To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams – 1 Samuel 15:22

The story is told of a king and his palace administrator at a festival in their town.  As the king sat in state, people lined up to pay homage and shower praises on him. They came bearing gifts amidst singing and dancing. Notable on this day was the presence of the Head of State of the country. That made the individual performances more colorful and competitive. A big roar erupted and the dust mushroomed above the sky as the chief administrator took to the floor. His gifts, carried by twelve beautiful young ladies, could make Jacob’s gift to Esau look ordinary. His dance was very well choreographed, and it drew a thunderous applause from the crowd. The king however was not amused. When the administrator finished his presentation and danced away, the king turned to the queenmother, his sister, and said, “As if I don’t know.”

It was the hottest topic on rumor lane: “The palace administrator is having an affair with the king’s married daughter.”

Sometimes we think our gifts and service to God our King are the most important. We have learned the prayer language that rocks the foundations of our churches, rehearsed our praise and worship songs to shower the Lord with our tears, tuned our voices to the heavenly key, choreographed our services to perfection, and simulated our fellowship with unequaled dexterity. Everything looks spiritual on Sundays, and we grade ourselves with congregational size and spiffy programming. Meanwhile, He who sits on the throne is shaking His head in disappointment and saying, “As if I don’t know.”

King Saul was told by the Lord to wipe out the Amelekites and all that belonged to them. “Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camel and donkeys” (1 Sm. 15:2-3). Simple instructions; but not so simple for King Saul to obey! Agag, king of the Amelekites and, “the best of the sheep and cattle” became Saul’s trophies. He unashamedly told Samuel that the sheep and cattle were preserved to be sacrificed “to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest” (15). But Samuel said: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better that the fat of rams” (22). Saul lost the kinship for his family and he eventually died on his own sword (31:4).

We lose so much from the Lord for our hypocrisy; and it pains Him to see how our disobedience loses His grace for us (Heb. 12:15). He yearns for us to be like David, “a man after His own heart,” (13:14) who said, “Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you” (Ps. 139:21)? If only we could tune our ears to His voice and yield to the Holy Spirit at all times, our ways would be pleasing to Him. We will move away from the glitter and shine of this dying world and focus our “hearts on things above, where Christ is on the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1).

God takes delight in obedience more than everything else we do, and He knows the inclination of every heart. His eyes “range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chron. 16:9).