Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 15 & 16 The troubles for Saul only intensify. Samuel has given the order to completely annihilate the Amalekites because they had made war against the people of God as they were coming out of Egypt. Saul follows Samuel’s direction – but not as fully as he should have. He kills everyone except the Amalekite king, Agag, and some of the best sheep and cattle which he says he has brought home as a special sacrifice to God. Of course it is possible that Saul had other designs and is simply trying to cover his tracks by lying – but we don’t know that for sure. If we take Saul at his word we might understand his motives – that he was only trying to bring more glory to God. Regardless of how we view Saul’s motives his plan backfires and Samuel speaks words of condemnation. The kingdom will be taking away from Saul and given to a more worthy king. There are a few things that are difficult for me and probably for many about this story. First of all why would God call for the complete slaughter of everyone – men, women, children, and all the animals? That troubles me. This is one of the places in the Old Testament that many people run into trouble. This does not seem like the God we meet in Jesus. And this is not the only place where we run into this kind of slaughter. What are we to make of it? Secondly, if we take Saul at this word – that he was trying to follow Samuel’s directive but erred only in bring the king back to kill him and that he saved the best of the animals for a grand sacrifice celebration back home in honor of God – then why was Saul judged so harshly? Personally I have always had a measure of sympathy for Saul in this story. He seems doomed no matter what he does. Finally, and more frighteningly, Saul does try to repent – but repentance is not possible. There is nothing Saul can do. Does God really reject the repentance of some? Are we to assume that Saul’s repentance was insincere? There is nothing in the story that would support that thought. This is a challenging story and we will not easily resolve it. As a result of Saul’s disobedience the kingdom is torn from him and David is secretly anointed as the next king. That story is familiar to many of us and is a story we enjoy hearing. As chapter 16 concludes Saul and David are brought together. Saul is tormented by “evil spirits” and someone remembers that there is a young boy named David who plays the harp in a soothing fashion. Of course no one in Saul’s court has any idea about the fact that Samuel has already anointed David to be the next king.