saul confessed -

"...I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice."  (Old Testament | 1 Samuel 15:24)

Obviously -

"...Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams."  (Old Testament | 1 Samuel 15:22)

How often we begin to justify our opinions and actions because we fear the people?