The nature of true repentance (1 Sam 15:24-31)
1 Sam 15:24-31 A while ago, a football player was making a public apology in an interview on radio. He got drunk after a match and misbehaved thereby bringing his club into disrepute, so that he was kicked out. In…
When worship becomes a problem (1 Sam 15:17-23)
1 Sam 15:17-23 As Samuel spells out the Lord’s verdict on Saul, we may once again puzzle over the nature of his sin. The prophet recounts the command that was given to the king and focuses on the animals being…
How to mend a blunted conscience (1 Sam 15:10-16)
1 Sam 15:10-16 Some time ago now I heard of a married Christian man who left his wife and moved in with another woman yet claimed that he had never known the Lord to be so close to him. I…
Making God’s assessment our own (1 Sam 15:1-9)
1 Sam 15:1-9 After Communism fell in Hungary, many people including Christians were debating the rights and wrongs of calling those formerly in political office to book. There were appeals made to loving our enemies, the need to forgive and…
The destruction of the Amalekites (1 Sam 15:1-3)
1 Sam 15:1-3 The incident of Saul commanded by God to destroy the Amalekites sounds dangerously like genocide and is deeply troubling. How could God require such a thing? This is the kind of scenario that gives the Old Testament…
The challenge of what is possible (1 Sam 14:47-52)
1 Sam 14:47-52 As a young Christian, I read the story of Gladys Aylward, daughter of a postman and a postal worker, who left school at 14 and worked as a domestic servant. Sometime after she came to faith at…
Adrift without an anchor (1 Sam 14:36-46)
1 Sam 14:36-46 Saul’s life frequently reminds me of the unstable person tossed about like a wave in the wind (James 1:6-7). Although James speaks of the doubter, it is also a fair description of Saul’s volatility. Scripture often presents…
Destructive piety (1 Sam 14:24-35)
1 Sam 14:24-35 The film, Return to Me, concludes with the characters gathering for the opening of an animal sanctuary built in honour of a carer who tragically died in an accident. One of the donors at the event, sidles…
What to do when our commitment is found wanting? (1 Sam 14:16-23)
1 Sam 14:16-23 A well-known pastor faced opposition in his church. The week when the confrontation came to a head, he asked God for the message he should preach, as was his practice. But he heard nothing. Friday rolled around,…
What kind of faith do you have? (1 Sam 14:1-15)
1 Sam 14:1-15 For a while, I worked with a young woman who was a professing Christian and attended church faithfully. She prayed, she talked of God, but every time I saw her, I wondered about the reality of her…