Context No. 2495 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 15:22-29: in context

22Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the LORD’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the LORD’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.” 24Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.” 26Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the LORD’s word, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”

Saul has kept back the choice plunder he was told to destroy, and offers the excuse that he meant to sacrifice it to God. Samuel answers with words that cut through every religious pretense: has the LORD as much delight in sacrifices as in obeying his voice? To obey is better than sacrifice. Then Saul's real reason slips out: I sinned, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Two things surface here. First, religious performance is no substitute for obedience. Saul had an offering ready, but God wanted his word done, not his altar busy. We can be very active in worship while quietly disobeying the one thing God actually said. Second, Saul confesses the true engine of his disobedience: I feared the people. He obeyed the crowd rather than God because their opinion frightened him more than God's command. That fear of what people think has bent more obedience out of shape than open rebellion ever has.

Am I substituting religious activity for actual obedience, and am I disobeying God at any point because I fear what people will think?

Sources

1 Samuel 15:22: Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:24: I have sinned... because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
Galatians 1:10: For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?... For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn't be a servant of Christ.