If They Hear About This… (1 Samuel 16:2)

 


Wednesday, June 18, 2025


Psalm 107:1-22

1 Samuel 16

Acts 10:17-33


If They Hear About This… (1 Samuel 16:2)


And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’


Have you ever been unwillingly drawn into what you thought was a conspiracy? Our consciences can be unpleasant things, niggling at us, arguing with us. This is exactly where the prophet Samuel found himself. The Lord had told him to go and anoint a new king; yet Samuel was worried that a coup, no matter how divinely inspired, would be the end of him (and quite possibly justifiably so).


In reply to his worries, the Lord gives him a cover story. Take the required sacrifice. Is God being sneaky here? Is Samuel to pretend he is going to offer a sacrifice, when in reality he is going to overthrow the king?


Actually, the Lord re-frames the issue entirely. This is not a coup, rather it is an act of holy worship and obedience. Anointing the new king is not going behind Saul’s back; Saul has done his dash, and he has already been told that his time as king is up. It is not for Saul to be part of the anointing; it is not in his story; he does not need to be there. This is not a coup, this is God acting amongst his people, and so a sacrifice is not a cover story, but simply part of the proceedings.


And anyway, if Saul learns that Samuel is off somewhere offering a sacrifice, he would know something was up. Saul knows what God thinks of him, and Saul knows Samuel has a special relationship with God. Samuel going off and doing God’s business, whether to find the new king, or to offer worship, would make Saul squirm with worry either way.


When we are drawn into situations that prick our conscience, we too should spend a bit more time thinking it through. Our consciences are useful, because it helps us discern right from wrong. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that are wrong through and through, and we should just get out of them as soon as possible. Other times it may not be the situation itself that is wrong, but the circumstances by which the situation has occurred which is wrong. Samuel was right to worry about rebelling against the king. But he was acting under orders from God. And so the solution was to change the circumstances by making it an act of worship.


What situations have you found yourself in that upset your conscience? How would looking for opportunities to glorify and worship God changed things?


God of glory, whose providence guides all things to your purpose: strengthen our consciences, making us obedient to your call on our lives, and give us a greater exercise of discernment, that we may see where you are leading us.

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