1 Samuel 15:24

SAUL CHANGES HIS TUNE; BUT IN VAIN

"And Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandments of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me that I may worship the Lord." 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." As Samuel turned to go away, Saul laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also, the Glory of Israel will not lie or repent; for he is not a man that he should repent." Then he said, I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God." So Samuel turned back after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord."

"Saul said, I have sinned" (1 Samuel 15:24). "This was not true and sincere repentance; it was merely lip repentance arising from his fear of losing the kingdom."[18]

"Because I feared the people" (1 Samuel 15:24). Saul was still blaming the people. In his view, `His Majesty' had done nothing wrong, only the people had sinned.

Saul's response to God's prophet's confronting him with his sin should be contrasted with that of David when Nathan confronted him with his sin (Psalms 5:1-8).

After Samuel's refusal to grant Saul's request here; and as Samuel turned to go away, Saul was frantic and determined, if possible, to reverse the situation, by grabbing hold of Samuel's garment to detain him. The garment was torn.

"And Samuel said, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. (1 Samuel 15:28).

"Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me." (1 Samuel 15:30). The meaning of this request seems to be, "Very well, granting that I have sinned, and that this exclusion from the kingdom has been passed upon me, yet at least do me the honor due to the rank which I continue to hold."[19]

"So Samuel turned back after Saul" (1 Samuel 15:31). Some have wondered what caused Samuel to go with Saul after his initial refusal to do so. There were several possibilities.

(1) Samuel sincerely desired to help Saul in the presence of the people, for he dearly loved the man. "Had Samuel refused the honor due to Saul's rank, it would have given an occasion of intrigue and resistance against Saul's government and could well have been a step toward bringing back the old anarchy."[20]

(2) Another possibility is that Saul might have threatened to take Samuel's life if he refused. His seizing Samuel's robe was in itself an act of violence; and Saul was certainly capable of killing anyone whom he considered to be a threat to himself.

(3) The third alternative is that Samuel's action here constituted a sin on the prophet's part. We consider this to be the least likely of the reasons cited here, and that the first reason is probably correct.