Well, in the last chapter of the Book of 1 Samuel, the 14th chapter, it concluded with a summary of Saul's reign. It was presented to us in that chapter almost as though he had died and this was his eulogy. But Saul still lives and Saul still reigns. But his life is all but over. It's a It's only a partial life that he lives now. It's a life lived in the shadow of death. It's a life lived in the darkness of the kingdom of Satan. It is a life lived separated from the Lord his God, who had called him and appointed him to be king over the people of the Lord. And our chapter this evening in the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel is the turning point in the narrative. It opens a new section for us and paves the way for the next phase of God's kingdom in Israel. And as we consider this chapter, we really are confronted with a chapter that presents various difficulties to us. Not that there is any difficulty in the words themselves, though there are a couple of verses where the Hebrew is unclear, but those aren't significant. The issue is more in our ability to receive the revelation of God in this chapter. There are aspects of it that we struggle with, and we must confess that we struggle with aspects of what God reveals in this chapter. We struggle with it because what God reveals generates in us a reaction of unbelief, of rejection, of discomfort. It can produce varying reactions but all of them cause us a degree of unease with what we're hearing and how God is presented to us here. And so I really want this evening, while we could look at many other aspects that are presented to us in this chapter, I want to deal with three issues that may cause us a degree of discomfort or unease. And the first is the Lord's request in this chapter. As the chapter opens, the Lord's request. Samuel came to Saul, who had been given instructions by God. Saul had been appointed, anointed to be king by Samuel. He was the people's choice of the kind of king that they wanted to rule over them. And now the Lord is coming to Saul with a commission. He's coming to send him on a mission. He has a job, a task for Saul to do as leader of God's people. He says to Saul, I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. And that command from God to Saul, that request that God makes of Saul, is something that we react against. How can God, who created the world, how can the God who gives life, how can the God who is full of compassion, we're told, The God who is love. How can God send Saul and his armies against the Amalekites with the purpose of killing every living thing that belonged to them? It seems horrific to our way of thinking. It seems barbaric and we don't want to think of a God who is barbaric. And that is right, we ought not to think that God is some hooligan who is bent on destruction, and is unconcerned of the damage that he causes and the pain that he inflicts. No, that is not the way that we are to think of God. God is good. And God is righteous. But the goodness of God and the righteousness of God also have to be set alongside the justice of God and his holy hatred of sin. And it is in that context then that we must understand these words. The time for judgment had come upon the Amalekites, the Amalekites who had attacked Israel early in the days after their departure from Egypt in the Exodus when God had freed them from slavery and was bringing them to Mount Sinai to set them as a new nation under heaven that would live for his glory and under his sovereignty. And the Amalekites had come upon the rear of the people and had struck down those who were at the back of the great pilgrimage from Egypt to Mount Sinai. And all through the history of Israel, the Amalekites have continued in their enmity against Israel. And now the time is ripe for judgment. After hundreds of years of God's patience and of his enduring of their hostility against his people, It is time for the Amalekites to be judged and we need to realize that the Amalekites weren't nice neighbors to have. These weren't good people. They're described in this passage as being sinners, that they were at war with God, and the war was coming to a head now, and God was about to destroy them. Not only are they described in that way, but their king, Agag, is described as a king who has used his sword to make women childless. And so the king is about to make his mother childless as he is executed. And the king who has made other mothers childless will find that his own nation is wiped out. This is God's judgment and it is a just judgment from God. We need to realize that God has promised judgment for this world. And the mode by which God brings that judgment to this world is not for us to determine. when God decides that the wickedness of the world has become so great and that every thought and intention of man's mind is only evil continually and God determines to destroy mankind from the face of the earth and to do so by means of a great flood by which every man and every woman, every child, every infant will be destroyed, then that is God's prerogative as the righteous and just creator and judge of all humanity. Or whether God determines that a particular nation has reached the time for judgment to fall upon it as an entire nation and that he determines that that judgment will come by means of a war through which every man and every woman and every child and every infant will be struck down by the edge of the sword and every beast will be killed, then that is God's prerogative in his judgment. Whether it is God's determination that every man and every woman and every child and every infant in this world will one day breathe a final breath and pass from this life to face him before the throne of judgment. That is God's prerogative. And so whether it is by flood or whether it is by the edge of the sword or whether it is through what we call natural causes, it is God's determination to judge every person, to judge them for the way that they have lived their lives before him, to judge them for their sins. And this is the word that God has brought to this world from the Garden of Eden and repeated in every generation through the ages, the Lord's judgment is clear. And we're not then to be surprised, nor are we to be horrified by the means that God uses to bring his judgment to bear. The Lord's request came to Saul. It was a determination that the sins of the Amalekites had reached ahead and it was now time for justice to fall upon that nation. And the means by which that justice was to fall was through the sword of the Israelite army. And so Saul is commanded to go. to strike Amalek, to devote this entire nation to destruction. Saul has an opportunity now to serve the Lord. Here is the call to do something for God. It is a call for him to give unwavering obedience to his king as the vice-regent in Israel. Here is a call to honour the God who has appointed him to be king over the Lord's people. And so Saul summons the people. He gathers together the army and what a different army it is now from that which he gathered around him in the 14th chapter. There he had only 600 men. And those 600 men were armed with goats and forks and farming implements. And now he has 200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah are gathered together in the valley to fight against Amalek. And so Saul begins to respond to the Lord's request to devote Amalek to destruction. And he does a reasonably good job of obeying the word of the Lord. He fights against them, he pursues them, and he cuts them down and devotes the people to destruction. One life is spared. the life of King Agag and the lives of the best of the beasts of the sheep and of the oxen. Those two are spared. Saul has no problem with killing man and woman. and child and infant in response to the Lord's command. And we shouldn't have a problem with it either. This was God's will, God's bidding, and God will judge again. And he will bring every person into judgment in his way and at his time. And we must be ready for that. We must be ready for that ourselves. Are we ready to face the certain judgment of God? How will we face God when he determines that our time in this world is up and the appointed time for our death has come and after death to face him in judgment? How will we fare on that day? and that is a question that we must deal with for it is a certainty that that day will come to every one of our lives. Now the second thing that we need to grapple with in this chapter is the Lord's regret We're told that after Saul had gone out and he had fought against the Amalekites and he had finished the mission that he had been sent on, we're told that the word of the Lord came to Samuel in verse 10. I regret that I have made Saul king. I'm sorry that I've made Saul king. I am grieved that I made Saul king. It repents me that I have made Saul king. That's the way that this word gets translated in various English translations. And this presents us with a problem. Because in the 29th verse of this chapter, Samuel says to Saul, the glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man that he should have regret. And yet again, at the end of the chapter, in the 35th verse, when we're told that Samuel grieved over Saul, we're told, the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. And so we have this this problem, don't we, of contradiction within one chapter of God's word, let alone the apparent contradiction of the Lord's repenting or the Lord's regretting when we're told that the Lord doesn't change his mind, the Lord is not like man, that he should regret, that he should repent, that he should change. So how do we understand this language of the Lord's regret? Well, we need to understand it in seeing the way that this word is being used in two different aspects of the narration. In the 29th verse, Samuel is telling Saul something about God, what God is like, who God is. And he tells Saul, God is not a man. God is not a man. And because God is not a man, the way that God acts is not in the way that men act. That is the point that Samuel is making to Saul. God is not a man that he should have regret. God is not a man that he should change his mind about something. God is not a man that he should repent, that he should turn, that he should have an about face about something. God is not a man that and that is, that is the certainty concerning God, he is not a man, and he does not act then, like men. And within this chapter, we have this certain statement concerning God, and who he is, and what he is like and how he acts. And then we have the narrative, we have the unfolding story. The word of the Lord came to Samuel, I regret that I have made Saul king for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. The Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. And in these two verses, we're given an expression concerning God that seems, that suggests to us, that God has a change of mind concerning Saul. But there is no indication, either in this passage or elsewhere, that God has changed his mind about Saul's appointment to be king. What is happening here in this chapter is that there is going to be a change in the Kingdom. There is going to be a change of King. There is going to be a change that God will bring into this nation of Israel as a result of his plan and his purpose. Matthew Henry helpfully makes this statement concerning this passage. He says, repentance in God is not as it is in us, a change of his mind, but a change of his method or dispensation. He does not alter his will, but wills an alteration. And so what is happening in these two verses, verses 11 and 35, is that God is expressing The change of direction for Israel in language that we relate to. The language of regret, the language of a change of mind, the language of repentance. But God in and of himself doesn't change his mind. This was his plan all along. This was his determination all along. The people of Israel had demanded a king. And God has said to Samuel, they've not rejected you, they've rejected me from being king over them. They had demanded a king like the nations round about them. And for a season, God determined to give them a king, like the nations round about them. But that wasn't his, his, long-term plan, if you like. That wasn't the end of the story for God. God's plan was to have a king reign over Israel, whose heart was in tune with his own heart, who desired the honour and the glory of the God whose people Israel were. And so it was always God's determination, it was always God's plan to raise up another king in the place of Saul. But in the unfolding narrative then we have this expressed in terms that we relate to, though Samuel is very clear that God doesn't repent, that God doesn't change his mind, that God has his purposes and he follows through with his purposes. Another thing that we need to note in this is that a change is about to take place, a great change, a significant change is about to take place, and this language expresses that change in human terms. We have a similar instance of it back in Genesis when God says that he regrets that he has made man and that he determines to destroy man. And in that passage then, in Genesis 5, and in the following chapters, we see an enormous change take place in the world, where the vast majority of the human population is wiped out under God's judgment. And he starts again, as it were, he starts fresh with Noah and Noah's family. And from Noah and Noah's family he repopulates a world that has been washed clean by the flood. And so we see in Genesis chapter 5 that the reference to the Lord's regret is marking a great change that is taking place in God's plan for the world. And here, in Israel, the reference to God's regret is marking a great change in the nation of Israel and in God's plan for the people of Israel. His plan has always been there and incorporated these changes, but now these changes are being expressed, they're being made known to the people. And this change in plan, this change of circumstances for the world in Genesis, and for Israel in 1 Samuel, this change in the way that God is going to deal with his people, is in response to what is happening in the hearts of the people. In Genesis, God's change of plan for the people is in response to the sin of the people. Here in 1 Samuel, God's change of plan for Israel is in response to the sin of the King of Israel. But it is not a response and a change that takes place in time, at that point of time. These are predetermined responses. These are part of God's plan. but they fit in to the flow of human history. And so we see that God's determination to set in place a new king in Israel is because the current king is not serving him. The current king is not being the king that he should be for the people of the Lord. And Saul, he's oblivious to this. He's unsuspecting of God's judgment. He really is, it seems, clueless about what he's done and what is happening. He's full of excitement when Samuel comes to see him. Blessed be you to the Lord. I've performed the commandment of the Lord. And he thinks that taking the sword to the armed men of the Amalekites, and taking the sword to the women in their homes, and taking the sword to the children and to the infants, and taking the sword to all that was despised and worthless among the flocks and the herds of the Amalekites, that was doing the Lord's will. that he had completed his mission when he's surrounded by bleating sheep and baying cows that have not been killed, that have not been devoted to destruction. He's full of excitement about the mission that he's completed, oblivious to the fact that he has not done what God had asked. Saul's way is better than God's way. They've saved the best of the sheep, and the best of the oxen, and the best of the fatted calves, and of the lambs, supposedly to offer them as sacrifices to the Lord. But he doesn't realise that they were devoted to destruction. He hasn't understood He hasn't thought through the history of Israel and the way that gods work. He does not recall the story of Jericho. And Josh was surprised then after such success in Jericho when they had failure at AI. And then the realisation that that which was devoted to destruction in Jericho had been kept by Aachen. The silver and gold, the garments, that which should have been burned up or put into the treasury of the tabernacle, that which belonged to the Lord. and had been determined by the Lord should be destroyed or designated for the service of worship in the tabernacle. And here is Saul and Saul has gone on this mission from God to devote to destruction the Amalekites to give them as a sacrifice to God by command of the Lord and Saul fails. He doesn't devote it to destruction. He doesn't give it to the Lord. It is the Lord's and he uses it in the way that he thinks is best. Saul sets himself up as being wiser than God. And so the Lord, for this reason, and his ongoing failure to acknowledge and bow to the Lord God cuts Saul off from the kingdom. That is his determination. But then there's a third thing that we have to grapple with. Perhaps this is not as difficult for us as the Lord's request and the Lord's regret. But we do have to deal with the Lord's rejection as well. The Lord's rejection of Saul. For it is apparent that when Samuel presents Saul with the truth of what he hears, the bleating sheep, and the baying oxen, he acknowledges, well, yes, we did actually save some of these animals, but they're for the worship of God. They're to sacrifice to the Lord. He gives no explanation as to why he had saved the life of Agath, the king. But he acknowledges that he hasn't done exactly what the Lord had done, but that there was good reason for it. That's what he's saying. There's good reason for this. And then when Samuel makes it even more clear that God isn't interested in burnt offerings and sacrifices, when those things are the result of disobedience, he wants obedience to his voice. to obey is better than sacrifices and to listen than the fat of rams and Samuel says to Saul you've rebelled against the Lord and rebellion is the sin of divination it's the same as idolatry and you've been presumptuous in sparing these herds and these flocks as though you can offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord and presumption is the iniquity and idolatry and because then you've rejected the word of the Lord he also is rejecting you from being king and then Saul acknowledges I've sinned I've sinned, I've transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now, therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord." And we think, well, isn't Saul being repentant here? Isn't he turning himself here? Doesn't he have a change of mind here? An acknowledgement that what he did was wrong here? and so how can the Lord continue to reject Saul when we know that the Lord calls on us to repent he calls on us to turn and he promises us that if we repent then he will forgive so what's going on here why is the Lord continuing to reject Saul and it becomes apparent you see that that soul's repentance is not a genuine repentance. that Saul's response is not the heartfelt sorrow over sin but it's a recognition that he's losing that which he has been trying to cling to and to hold on to it's slipping through his fingers and he's grasping for this kingdom he's grasping for the honor of his position And we see that expressed after Samuel says, look, the Lord doesn't change his mind. The Lord isn't a man that he should regret. He has determined that your rejection of him means that you are rejected by him. And this will not change. And then Saul returns and responds and he says, I have sinned, yet honour me now. I have sinned Yet honour me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Return with me that I may bow before the Lord your God. Help me save face before the people. Maybe the Lord's rejection can't change, but don't cause the people to reject me, Samuel. Come with me, come back with me. Help me to preserve my honour before the elders, before the people. And that's what sets Saul's heart. You see, his heart isn't for the glory of God. His heart is for his own honour. And this man has failed as a leader of God's people. He's failed to lead them to God. He has failed to lead them in obedience to God. He has led them away. His excuse is that he feared the people and obeyed their voice. That the people apparently were demanding that the best of the sheep, the best of the oxen should be spared. And Saul listened to the people. Well, Saul was king. He should not have listened to the people. He was the vice-regent in Israel. He should have listened to the voice of the Lord, but rather than listening to the voice of the people, of the Lord, he listened to the voice of the people and he failed as a leader in Israel, just as his father Adam had failed in his leadership in Eden. And rather than listening to the voice of the Lord, he listened to the voice of his wife. And he took of the fruit and he ate it, even though it was forbidden to him by his Lord. And he failed to exercise his role as leader and as protector in that relationship. And in doing so, he brought the judgment of God upon himself and upon all those whom he represented there as the father of humanity. The Lord's rejection of Saul is a just rejection because Saul's heart was far from the Lord and was not concerned with the glory of God. And so God will give his kingdom to another. As Samuel says, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. He will give his kingdom to your neighbour who is better than you. Israel needed a better king to lead them to the Lord and in the Lord's ways. And so God would give the kingdom to someone better, someone who understands, someone who recognises obedience Someone who recognises sin. Someone who recognises repentance. Someone who recognises the true nature of sacrifice and worship. He is going to give the kingdom to David. We know that David was not the perfect king. but he was a king after God's own heart, he understood the Lord and the Lord's ways and he understood repentance and worship. For he says in Psalm 51, have mercy on me O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.' And he goes on later in the psalm to say, for you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. And so there was coming to the throne a man who understood, a man who would lead people to God and lead the way in repentance and in worship. And so the rejection of Saul paves the way for the coming of King David. In place of the people's choice, a king like the nations, self-serving, seeking his own honour. Instead of the people's choice will be God's choice, a king after God's own heart, a king who desired the glory of God. Ultimately, even though David is better than Saul, He knows true repentance and the tenor of his life was obedience to God. Yet he himself is still not sufficient to lead God's people to lasting deliverance. And his kingdom ends up in disarray. Until the coming of great David's greater son. Only then would there be a man who is worthy of the reins of leadership in the kingdom of God. And I want to close this evening by reading to you the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation, where John says, I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals. And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And John says, I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. No Saul stepped forward to open the scroll. No David stepped forward to take it from God's hands and to break its seals. But one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a heart and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked And I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped. Let's pray. Our Father God, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for great David's greater son, who came into this world to win the right to rule over your people. That he came into this world to bring deliverance for your people. to give them freedom from the reign of sin in their hearts, to enable them to give their lives in devotion to you, to serve you as they were designed to do, to give you honour and glory for eternity. We thank you that he came and he conquered and he gave to you all obedience, and he did not withhold his hand from doing any of your will but he completed it thoroughly and completely until the work was finished and the people whom he came to save had their lives secured through his death and an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled fading reserved for them in heaven until at last that day would come when death would take them out of this world and bring them before your throne of judgment and there clothed in his righteousness they would receive a crown and be brought into your presence and there to worship and serve you forevermore. Lord, we pray that you would have mercy upon us in this day of grace and salvation, that we may know the freedom that is for all those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. May we not look to ourselves or to any man, but look to him who came and died and rose and ascended and sits at your right hand forevermore. To him be glory and honour, both now and forever. Amen.