To Obey is Better. 1st Samuel 15:22. “And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken that the fat of rams.” Isn’t it of great value to give someone else what was given to you? The sentimental value of a personal object is of some worth, even if it doesn’t mean as much to them as it does to me. How about gathering to raise our voices to praise the Lord? Is that not worshiping in spirit and truth? As good as those actions and the sincere motivation, what God has to say is of more value than what we do. Obeying God in words and deeds is the basis of consecration. He waits for our return to obedience when our self-will is finally through.
Words of thanks passed on when sorrowing have meaning to those who hear what we say and know what we mean. The sacrifice of thanksgiving has a high value to God when we count our blessings and speak of them to our Lord. Offering our temporal goods makes us want to draw near to our Lord and give Him what we have. But to obey is better than any sacrifice we supply. The things we offer the Lord may be our very best, and it is right to think that God deserves the very best we have to offer. Then, from the Word of God, there comes the promise to be blest when we obey what God says and asks, which is better than what we prefer.
Yes, giving God what I can is important, and by His grace, I will present a sacrifice to Him. But more importantly, I must listen to what God says and obey Him as a man who is grateful to Him for multiple reasons. I join in allegiance to my Lord with those who are obedient men and women of faith.
In our life with God as children in His family, we have privileges that we often take for granted and perhaps forget sometimes that privileges bear responsibilities with them. Another great privilege is that God can entrust His people with responsibilities of eternal importance. Consecration indicates we are in a condition of soul and life that we can approach God with clean hands and an honest heart. God wanted a "man after His own heart" to be king over Israel after Saul's moral, spiritual, and leadership failures. A new beginning for a divided, unhappy nation means a leader who is in touch with God and can sense the needs of the people.
Samuel began his life for God as a young boy with a clean new garment of clothes made by the loving hands of his mother each year. This contrasted with the moral and spiritual darkness that had settled over the priesthood and, consequently, over the nation. An old priest who was too blind to see what was needed and a failed priesthood did not stop the sovereign dealings of God with the young boy, Samuel, who brought hope to the nation. David comes on the scene of scriptural history in the freshness of one who knows and loves God in contrast to a self-willed king who has been left alone by God because of his disobedience and disregard of divine authority under which he was intended to lead the people of God.
It may be impossible not to mourn over the loss of a man of great potential who, because of his great pride and egocentric life, brings dishonor to the people of God and the Lord's name. But to dwell on that is also not right. We do not have to "get over it" so much when there is a failure, but we do have to "get on with it" and find out the mind and will of God in relation to His work and move ahead despite setbacks.
Samuel mourned over Saul, but that didn't help the situation in which Israel was found. God's people still needed a king for whom they had asked, and life still had to go on despite the "talking head" Saul had become. Even the Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem when He came to the city and looked ahead into the future, but then He moved ahead and did what the Father had sent Him to accomplish.