You Have Not Kept The Command The Lord Your God Gave You

1 Samuel 13:10-13 – Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

Deuteronomy 4:29 – But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

1 Samuel 15:23-24 – 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.” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.

2 Samuel 7:15 – But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

Exodus 20:18-19 – When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

1 Samuel 12:14 – If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good!

Application:

• ·         “With all your heart and…soul” indicates total involvement and commitment.
• ·         A king who sets his own will above the command of the Lord ceases to be an instrument of the Lord’s rule over His people, violating the very nature of his theocratic office.
• ·         Saul’s confession retains an element of self-justification and a shift of blame.
• ·         “My love” is God’s special and unfailing favor.
• ·         The Israelites requested a mediator to stand between them and God, a role fulfilled by Moses and subsequently by priests, prophets and kings—and ultimately by Jesus Christ.
• ·         Israel and her king are to demonstrate that although human kingship has been established, they will continue to recognize the Lord as their true King.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV