Not-So-Quiet-Time: 1 Samuel 15-16

At-Home Bible Guide for the Week of 8/2

Day 1: 1 Samuel 15:1-12
Saul was given a clear task from God. There was no question about what he was commanded to do. But instead of doing what God commanded, Saul did what he thought was best. This is the same struggle that we experience today. There are times when God’s clear teaching and command is different from what we would decide on our own. So what do we do? Those of us who know and love the Lord must strive, by the power of the Spirit, to obey. Ask God to help you follow Him always.

Day 2: 1 Samuel 15:13-23
“The Lord sent you on a mission.” Those are Samuel’s words to Saul in verse 18, but Saul had not obeyed. He tried to disguise his sin by saying that he had kept the best animals to sacrifice to Samuel’s God. This is telling. Even in his lie, he doesn’t claim God as his own. God is clear, then and now, that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (22). How can we please God today? Hear his voice and respond by doing what He says. God has not given us riddles and hints. Instead, He has given us his clear Word for our good (see Ps 19).

Day 3: 1 Samuel 15:24-35
Sin has consequences. Samuel told Saul, “You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel” (26). As believers, we can be confident and joyful that Christ has paid the price for all of our sins. However, we must still recognize that our sins can still hurt relationships, break trust, and lead to pain. Jesus saves sinners. And the Spirit gives those He saves the power to live lives that are holy and pleasing in his sight. Ask God to help you take your sin seriously and to kill it.
Day 4: 1 Samuel 16:1-12
Samuel was hurt by Saul’s sin, but God had a plan. God sent the prophet to anoint a new king. God’s plans never fail. He is never surprised. And his plans overcome our failures and lead to hope and joy. Neither Jesse nor Samuel saw a king in young David. Saul had seemed kingly because he was tall on the outside, but “the Lord looks on the heart” (7). God had been preparing David to shepherd the people. Ask God to be working in your life to make you into a person perfectly prepared for the tasks that He will assign to you.

Day 5: 1 Samuel 16:13-23
The Spirit of God descended on David (13), but He left Saul (14). And the Holy Spirit had been working powerfully in David’s life. Look at how he is described: “Skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him”(18). Isn’t this how we want to be known? Ask God to work in your life and in those in your family to grow you into a capable, courageous person of character.

Catechism Connection: 4, 7
1 Samuel 15 ends saying, “The Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel” (35). This can make people wonder if God made a mistake that He came to regret. However, this is not what is meant. Earlier in this same chapter, we see that God “will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (29). God is “unchangeable in his being” (WSC 4) and “he has foreordained everything that ever happens” (7). He never makes a mistake. And you can be sure of that.

Monthly Memory: John 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”