1 Samuel 15:20-23 – 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. 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.”
And Samuel said, “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams. 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.”
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In this account, King Saul was sent by God on a very specific and particular mission. Saul did most of what the LORD told him to do, but he also exercised a bit of license, refusing to destroy the spoils of the victory. When Samuel confronts Saul with his unwillingness to destroy everything as the LORD had commanded him, Saul responds with deception and defensiveness.
Saul says that he did obey God. He says he did enough that God ought to be satisfied by simply going on the mission. Then he twists his own disobedience, the keeping of many of the nice spoils, and declares that his intent was to use it for worshipping God. He complains, he blames the people, he lies, and he attempts to justify his actions.
Samuel makes it overwhelmingly plain that Saul has not obeyed the LORD. As has been said many times by many pastors, partial obedience is disobedience. Saul claims partial obedience. He claims to have gone on the mission, and he wants Samuel to overlook his mishandling the spoils of victory. Saul did obey, but only to a point. He did the part of the mission he wanted to do, and he fudged on the details that he wanted to avoid. When confronted, he even tried to pretend that his motive was worship. But God is not pleased by our partial obedience. God is not impressed with us doing half, or even three-fourths of what we should do. God wants us to obey his word 100%. To only partially obey, especially when the command is so abundantly clear, is to fully disobey the command of God.
Today, we ought to examine our lives, and ask the LORD to show us the commands in his word he wants us to follow. We need to ask Him to make it plain what it is that he wants us to do in daily living. Then, we need to obey. We do not partially obey, because that actually means to disobey. We do not pass blame for our disobedience onto others. We do not try to make up for our disobedience by doing something extra in worship. No, we obey his commands, and we live to honor our God. That will lead to our joy, and it will avoid much of the pain that Solomon experienced.
LORD, I come to you this evening, and I ask that you would help me to follow you fully. I realize that partial obedience to your commands is actually disobedience. I ask that you will empower me to obey. Help me to see what I need to work on most. Draw me close to you through your word, and help me to do your will with 100% commitment.
Pastor Travis Peterson 