“Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There’s no one like him among all the people.”—1 Samuel 10:24 (NLT)

¹³ But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”—1 Samuel 11:13 (ESV)

⁸ Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” —1 Samuel 10:8 (ESV)

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. —1 Samuel 13:13 (ESV)

³ Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”—1 Samuel 15:3 (ESV)

¹³ And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” ¹⁴ And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” —1 Samuel 15:13–14 (ESV)

“To obey is better than sacrifice…”—1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

“…anyone who tries to recover the knowledge of sin these days must overcome long odds. To put it mildly, modern consciousness does not encourage moral reproach; in particular, it does not encourage self-reproach. Preachers mumble about sin. The other traditional custodians of moral awareness often ignore, trivialize, or evade it. Some of these evasions take time and training. As sociologist James Davison Hunter has observed, school teachers no longer say anything as pointed as “Stop it, please! You’re disturbing the class!” For these are judgmental words. Instead, to a strong-armed youth who is rattling classroom windows with his tennis ball, educationally correct teacher put a sequence of caring questions: “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? How does doing this make you feel?” The word sin, Hunter adds, now finds its home mostly on dessert menus. “Peanut Butter Binge” and “Chocolate Challenge” are sinful; lying is not. The new measure for sin is caloric. Quote: Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be – A Breviary of Sin.

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. …David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.—1 Samuel 16:14, 15 (ESV)

²¹ And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²² And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So, Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. —1 Samuel 16:21–23 (ESV)

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

and David his ten thousands.”

⁸ And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. ¹¹ And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice. —1 Samuel 18:6–11 (ESV)

All Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle.—1 Samuel 18:16 (NLT)

¹⁸ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.­Matthew 27:18 (ESV)

Carrying a grudge is a loser’s game. It is the ultimate frustration because it leaves you with more pain than you had in the first place. Recall the pain of being wronged, the hurt of being stung, cheated, demeaned. Doesn’t the memory of it fuel the fire of fury again? Do you feel that hurt each time your memory lights on the people who did you wrong? Your own memory becomes a video within your soul that plays unending reruns of your old rendezvous with pain. The only way to heal the pain that will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt you. Forgiving heals your memory as you change your memory’s vision. When you release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut the malignant tumor out of your inner life. You set a prisoner free…you. —Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget

Samuel had died… And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets. Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.” His advisers replied, “There is a medium at Endor.” So Saul disguised himself… (and went to the witch of Endor).—1 Samuel 28:3,6-8

1.   Even subtle disobedience to God is sin

subtle disobedience

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distance from God

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poisoned relationships

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toxic heart

2.   Identify the areas where I’m trying to dull the pain of my sin

3.   See envy and resentment as poison to my soul.