Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
REGRET is something we have all experienced and perhaps you’ve lived with regret much of your life. I have three important questions for us about regret as we begin this new week…
1. How do we move beyond regret, leaving the past in the past, and find hope for the future?
2. What if we don’t deal with the regrets in life and simply try to ignore them?
3. Does Almighty, Holy God ever have regret? If so, what does God do with His regret?
In our continuing journey through God’s “Grand Narrative” we are watching Saul, the first king of Israel, and today in 1 Samuel 15, Samuel, God and Saul all face the issue of REGRET! As we saw in 1 Samuel 12, Samuel had handed the reins of leadership to young king Saul, and with some early battle victories Saul was rapidly growing in popularity with the people of Israel who were delighted that their demand for a human king seemed to be working out quite well, at least on the battlefields.
Samuel was in what we might call ‘retirement’ but Samuel went one day to meet king Saul and give him a directive from God. God was ready to pour out HIS judgment on the Amalekites, a vicious tribe who had terrorized the people of Israel on several occasions going all the way back to Exodus 17. Do you remember? Miraculously God had provided water out of a rock for His thirsty people in the desert and those vicious Amalekites came to drive Moses and the Israelites away from that precious new water spring in the desert.
On that day Moses stood on the hill praying with his arms raised up while Joshua fought the Amalekites and defeated them! Jehovah Nissi, ‘the LORD is my Banner’ was the name given to the God of Israel that day. (Ex. 17:15) And on that day God pronounced judgment as He said to Moses: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14)
Now, about 350 years later, Samuel’s message from God to Saul was very clear in 1 Samuel 15:2,3 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them…” God’s message was crystal clear and both Samuel and Saul would have known the Exodus 17 story very well. After more than 3 centuries now, finally, God was ready to accomplish His justice and His judgment on the Amalekites.
But this was far more than a battle plan. While Saul didn’t know it, this was Saul’s leadership final exam with God! Could God trust Saul to fully obey God’s clear instructions? Could Saul be trusted to receive God’s messages through Samuel and other prophets of God, and then lead Israel in full obedience to the God of Israel?
So Saul sent out the rally cry and more than 200,000 Israelite men responded ready to follow king Saul into battle, expecting victory again. The record says: “But Saul and the army spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, and the best of the sheep and cattle, everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy, but everything that was despised or weak they totally destroyed.” (1 Samuel 15:9) Do you see the problem my friends? Saul was failing his final exam with God and with Samuel!
The next verse answers my question about God ever having regret: “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: ‘I REGRET that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from Me and has not carried out my instructions.“ (1 Samuel 15:10) I wonder if you remember another time the Bible tells us God had regret? Way back at the beginning, Genesis 6:6 says: “The LORD regretted that He had made human beings on earth, and God’s heart was deeply troubled.”
Now let’s be careful here my friends. Does God’s regret mean He thinks He made a mistake and wishes He could turn time back so HE could do it differently? No, God never makes a mistake, and God sees the future as clearly as right now, so He is never surprised by the unexpected. But God sees the mess humanity makes of the potential God provides us, when God gives humanity freedom to think, reason, choose and act on our choices with free will… and we choose evil. And that’s a regret for God because He can also see how wonderful humanity can be when we choose to live God honoring lives, in obedient relationship with God.
As we continue reading the remainder of 1 Samuel 15, we’ll see king Saul did exactly what most of us have done…
First, Saul claimed he had obeyed God, when he had only partially obeyed. (1 Sam. 15:19, 20)
Second, Saul blamed his men rather than acknowledging his failure as a leader. (1 Sam. 15:15)
Third, Saul gave in to peer pressure and did what he knew was wrong. (1 Sam. 15:24)
Fourth, Saul refused to accept God’s evaluation of the situation, and he sought to manipulate Samuel into blessing him even in his disobedience. (1 Sam. 15:25,26,30)
God’s response was strong and final. Samuel declared to king Saul these harsh words: “You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel.” Oh my! Saul’s leadership failure disqualified him from God’s continued blessing on him as king of Israel. While God allowed Saul to remain in his role as King of Israel, God removed His hand of blessing and protection that day, and God began searching for a new King who had a humble heart of obedience and reverence for God. We’ll meet him tomorrow.
Samuel pronounced these historic words over Saul about God: “To obey is better than sacrifice…For rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:22,23) Oh my friends, this is so important. Regret can only be dealt with properly through repentance!
Ignoring the sin, blaming it on others, or trying to make up for that which we regret through any effort or intentions will not satisfy God’s holy justice. Through both pride and rebellion we elevate ourselves as independent from God, wanting to control our own destiny!
Samuel said one more very important truth that we MUST understand: “He [God] who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind’ for He is not a human being, that HE should change His mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29) God is perfect, unchanging and Sovereign over all, at all times! We will always fail if we attempt to manipulate God.
After dealing God’s justice to Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and assuring Saul that God’s hand of blessing would no longer be upon his leadership, the record makes this heartbreaking statement: “Then Samuel left for his home in Ramah, but Saul went to his home in Gibeah. Until the day Samuel died, they did not see each other again, though Samuel mourned for Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:34,35)
Samuel, Saul and God all three tasted deep regret in that 1 Samuel 15 experience, and that calls us to take a close look at our own lives. Do we see regret? Does God see regret? Have we brought that to Jesus in repentance and have we left our regret in the hands of Jesus so we can walk forward in full obedience to God’s leading in our lives, expecting God can still use us for His glory?
More wonderful study and reflection notes are at the “Grand Narrative” link below, and I’ve found a great new song that should have been Saul’s song that day. Maybe it’s your song today, and we’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 15.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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