October 17, 2023 — Samuel’s Sad Goodbye

Samuel, Saul’s loyal friend, thought it a “sin against the Lord” if he ceased to pray for him (1 Sam 12:23).

727. Samuel was no mere observer of the life of Saul. When the Lord told him, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king,” we read, “it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night” (1 Sam 15:11). The next morning, what must have been his distress when the people told him Saul had “set up a monument for himself” (v 12). Ah, said Samuel when he met him, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel?” (v 17). Clearly this rejection of Saul is in vivid contrast with the selection of David in the next chapter, where we read, “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7). In fact, these parallel vignettes illustrate the prayer of Hannah in chapter 2. “Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed…The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up” (vv 3, 7). What a heartache to see people with so much potential squander their opportunities because of self-willed disobedience. After Samuel had delivered the Lord’s stern message, Saul tried to cling to him, but the prophet replied, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king” (15:26). But “Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore” (v 27). This, responded Samuel, is parabolic of your ragged life: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today” (v 28). And though he mourned for the abandoned monarch, “Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death” (v 35). This is certainly a practical lesson for us: When we pull against the Lord and His will, things will always rend—at our end!

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