March 24, 2025

1 Samuel 15:1-9 (HCSB)
Saul Rejected as King
15 Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel. Now, listen to the words of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt. 3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
4 Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi. 6 He warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is next to Egypt.  8 He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword. 9 Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, cattle, and choice animals, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.

Cliff Bynum
Here we see the recorded order that Saul had from the Lord to destroy Amalek UTTERLY, COMPLETELY, and IN TOTALITY. 1 Samuel 15:1-3 shows us the preparation he made to put it in execution, and the success he had from it. Verses 4-9 shows how the Lord took offense at Saul not obeying His order thoroughly. The Lord made this known to Samuel, and this upset him. I love to cook, but even more, I love to see the response on people’s faces as they take that first bite. 
The look of “oh my goodness this is delicious”. This expression is because I followed the directions to a T. I didn’t do it my way; I followed specific directions to get a specific result. In this lesson we see that Saul did not follow the directions that he was given by God, and the results of Sauls actions were anything but pleasing. In fact, we see that God took offense to the results of Saul’s outcome. 
Prayer: Jesus, I am so blessed because of your sacrifice. Even when I mess up and don’t follow the directions, the outcome is fixed in God’s eyes. Thank you Jesus, for loving me so much, and for forgiving me when I mess up and for keeping me from offending God. In Jesus name, Amen