Do You Follow The Whole Command?

 ¹⁵ “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul.

   “Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.”

 ¹⁶ But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the LORD has left you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ The LORD has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. ¹⁸ The LORD has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. ¹⁹ What’s more, the LORD will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The LORD will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.”

-First Samuel 28:15-19 (NLT)

Here's the question of the day: Should you or I expect God to bless us, even when we don't follow His commands? That is the idea behind these verses from First Samuel 28. Saul was in a bind. He was under attack from a foreign army, he sought God, but God wasn't found. So, Saul called Samuel, who was a prophet of God. 

Look at what he said, in verse 15. "Because I am in deep trouble, Saul replied. The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won't reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do." Saul wanted the direction of God, wanted to know what to do about this attack. But, God wasn't responding to Saul's prayers. Samuel reveals why in verses 16-18, "But Samuel replied, Why ask me, since the LORD has left you and has become your enemy? The LORD has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The LORD has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites." Samuel reveals the root cause of God not answering the prayers of Saul. It was because of sin. It was because Sal had refused to follow the commands of God. Samuel even reveals exactly where Saul missed the mark. 

We read in First Samuel 15:1-9 the account of where Saul missed the mark. "¹ One day Samuel said to Saul, “It was the LORD who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the LORD! ² This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. ³ Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”

 ⁴ So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 men from Judah. ⁵ Then Saul and his army went to a town of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶ Saul sent this warning to the Kenites: “Move away from where the Amalekites live, or you will die with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites packed up and left.

 ⁷ Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt. ⁸He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. ⁹ Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality." Saul was told to destroy the nation of Amalek. He was to destroy everyone, everything and leave no trace. This was his command from the Lord. Yet, we read in verse 9, "Saul and his men spared Agag's life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs- everything in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality." This was not the command of God. God commanded them to destroy everything that was the nation of Amalek. Saul may have thought he was following God's command, but he only followed it halfway. Instead of fulfilling the command, Saul got greedy and kept the best of the land of Amalek. He missed the mark, he failed to fulfill the command of God. 

We read in First Samuel 15:13-23, "¹³ When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the LORD bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the LORD’s command!”

 ¹⁴ “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.

 ¹⁵ “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else.”

 ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the LORD told me last night!”

   “What did he tell you?” Saul asked.

 ¹⁷ And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD has anointed you king of Israel. ¹⁸ And the LORD sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ ¹⁹ Why haven’t you obeyed the LORD? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the LORD’s sight?”

 ²⁰ “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. ²¹ Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

 ²² But Samuel replied,

   “What is more pleasing to the LORD:
      your burnt offerings and sacrifices
      or your obedience to his voice?
   Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
      and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
 ²³ Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
      and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
   So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
      he has rejected you as king.”

Saul didn't fulfill the command of God to destroy the nation of Amalek, and now he was rejected as king of Israel. Are you fulfilling the command of God in your life? Are you meeting the command, or are you stopping at a partial attempt to complete it. Saul lost. He lost it all, because he failed to keep the command God given him. Think About It.