(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 the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. (16) Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. (17) And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? (18) And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. (19) Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? (20) And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. (21) But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. (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 than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
We have here the solemn conference between Samuel and Saul, on the subject of Saul's disobedience, and the awful consequence of it, in the Lord's determining to dethrone him. We behold, in the pointed language of the prophet, the unalterable purpose, and fixed displeasure of God against sin. And we behold in Saul, what every man's heart is void of grace, full of excuses and justifying pretences, like the first sinners in Eden, to soften their transgressions. Alas! there is not a man alive but covers himself under this covering. And until God the Holy Ghost convinces of sin, none of Adam's posterity are ever convinced of it, so as to see the absolute necessity of a Saviour. Precious Spirit of truth! do thou fulfil that blessed office which the Son of God promised thou shouldst perform in the minds of his people, and convince me of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Make Jesus precious to my view, for he is only so to them that believe. John 16:8-11; 1 Peter 2:7.