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.
Ver. 24. I have sinned.] Tandem aliquando frigide ait Peccavi. When he could deny it no longer, at length he maketh a forced and feigned confession; drawn thereto, more by the danger and damage of his sin, than by the offence; mincing and making the best of an ill matter. Rupertus, making a comparison between the repentance of Saul and of David, observeth that they both cried Peccavi, sed magno discrimine, but with a great deal of difference. It was wrung from Saul, but it freely came from David. 2Sa 12:13 Saul sought his own glory; David, God's. Saul saith, "I have sinned; yet honour me before the people": David saith, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned; have mercy on me," &c.
Because I feared the people.] This was to excuse one sin with another. He should have trusted in God, done his duty, and not feared what man could do unto him.