1 Samuel 15:22

1 Samuel 15:22

20 And Saul said to Samuel, ^a“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 ^aBut the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

22 So Samuel said:
^a“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, ^bto obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of¹ witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
^aHe also has rejected you from being king.”

24 ^aThen Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I ^bfeared the people and obeyed their voice.

25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

Commentaries:

John Wesley's Notes

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Sacrifice - Because obedience to God is a moral duty, constantly and indispensably necessary; but sacrifice is but a ceremonial institution, sometimes unnecessary, as it was in the wilderness: and sometimes sinful, when it is offered by a polluted hand, or in an irregular manner. Therefore thy gross disobedience to God's express command, is not to be compensated with sacrifice. Hearken - That is, to obey. Fat - Then the choicest part of all the sacrifice.

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