15:30,31
“I have sinned”. This is another of Saul’s “repentance”, none of them going very deep, merely reflecting sorrow at the consequences of his actions. “But please honour me ...” Saul was very self centred. He wants to worship God, but only so that the people see Samuel still with him, implying that he still has Samuel’s approval. Surprisingly Samuel agrees to this. Perhaps he knew that while Saul had been rejected by God, the final outworking of this was still some time off. God said Adam and Eve would die because of their sin, and they did, but not immediately.
15:32,33
Samuel now turns to carrying out what Saul failed to do. So he summons Agag to be brought to him. Agag thought things would now work out well for him, he could not have been more wrong! Samuel put Agag to death. We see in 15:33 that Agag’s death was well deserved. He had made many women childless, now his own mother would be childless.
15:34.35
Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went to his hometown of Gibeah. Samuel mourned for Saul, for the weak man he had turned out to be. The Lord, also, was sorrowful at the way Saul had turned out. Did God always know things would turn out this way? Yes, of course, but Saul’s responsibility for his actions was also real. There is an interplay between the sovereignty of God and human responsibility that is beyond our understanding.
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