1 Sam. XV. 11. And if grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the
Lord all night.
NEVER can we be weary of contemplating the scripture history ; so diversified are its incidents, and so instructive the examples it sets before us. The whole life of Samuel, from his first dedication to God by his mother to the very hour of his death, was one uniform course of piety. That particular part of it which I propose at present to consider, is his conduct in reference to Saul, when God declared his purpose to rend the kingdom from him, and to transfer it to another who should shew himself more worthy of it : we are told, " it grieved Samuel : and he cried unto the Lord all night."
In discoursing on these words, we shall notice.
I. The pious grief of Samuel —
Respecting this we shall distinctly consider,
1. The grounds of it —
[Savil had disobeyed the commandment of the Lord, in sparing Agag the king of the Amalekites, together with all the best of the spoil, when he had been strictly enjoined to destroy every thing, " man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."
This, at first sight, might appear a venial fault, inasmuch as he had leaned to the side of mercy, and had acted in con- formity with the wishes of his people ; and had even consulted, as he thought, the honour of God, to whom he intended to offer all the best of the cattle in sacrifice.
But he had received a specific commission, which it was his duty to execute. He was not left at liberty to act according to circumstances : his path was marked out, and should have been rigidly adhered to.
It does not appear that he stopped short of his purpose, because he thought that the command itself was too severe : for, in the first instance, he set himself to execute it fully : but, if he had felt some reluctance on accomit of its severity, he had no alternative left him : it was his duty simply to obey. When Abraham was called to come out from his country and from his kindred, he obeyed, though he knew not which way he was to direct his steps. And, when he was enjoined to offer up upon an altar his own son Isaac, he hesitated not to do it ; notwithstanding he knew that on the life of Isaac, to whose lineal descendants all the promises were made, the coming even of the Messiah himself essentially depended. Had he judged it right to listen to carnal reasonings of any kind, or to put his own feelings in competition with his duty, he might have easily found enough to satisfy his own mind. But he knew what was the duty of a creature : and he obeyed it Avithout reserve. And so should Saul have done. We will take for granted that all his excuses were true ; (though we doubt much whether covetousness was not the true sovu'ce of his conduct :) still they were of no real weight : and his listening to them was nothing less than an act of rebellion against God.
And was not this a sufficient ground for grief? Yes: and Samuel did well in that he was grieved with it.
Doubtless Samuel was also grieved on account of the judg- ment which Saul had brought on himself and on his family, by this act of disobedience. He pitied the man who had sub- jected himself so grievously to the divine displeasure : and pitied his children also, who were involved both in his guilt and punishment. When lie himself, indeed, had been dispossessed