with meditations
by my mother, Poetess Gertrude Sanborn
March 31
I Samuel 15:5–I
Samuel 17:31
TEARS OF SORROW & UNBELIEF
I
Samuel 15:11
"And it grieved
Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night."
Have you ever cried
unto the LORD all night? Have you ever been so disturbed
that you could do NOTHING BUT CRY? This is what it was
like for the old man, Samuel. His heart was broken. He’d
put so much effort and prayer into King Saul’s life–but
to no avail. Saul had deliberately disobeyed the LORD’s
command. He was supposed to completely destroy all of
Amalek–everything man and beast was to be killed--as
well as anything and everything that there was that had
to do with them.
What we see here in
this account was Saul practicing "partial obedience."
He was not, and would not be, the only one who would
ever practice such a thing! After winning the battle
with the Amalekites, Saul smote all of them–well almost
all of them. He let King Agag live! Think of
that! The ruler of the greatest enemy Israel ever had
was kept alive. Then in practicing "partial
obedience" Saul destroyed all that was vile and
worthless. Wasn’t that something? But he kept the
best of the animals. In other words, he spared all
that was good and killed all that was worthless. When
Samuel confronted this disobedience, King Saul claimed
his people wanted it so.
It was then that
Samuel realized that the LORD was sorry that He had made
Saul king. So the next day when King Saul lied to Samuel
and claimed that he had wholly followed the LORD, Samuel
spoke those famous words. "BEHOLD, TO OBEY IS BETTER
THAN SACRIFICE, AND TO HEARKEN THAN THE FAT OF RAMS . .
." From then on, the blessing of the LORD God was
not upon Saul. Even though Saul cried out "I have
sinned," it was too late. The damage had been done!
No wonder Samuel cried!
I’ll ask you the
question again, "Have you ever cried unto the LORD all
night?" I have. I remember one night. It was after I
learned that my sister had Hodgkin’s Disease. (That is a
cancer of the lymph glands.) I couldn’t believe it. She
had just graduated from high school. She was beautiful
and vivacious, as well as talented–and she was my
sister. No one in the house, where I was staying that
night, seemed to care. I suppose they did, but they
could sleep. I went down to the living room and tried to
read–anything to fill the time and my mind–but I cried.
Our emotions and feelings are funny things. We are never
quite sure how we will react to certain news.
It must not have been
easy for Samuel to carry on, like the prophet he was,
after that night of tears, but he had to. He had a job
to do. He had to be the forth-teller for God the next
day. He had to tell the king off. That would not be
easy. So it is with you and me. Even though we may spend
the night in prayer and tears, we must go on the next
day and carry on the work that God has given us to do.
We may have cried over a death, a broken marriage, a
failed job, or a sick child, but God would have us
continue on in obedience to Him. Tears come. Yes, they
do. But life must be lived. We read in verse 35, that
Samuel mourned for Saul. The Prophet came no more to see
the King. Such sad words! Such sorrow! (ysw)
"HE
HATH SET ME FOR HIS MARK"
(Job 16:12)
"I was at ease,
but He hath broken me asunder.
He hath also
taken me bu the neck and shaken me to pieces
and set me up
for His mark."
God deals with
us sternly that we may be conformed to the image of His
Son.
If He did not
use such stern measures, we would remain at ease in our
unloveliness.
How much He
cares that He deals especially with me.
(GGS)
And
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he
said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo,
Sarah thy wife shall have a son. (Genesis 18:10)
Under God's Care,
Yvonne S. Waite
Jesus
Keep Me Near The Cross
Bible For Today Baptist Church
Collingswood, NJ 08108
Phone: 856-854-4747
