Saul’s Hollow Confession: When Saying ‘I Have Sinned’ Isn’t Repentance (1 Samuel 15)

Saul’s confession in 1 Samuel 15 sounded spiritual—but it wasn’t repentance. Learn how fearing people replaces fearing God, why obedience is better than sacrifice, and how true confession brings mercy. https://youtu.be/wCw0Fmarhk0 Table of contentsThe Background to Saul’s Hollow ConfessionA Confession With An Excuse Is An ExcuseWe Obey What We FearReject God and Be Rejected By GodWe Should Submit To God’s DisciplineSaul’s Ongoing RebellionSaul’s Second Hollow ConfessionSaul’s Concern with AppearancesWe Shouldn’t Confess To Get SomethingWhy David Was Not “Better” Than SaulDavid Was Better Than Saul Because He RepentedDavid Was Better Than Saul Because He Knew God Maybe you’ve noticed that when public figures or large corporations apologize, their apologies sound, let’s say, strange. They say things like, “Mistakes were made,” or “If anyone was offended, we’re sorry.” It’s the kind of apology that sounds good at first, until you realize nobody’s actually taking responsibility for anything. It’s carefully worded to protect image and reputation. The goal isn’t ownership of fault; instead, it’s damage control. There’s an appearance of humility without actually being humble. They want forgiveness without admitting guilt. We might roll our eyes at these kinds of hollow apologies, but, if we’re honest, we can do the same thing spiritually. We say, “I’m sorry, Lord,” but what we really mean is, “I don’t like the consequences.” This is precisely what happened with Saul. When he said, “I have sinned,” he didn’t mean, “I am broken over my sin.” He meant, “I’ve been caught, and I want to look good in front of the people.” His confession wasn’t repentance; it was reputation management. The Background to Saul’s Hollow Confession God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them. He defeated the Amalekites, but allowed some to live and kept some of their valuable stuff. One of Saul’s most significant problems is that he didn’t understand that partial obedience is disobedience, and if I had more room in the sermon, I would have made that a lesson. God sent the prophet Samuel to confront Saul: 1 Samuel 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” This is unbelievable: Saul was in the midst of disobeying God, yet he set up a monument for himself. Hopefully, I don’t have to tell you that even when we obey God, it is a bad idea to set up a monument for ourselves. Clearly, Saul is feeling pretty good about himself: 1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” I don’t know whether Saul thought he obeyed the Lord or if he was just trying to convince Samuel that he obeyed. He seems to me like the kid who’s sent to clean his room, and when his parents walk in, he exclaims, “Look, I cleaned my room!” hoping to convince the parents he actually did. It didn’t work with Samuel: 1 Samuel 15:14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Let’s think the best and imagine that Saul really believed that he obeyed God. But when Samuel said this to him, it’s obvious he didn’t, so this is when he should have confessed and repented. Instead, he made excuses, shifted blame, and even argued: 1 Samuel 15:15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” Saul blamed the people for everything that was spared and took credit for everything destroyed: Samuel wouldn’t put up with Saul’s excuses, so he interrupted him. Samuel didn’t really need Saul’s permission to speak. It reminds me of children telling their parents, “Continue,” after the parents have told the children to be quiet and listen. 1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” Now Samuel reminded Saul how good God had been to him, and clearly told him he had disobeyed: 1 Samuel 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” Saul still didn’t confess. He argued with Samuel and again blamed the people and took credit for anything good: 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. Saul said they kept the animals to sacrifice them, so Samuel says, “God doesn’t want sacrifices. What he really wants is obedience.” 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” I can’t say for sure that if Saul had repented earlier, he would have been able to remain king, but I can say Samuel didn’t tell Saul he was rejected as king until after all the excuses and arguing. 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” After learning he’s lost the throne, Saul said, “I have sinned,” without repenting. A Confession With An Excuse Is An Excuse Saul said he disobeyed because he feared the people. He was an excuse-making machine. His first failure occurred in 1 Samuel 13, when Samuel told him to wait seven days before he would come and offer the sacrifice, but Saul offered it himself. Samuel confronted Saul, and he said: 1 Samuel 13:11 And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering. Saul blamed the people, Samuel, and the Philistines, and concluded with, “I didn’t want to do it, but I had to!” He’s no better in this chapter, but interestingly, he told the truth in his confession: “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” We Obey What We Fear Saul wasn’t afraid of dying. They weren’t going to kill him because he didn’t let them keep the plunder. Instead, he’s afraid of upsetting them. He fears being unpopular. And because of that, he obeyed them. Consider these examples showing we obey what we fear. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, and when the Angel stopped him: Genesis 22:12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Abraham obeyed God because he feared Him. The Hebrew midwives were commanded to murder the baby boys: Exodus 1:17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. The Hebrew midwives must have feared disobeying Pharaoh, but they feared God more, so they obeyed Him. Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Hebrews go. We might assume it’s because he’s an evil man who was willing to enslave an entire group of people for his own pleasure, but: Exodus 9:29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” The point is, we obey what we fear: Abraham and the Hebrew midwives obeyed God because they feared Him Pharaoh disobeyed God because he didn’t fear Him And Saul admitted that he obeyed the people because he feared them, which really means he didn’t fear God, or at least didn’t fear God as much as he feared the people. At least he was honest about this. Reject God and Be Rejected By God 1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” I think Samuel wouldn’t go with Saul because he was God’s representative and if God rejected Saul, then he thought he should reject him too. The word "rejected" is repeated in these verses. It occurs: Twice in the second half of verse 23: “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” Twice in verse 26: “For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” The simple application is that if we keep rejecting the Word of the Lord, there can come a point when the Lord rejects us. It’s as though God says, “You won’t listen to Me. Fine. I’m done with you.” This is known as reprobation: