1 Samuel 22:b. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
Now, this Friday March morning looks like another beautiful day in my area. And I’m sure when the folks cried out ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ they were overjoyed at the prospect of a sunshiny day and weekend. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, for there’s been some warnings of bad weather for the next couple of days. But it‘s Friday, and nothing can spoil the weekend’s magnetic appeal! (smile)
And today we’re going to talk about a significant scripture from the prophet Micah, which has tremendous bearings on the kind of lives we live today, just like it had back in the days of old, when it was first spoken. When the children of Israel were involved in a controversy with God about sacrifices and no true heart spirit, Micah said unto them: ‘He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE mercy (LOVING-kindness), and to walk humbly with thy God.’ (Mic. 6:8)
Israel was in a state of unjust dealings with both man and God, and wickedness flourished all over the land…just like it is today. And all Micah really did there was remind the Israelites of Moses’ words earlier on. ‘And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear (reverence) the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to LOVE him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good (benefit, welfare).’ (Deut. 10:12-13)
Oh my people, please pay particular attention to the last words of Moses; ‘for thy good.’ Yes, all the Lord tells us to do and expects of us is for our good, our benefit, not for His! He already owns and rules the world, He doesn’t need anything from us but our reverence and obedience. And we see this played out in God’s rejection of Saul from being king of Israel after he refused to obey God’s word to the letter. He had been instructed to totally destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions, but he fell short of total obedience and saved Agag the king of the Amalekites, and also allowed the people to take of the spoil.
And when confronted by the prophet Samuel, he confidently declared (yes!!!): ‘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. But the people took of the spoil (plunder), sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed , to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.’ (1 Sam. 15:20-21) Oh friends, that is exactly how many of us feel today when we only do half of God’s bidding. God said to Saul destroy EVERYONE and EVERYTHING belonging to the Amalekites, but he saved their king and their animals, ostensibly to sacrifice to God later on.
But this led to Samuel’s famous chastisement. ‘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. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’ (1 Sam. 15:22-23) And though Saul repented and asked for forgiveness, the deed was done, and the Lord had already rejected him in favour of Bruh David.
Now, the scholars have an excellent explanation of those last two verses. ‘These verses reinforce the Old Testament viewpoint that religious ritual devoid of spiritual reality and of a life of total allegiance to a sovereign Lord is worthless. (cf. Ps. 40:6-8; Is. 1:10-20; Mic. 6:8).’ And sadly, that is exactly what many of us supposed believers are doing today. We’re full of plenty religious talk, but the walk, the true spiritual connection is lacking, and we only obey the parts of the Lord’s word that are convenient to us.
It also reminds us of Bruh Paul’s words to Timothy about the state of man in the last days. ‘Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate (disapproved) concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.’ (2 Tim. 3:5-9)
And the scholars explain thus: ‘A form of godliness is mere religion without power or spiritual life. Paul commands Timothy to turn away from these false teachers who prey upon silly women laden with sins, who are especially susceptible to false teachers. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth condemns not intense study but some esoteric quest for truth apart from God’s Word.’ And that sort of quest is ever so popular today, with everybody searching for their own truth, as though there could ever be more than one truth! ‘Jannes and Jambres, according to Jewish tradition were the two magicians in Pharaoh’s court who attempted to duplicate Moses’ miracles. (cf. Ex. 7:11; 9:11)’
So friends, you see that life hasn’t changed all that much from olden times. We’re still short-changing the Lord and His Word; looking for any excuse to get out of doing His will. But please remember that partial obedience is still disobedience, and thus sin. And instead of taking His Word as perfect truth, we searching all over for what we consider to be truth. How foolish is that eh? No wonder our world is in such a chaotic state. But thankfully there’s a way to turn things around, that’s by going to the Lord in prayer and asking for divine help. So let’s do that right now, through our Friday Chant.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.
And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Remember now friends, we have to set a truly good example if we expect to see any divine help. Much LOVE!
…to do justice and judgement (righteousness and justice)…is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice… (Prov. 21:3)
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