1 Samuel 15: Incomplete Obedience is Disobedience

"And Samuel said, 'Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.'" 1 Samuel 15:22

Last semester, one of my professors said in class that "incomplete obedience is disobedience." In 1 Samuel 15, we find this truth played out. Although Saul thought that he got a "B" on his "obedience test," what he didn't know is that the Lord only grades in pass or fail.

In 1 Samuel 15, we find Samuel giving to Saul some instructions about his next battle. The battle would be against the Amalekites, and God strictly commanded Saul to "devote to destruction all that [the Amalekites] have" because of their great sin against the Israelites in opposing them on their way to the Promised Land. Saul plainly hears the instruction and goes into battle, wins the battle, but takes their king and some of their best cattle alive. This was strictly against the Lord's command, but Saul thought he got away with it.

In response to this, Samuel was infuriated. The next day, he approached Saul, who interestingly enough greeted him by saying, "Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD" (13). However, Samuel knew better, so he asked Saul where the sounds of sheep were coming from. Saul quickly pointed his finger at his soldiers, saying that they had taken them in order that they might sacrifice them to the Lord. However, Samuel wasn't having it, so he sternly rebukes the king who had disobeyed the Lord's command. In response, Saul once again claims his innocence by telling Samuel that he had devoted the rest of the town to destruction, that is, except their king and their best cattle, in order that they might sacrifice the cattle to the Lord. Saul seems as if he has a good alibi for his actions, but Samuel thought otherwise:

"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams."

In other words, Samuel here is convicting Saul of his moralism. Saul may have looked like he obeyed the Lord's commands (or at least most of them), but he didn't. His actions may have honored the Lord (partially), but his failure to fulfill all that the Lord had commanded him showed that Saul's heart was far from the Lord. The Lord did not desire Saul's sacrifices, but his obedience, which is the one thing he failed to give to the Lord. Although Saul thought that he could get away with a "B" in following God's commands for the day, God gave him an "F" because he failed to surrender his heart to the Lord.

This story teaches us a great lesson, as we have stated above: incomplete obedience is disobedience. In our culture today, if you were to approach someone on the street and ask them if they were a sinner, they would most likely say "yes," but then point their finger at someone else, comparing their righteousness someone eviler than they. This story in 1 Samuel 15 destroys that kind of thinking by showing us that even partial disobedience is worthy of the punishment of God. As James says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." The only standard in which God judges against is the standard of himself. Although the world often thinks it can get away with their sins if they obey enough of the other commands, 1 Samuel 15 tells us that God's economy doesn't work that way. As R.C. Sproul says in his book The Holiness of God, "If God graded on a curve, he would have to compromise his own holiness. To count on God doing so is supreme arrogance and supreme foolishness as well. God does not lower his standards to accommodate us. He remains altogether Holy, altogether righteous, and altogether just."

Thus, what we find from these chapters is that God doesn't want your ritualistic obedience, he wants your heart. However, the Lord also knows that you will fail, just as Saul did, to obey him completely. Thus, he sent his one and only son to live in your place as well as die in your place that your righteousness might be accredited to his account, and his to yours. Thus, we are not bound to obey God completely--we are freed to obey God completely (see 1 Peter 2:16). To obey God incompletely is to disobey him, but because God has sent his Son we have the ability to obey him, because of the "power that is at work within us" (Eph. 2:30).