CONTENTS The sacred historian is prosecuting the account of Saul's reign, in this chapter. Every part of his government seems to be with a view to aggrandize himself, and to show his disregard to the Lord. We have here, the relation of a commission the Lord sent him upon, to destroy the Amalekites:... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. (3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, came... [ Continue Reading ]
(4) And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. (5) And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. (6) And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I dest... [ Continue Reading ]
(7) And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. (8) And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. (9) But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the... [ Continue Reading ]
(10) В¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, (11) It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. Let not the Reader imagine, that from the... [ Continue Reading ]
(12) And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. It should seem, from this account, that Saul was so flushed with his victory, he was regardles... [ Continue Reading ]
(13) And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. (14) And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? (15) And Saul said, They have brought them from t... [ Continue Reading ]
(24) В¶ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. What it was that brought down the proud spirit of Saul to this confession, I know not, unless it was the dread of being dethrone... [ Continue Reading ]
(25) Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. What a folly to ask Samuel to pardon his sin. But to preserve still his dignity with the people, Samuel's turning with him to worship the Lord, seemed to carry with it an idea that all was made up a... [ Continue Reading ]
(26) And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. (27) And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. (28) And Samuel said unto him, Th... [ Continue Reading ]
(32) В¶ Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. (33) And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag... [ Continue Reading ]
(34) Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. (35) And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. What is here said of Samuel's coming no more to s... [ Continue Reading ]
REFLECTIONS READER! pause with me over the perusal of this chapter, and mark, in the progress of Saul's history, the certain truth of that awful sentence of the apostle, that evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And while we look at the king of Israel under this m... [ Continue Reading ]