To Obey God Is Better Than Giving Him Sacrifice by SHARON BUSS for Charisma News
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 21:3-4, 27
“To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Prov. 21:3)
When King Saul disobeyed the Lord’s commands, the prophet Samuel rebuked him and said, “Samuel said, ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, a listening ear than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).
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God was very grieved with Saul because of his disobedience. He said to Samuel, “‘I regret that I have set up Saul to be king because he has turned back from following Me, and he has not carried out My words.’ And it grieved Samuel, and he cried to the Lord all night” (1 Sam. 15:11).
Saul’s sin was threefold:
- He refused to obey God’s commands to him.
- He lied about it to Samuel.
- He saved the enemy’s cattle, which God had ordered to be slaughtered (probably because they were diseased), and wanted to sacrifice them to God.
What a fool he was to think he could please God by giving to God that which God wanted destroyed!
He was not an honest man. So he could not know how evil his heart was, and so he opened the door to the devil. That is why he became demon-possessed.
How much better if he had been honest and dealt with justice before the Lord! How quickly he failed after he was anointed to be king! His life is one of the greatest tragedies in the Bible.
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin” (Prov. 21:4).
There is something strange about a proud man that is expressed and revealed by “body language.” A man’s haughty look is his “signal” of the wickedness that is in his heart. It identifies his wickedness (pride is wickedness). A person doesn’t need to “do” things to be wicked. Pride, in itself, is wickedness before God, and He hates it.
It matters not what work or deeds a proud man does, whatever it is, pride is the motive behind it. So all his deeds, even his so-called philanthropic ones are wicked.
What is the use of a man giving great donations and gifts if he does it out of pride, rather than compassion? Even his giving is a sin because he desires the praises people give him.
