And Samuel said, Hath the Lord, &c.— The excision of the Amalekites, and the rejection of Saul for omitting to fulfil the commission given to him, have been objected to by free-thinkers. I. With respect to the first, there was God's express order for it: and what can we desire more than an order from heaven? As to God's dealings with nations in the way of vindictive justice, we are not competent judges of every case, because we have not the whole of the matter laid before us to form a judgment by; for we fall infinitely short of that large comprehensive view of all circumstances which the great Governor of the universe has before him. But this we may presume to say, as to the case of the Amalekites, that, considering how they had all along been inveterate adversaries towards the people of God (raised up to reform the world), and how they had very probably been wicked also in other respects, like the Canaanites: it was a great instance of God's long-suffering that he bore with them so long, and that he waited four hundred years for their repentance before he destroyed them; so far is it from being any imputation upon his goodness, that he at length did so. It may be noted of the Amalekites, that they were descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12.), and therefore were by pedigree allied to the Israelites of the stock of Abraham. They seem to have broken off very early from the other Edomites, joining with the old Horites, idolaters of mount Seir, so that the Amalekites soon apostatised from the religion of Abraham. These apostates were the first that drew the sword against the Israelites, their brethren in blood; and they did it unprovoked, barbarously taking advantage of them at a time when they were feeble, faint, and weary; which was great inhumanity. Deuteronomy 25:18-19. Besides, their impiety is particularly taken notice of in Scripture, that they feared not God, (Deuteronomy 25:19.) but that their hand was lifted up against the throne of the Lord; (so I understand the text Exodus 17:16.) against the throne of the God of Abraham their father; which was an aggravating circumstance. Seeing, therefore, that there was such a complication of ill-nature, inhumanity, treachery, and flagrant impiety, in what the Amalekites did, it pleased God to set a brand of the highest infamy upon them, and take the most exemplary vengeance of them, to create the utmost abhorrence of such practices in the minds of all men. Their descendants seem to have inherited the like temper and principles with their fathers, the same rancour against Israel, and the same opposition to God's great and glorious designs by Israel. It does not follow from God's assigning one reason only for destroying the Amalekites, that that was the sole reason; but that was sufficient to be mentioned to the Israelites, as they had concern in no more: the rest he might reserve to himself among the arcana imperii, (the secrets of his government,) which he was not obliged to divulge, either to Israel his own people, or to any other creature whatever. II. No prince who has not such a divine command as Saul had, can make any just pretence, from this instance, for so invading, or so extirpating a nation: but vain or wicked pretences may be always made, either from any thing, or for any thing. The historian says, Saul spared Agag, and all the best of the sheep, &c. Saul would, indeed, have ungenerously thrown the blame upon the people, and pretended religion as an excuse for it, 1 Samuel 15:21. But the history is express, that it was Saul and the people: the people, by Saul's order, or by mutual consent, spared Agag and all the best of the prey; and, indeed, the thing speaks for itself: for the disposal of the prisoners and of the prey could be in no one's power but the king's; and the sparing every thing which was good, shews that he was actuated by a very different spirit from that of piety. The sin, therefore, of which Saul was guilty, was a capital offence: the sparing an enemy and the prey of an enemy, which the God and king of Israel had commanded him to extirpate; and Samuel expressly calls it rebellion and stubbornness, and therefore the sentence pronounced on him was just: because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king; i.e. he will not establish thy throne, nor make it hereditary in thy family. Let me add, that Saul, notwithstanding his prevarication, his shifting of the blame from himself to his people, and excusing himself by the pretence of devotion, at last acknowledges his crime, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, (1 Samuel 15:24; 1 Samuel 15:30.) and thereby owns his punishment to be just. See Waterland's Vindication, p. 92 and Chandler's Review, p. 58.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Though Saul had been threatened, he had not yet been utterly rejected; but now the critical moment comes when his fate is to be determined.
1. Samuel is sent from God, to remind him by whose favour he reigned, and to exhort him to dutiful obedience, particularly in the expedition for which he must now prepare. The Amalekites had behaved cruelly to God's Israel when they came from Egypt, and God had long threatened to blot out their remembrance from under heaven. And now God remembers their old iniquities, and Saul must be the executioner of divine justice, nor spare any thing which breathed, but utterly destroy man and beast. Note; (1.) God will certainly remember the injuries done to his people, especially the discouragements put in the way of young converts. (2.) The Almighty will not want executioners of justice when the measure of a nation's sins is full.
2. Saul instantly proceeds, and is followed by a numerous army of two hundred thousand men, besides ten thousand of Judah, whose small proportion some ascribe to envy, others to the necessity of guarding their borders, as most exposed during the absence of the army. When he arrived in the enemies' country, he sent a friendly message to the Kenites, who for the convenience of pasturage had gone thither, to come up, lest they should fall in the promiscuous ruin; which they immediately did: and the reason of this kindness he gives in the friendship they had shown to Israel when they came from Egypt. Note; (1.) Kindnesses done to God's people shall often be recompensed in this world, but certainly in the resurrection of the just. (2.) They are in danger of sharing with sinners in their plagues, who by choice take up their residence among them. (3.) We cannot make too much haste to separate ourselves from the communion of the ungodly.
3. No sooner are the Kenites in safety, than the Amalekites begin to feel the sword. The ambush in the valley succeeds, their army is routed, the capital taken, the country ravaged from end to end, and the king himself a prisoner. But Saul, through covetousness, and perhaps false piety, spared him from death, with the best of the cattle, and utterly destroyed the rest, though some, it seems, with their effects, escaped by flight, and for a little while longer preserved the dying name of Amalek. Note; (1.) Partial obedience detects the hypocrite. (2.) Covetousness is often its own punishment. He made a bad bargain, who, to secure the cattle of Amalek, lost the kingdom of Israel.
2nd, We have the interview between Samuel and Saul returning from his victory, which made his bright day close with darkness.
1. God informs Samuel of Saul's disobedience, his repentance that he had made him king, and the removal of the crown from his family determined thereupon. Note; Repentance, when spoken of God, signifies, not a change of mind, but of his methods of dealing with men.
2. Samuel is bitterly afflicted herewith, and spends the night in prayers, and tears, to gain the reversion of the sentence, but in vain. Note; The ruin of sinners is the bitter grief of God's faithful ministers.
3. According to appointment, he goes to Carmel to meet Saul; and not finding him there, where he had stayed no longer than to erect a trophy of his victory, he follows him to Gilgal.
4. Saul comes to meet him, with great confidence boasting his obedience, and blesses Samuel for the prosperous undertaking on which he had sent him. Note; They who are trumpeters of their own good works, will soon discover the vanity of their pretences.
5. Samuel's ears are more attentive to the bleating of the sheep, than the boasting of the king; and he upbraids him for the falseness, and folly of his conduct of which his spoils afforded such incontestable evidence.
6. Saul seeks to excuse the fact which he cannot deny, by laying the fault on the people, pretending to design God's glory in the sacrifice of the cattle, and the honour of Israel in shewing them the captive king; but his plea was as false as frivolous: none would have dared to act without his orders, and his own profit and glory was at the bottom of his pretended piety. Note; (1.) In vain do we vaunt our expensive sacrifices, and keep up the outward pomp and form of religion, if pride, lust, and covetousness, are in possession of the heart; our very boasted services are an abomination. (2.) They who seek to exculpate themselves by accusing others who were partners or tempters in their guilt, shew themselves utterly unhumbled under it.
7. His plea is rejected, and his excuses confuted. Samuel, as commanded of God, delivers his message, and, having his authority, claims an audience. He reminds him of the exaltation to which, from his low estate, God had brought him, and which should, in gratitude, have kept him obedient: the orders he received, on the present occasion, were plain and express, so that the offence must be wilful and deliberate; wherefore he expostulates with him on the inexcusableness of his conduct, and the greatness of his sin. Note; (1.) Though it be a terrible message that God gives us against the sinner, we must not fear to deliver it plainly and faithfully. (2.) The more God's mercy has been shewn to us, the more ungrateful are our ill returns.
8. Saul interrupts the prophet in his message, with repeated assertions of his obedience, though his own acknowledgments give the lie to his professions. Note; They who are hardened in sin and formality, will not be beaten out of their vain confidence by the plainest refutation.
Lastly, Samuel silences him with an appeal to his own conscience: the most costly services bear no proportion to dutiful obedience; rebellion against God's express command was as criminal as witchcraft, and stubbornness in maintaining his innocence an aggravation of his iniquity like unto idolatry itself. Therefore, as the just reward of such transgression, he denounces his doom, God has rejected him from being king, and cut off the entail of the government from his family. Note; (1.) Obedience to God is the most acceptable sacrifice we can offer; a heart submissive to his holy will is better than a hecatomb. (2.) All disobedience is spiritual idolatry, as it sets up the will of the creature above the will of God.