1 Samuel 15: Humble Service Comes Before Titles

Introduction

Saul returns from a great victory over the Amalekites and greets Samuel with confidence: he has done, he says, everything Yahweh commanded him. But the old prophet hears bleating. The king has spared what he was supposed to destroy. Samuel's answer has become one of the best-known sentences of the Old Testament: "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).

Tom Foord preaches this message at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Australia, in a series that walks through the Old Testament in roughly chronological order. After Judges and Ruth, he takes one evening to survey the whole first book of Samuel, before moving on to 2 Samuel the following week. He starts from the passage of 1 Samuel 15:22-29, then traces the path from Eli to Samuel, from Samuel to Saul, and from Saul to David.

The thread of the message is simple: Saul had everything it takes to impress, and it is precisely by impressing himself that he fell. David, for his part, served faithfully in the shadows before receiving any crown. For you too, obedience and humble service come before titles.

Outline of the message

1. Saul before Samuel: obedience is better than sacrifice

The battle against the Amalekites is over. Saul goes out to meet Samuel and tells him he has accomplished everything Yahweh commanded him (1 Samuel 15:13).
Samuel replies with a touch of humor, as the preacher puts it: he is old, years of prophesying can make the ears ring, but what is this bleating? It sounds a lot like the Amalekites' rams, goats and sheep.
Saul defends himself like a boy caught red-handed: part of the livestock was meant for God. Tom Foord compares it to robbing your aunt while promising to give a tithe of it. God would have received his share of the sin.
This is the heart of verse 22: "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." Refusing to obey cannot be made up for with an offering.
Samuel announces that Yahweh has torn the kingdom away from Saul to give it to another, one better than he (verse 28): a hard word, the preacher admits. Saul stands there with a piece of the torn robe in his hand, a picture of the kingdom being ripped from him. Verse 29 closes the door: "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."
For Tom Foord, Saul is one of the greatest false converts in the Bible, perhaps comparable to Judas: called by God to a great work, he did a great deal and fell from a great height, because he had not truly been born again.

2. From Eli to Samuel: the rare Word and the ark taken as a lucky charm

Samuel is the last of the judges, a prophet who carries the nation over into the monarchy. In his childhood, the word of Yahweh was rare and visions were not frequent (1 Samuel 3:1). Eli was beginning to lose his sight: the preacher sees in this a picture of a nation that also saw poorly, in the days when everyone did what seemed right in his own eyes.
A major theme of the book appears: God rejects the old order because of its sin, not because it belongs to an older generation, in order to anoint the next generation. This theme structures the whole book, up to the passage from Saul to the young David.
Eli belongs to the old guard. His sons, who are priests, help themselves to the offerings, and Eli does nothing. The preacher says he has seen evangelical pastors fall into terrible scandals, and the shame this brings on the Church: this is what was happening in Eli's day. Poor Hannah, who sang the beautiful song of chapter 2, has only one little boy, an honorable one; the high priest has sons who have everything, and he does not correct them.
In chapter 3, the young Samuel finally answers God's call: "Speak; for your servant hears" (1 Samuel 3:10). God announces judgment on the house of Eli, who did not restrain sin in the house of God, and Yahweh is with Samuel (1 Samuel 3:19).
Then comes the ark, the sign of the presence of the holy God. Israel carries it into battle like a lucky charm. Tom Foord draws a parallel with the weekend of the big final: it is like keeping Bible verses in your pocket while betting at the bookmaker. God cursed this act.
Among the Philistines, the ark brings diseases, mice and a humiliating epidemic of tumors; the idol of Dagon falls before it every morning. They send it back with golden tumors, an account that some commentators read as satire. Back in Israel, the ark stays twenty years with an obscure man, and the whole house of Israel mourns before Yahweh.

3. A king like the nations: receiving what you demand

God had put whole nations to shame, from the ten plagues of Egypt to the storms. None of those nations should have made Israel envious. Yet the people prefer a human leader, central and visible, a crowned man who represents them and leads them into battle, like the other nations.
Tom Foord draws a sobering lesson from this: sometimes the worst punishment is that God gives us exactly what we want.
Samuel warns them: the king will take yet another tenth, will take the women to work in the capital, will send the men to war, and will not solve their problems. The people insist.
Saul has everything of the ideal king: taller than everyone, handsome, with rugged features. The preacher adds with a smile that this is not his opinion, it is what Scripture says.
On the day of his installation, they look for him and find him hidden among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22), crushed by the weight of responsibility, even though Samuel had already anointed him. Then he enjoys a chapter or two of great success.

4. Two mirror-image faults: too much priest, not enough king

First fault: Samuel is late, the people have been waiting for a week, and Saul loses patience. He takes the animals and offers the sacrifice himself, which was not his to do.
Samuel arrives and announces: "But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14).
The preacher recalls the idea of "lex rex," the law is king: the king is not the law. God places no king above his word.
Second fault, in chapter 15: a great victory, but Saul does not destroy everything. Tom Foord sees an almost comical reversed image: the first time, he sacrificed animals he was not supposed to sacrifice; the second time, he spared animals he was supposed to destroy.
He was a priest when he should not have been, and not enough of a king when he should have been.

5. David, the man after God's heart

In chapter 16, Samuel goes to anoint David. God does not look at appearance the way people do; he looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). The preacher invites you to read this chapter.
David faces Goliath and strikes him on the head with his sling. Why five stones? A lack of faith, as Spurgeon says? A foreshadowing of the fruit of the Spirit? Tom Foord leans toward another reading: Goliath had brothers who would come to avenge him. "Five giants for the price of one."
A single man wins the victory, and then the whole nation charges forward.
In the pride of his anger, Saul decides to kill David. From chapters 18 to 26, David is on the run; Samuel dies in chapter 25. David appears as a man who keeps his word, Saul as a corrupt liar.
David holds back his companions: the king must not be touched. But he also becomes a sort of mercenary among the Philistines and lies to the Philistine king who employs him, while mostly attacking the Philistines themselves. The preacher recommends none of this.
At the end, Saul, deprived of a prophet, pays the woman of Endor to bring up Samuel, who really does speak to him. Tom Foord warns: if you practice tarot or consult mediums, repent before judgment reaches you.

6. What 1 Samuel teaches: toward a better king

The book carries the transition from the chaos of the Judges to the monarchy and the establishment of David's dynasty, which is what matters most. It feeds the expectation of God's Messiah, who is seen more clearly to be coming as a king.
It also shows the dangers of kingship. The whole history of Israel applies the wisdom of Deuteronomy, which had set rules for the king in advance. The preacher lists what was forbidden to him: multiplying horses and wives, waging pointless wars, taking more money from the people and amassing gold (see Deuteronomy 17:16-17). All the kings of Israel and Judah did it, even the greatest.
Kingship nevertheless had benefits: a single border instead of twelve tribes, a nation united for battles, and an embodied justice to turn to.
The kingdom of God never comes the way people expect, whether for Israel, for Saul, for Samuel or for David. It is the same in the New Testament, where the kingdom is inaugurated by Jesus, risen and exalted to the highest places.
The head of the covenant represents the whole people: his sin touches everyone, his righteousness blesses everyone. This theme culminates at the end of 2 Samuel, when David's sin brings a plague on the nation and his sacrifice stops God's wrath, with echoes of the Gospel.

7. The trap of impressing yourself, and humble service before titles

Saul was truly impressive, and that was not a sin. God has made all of us impressive in our own way; there is nothing wrong with having ambition or desiring to lead. Tom Foord even remarks that Christians and churches are often afraid of impressing, of having too much influence or of growing too much.
Saul's problem lies elsewhere: the most dangerous person to impress is yourself. Saul believed what people said about him. The preacher imagines him keeping his press clippings in an album to his own glory, after cutting out the passage about David, and recalling how he looked on the day of his anointing. This was his ruin, the ruin of his sons and the ruin of his kingdom.
If God blesses you in great ways, join those blessings to humility and pray earnestly that he will keep you small in your own eyes. Tom Foord has met many men who aspire to ministry and say they are unworthy, unable to ever be like Spurgeon. He says he is glad to hear it: feeling weak and having nothing to offer the kingdom is the right Christian state of mind, that of Paul, who called himself the foremost of sinners. What he rejects is a false humility that seeks failure; he calls us to seek greatness and faithfulness toward the Lord, joined to great humility.
David, for his part, was faithful before being crowned. Before bringing down Goliath with a single stone in front of all the people, he kept his father's flock and was already writing psalms. When a lion or a bear came, he defended those sheep, because that was his task (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Had he died doing his duty, it would have been a glory, for he was fulfilling the mission received from God.
The preacher recalls a Puritan author: if God sent two angels to earth, one to rule the greatest empire and the other to be the humblest chimney sweep in England, it would make no difference to them, for doing the Lord's will would be glory enough. Whether you are cleaning streets, studying, caring for the sick or looking after your children, God delights in what you do for him with all your strength.
In the Church too, humble service comes before titles. Some promise to help others or to read their Bible every day on the day they are made deacons or missionaries. Tom Foord's question is direct: what are you already doing right now that shows the Lord you serve because you love his people, and because you love to obey and honor him?
He ends with Jesus, the true and better David: coming from among God's people, he faced the enemies no one had defeated, sin, death and Satan, and he triumphed through his death and resurrection. Do not pretend to believe like Saul: like David, bring your sins to the great King, who forgives. In his closing prayer, Tom Foord asks God to raise up the next generation, perhaps still in their mothers' arms or in the womb, leaders who will love the Word, submit to the Spirit and obey, because obedience is better than sacrifice.

Key takeaways

God does not accept an offering taken from disobedience: obedience is better than sacrifice.
There is nothing wrong with being impressive, gifted or ambitious. The danger is impressing yourself.
Sometimes the worst punishment is that God gives us exactly what we demand.
God looks at the heart, not at appearance. He chose the youngest, a shepherd, rather than older brothers who looked like Saul.
Humble service comes before titles: faithfulness in small tasks comes before the great work.

Personal application

Is there an area where you offer God something "on the side" to make up for what he clearly asked of you and you are not doing?
When people compliment you, do you thank God, or do you start believing what is said about you?
Have you ever insistently demanded something from God, wanting to be "like everyone else"? What did it teach you?
What is your "tending the sheep" today, the quiet task God has entrusted to you, and are you doing it faithfully?
Are you waiting for a title, a position or recognition before you begin to serve in your church? What can you do starting this week?

Verses quoted

Frequently asked questions

Why was Saul rejected as king in 1 Samuel 15?

After his victory over the Amalekites, Saul claims to have carried out Yahweh's command, but he spared the livestock he was supposed to destroy. He justifies himself by saying that part of it was meant for God. Samuel answers that obedience is better than sacrifice: you cannot make up for disobedience with an offering. Because Saul rejected the word of Yahweh, Yahweh rejects him as king.

What caused Saul's downfall according to Tom Foord?

Tom Foord stresses that it was not being impressive: God gives gifts, and there is nothing wrong with being gifted or ambitious. The problem is that Saul impressed himself. He believed what people said about him, and that brought about his ruin, the ruin of his sons and the ruin of his kingdom.

What does “humble service comes before titles” mean?

Before defeating Goliath, David faithfully tended his father's sheep and defended them against the lion and the bear because that was his task. Tom Foord draws a lesson for the Church: do not wait to become a deacon or a missionary before you serve. What you are already doing today shows the Lord whether you serve out of love for his people and to obey him.