King Saul was ready for battle. His army was prepared, and the favor of the Lord was on his side. There was only one thing left to do… wait.

Saul understood that a ritual sacrifice must be made to the Lord before the battle began, and he waited seven days for the prophet Samuel to come and do just that. Apparently, Pastor Samuel was on vacation, or at least that’s how it must have seemed to the soldiers.

They grew restless and began to fall away. The longer they waited, the more they feared an attack from their enemy. They began to lose faith in their king and Saul knew it.

And so, he did what most any of us would have done. He took matters into his own hands. He had seen Samuel perform the ceremony. He knew the right words, the right actions, he could do the ritual as well as any prophet or priest. After all, he was God’s chosen king.

This act of disobedience was the beginning of the end of Saul’s reign. To us it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Why does it matter who makes the sacrifice? God is still being honored.

Samuel’s response in chapter 15 says it all… “Plain listening is the thing, not staging lavish religious production.”…