Yesterday, I stumbled across an extract from the entry for December 20th in Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest" book. I say "stumbled across" because at the moment I'm reading through 1 Samuel and it was whilst I was looking to see whether or not Mr Chambers had anything to say about some verses in 1 Samuel chapter 15 that I came across the December 20th reading.
There is a link between a premise in that December 20th narrative and a very telling verse in 1 Sam 15. I'll come on to that verse a little later but first I'll tell you of the premise in question. Two sentences from December 20th - "If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the cross of Christ is a farce, there was no need for it." and "If you can help others by your sympathy or understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ."
Wow! What's being said here is that if our sympathy and/or understanding is all that we offer to others in need, then Jesus died in vain. It's as if we turn our backs on one of the greatest accomplishments of all time and think that that counts for naught. Christ's death becomes
our attempt to alleviate someone's pain by offering a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on.
Now what our dear friend Oswald is
not saying is that we shouldn't have sympathy and understanding for others; but that if that's
all we have and exhibit and we fail to engraft that great accomplishment of Christ's, then we fail in our duty as Christians. Our duty is to [show] love [to] others; surely, an integral part of that is to verbalise the love of Christ as well as rendering a physical display of it?
So, what's the link between the above and what's said in a verse in 1 Sam 15? The verse in question is 24 - "Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and their voice."" (NKJ) The scene here is that not long previously Saul had been appointed king over God's people Israel. Through the prophet Samuel, God had told Saul to destroy the Amalekites and all their animals. Saul had failed to do this. He spared the life of the Amalekites' king, Agag and the best of the sheep, cattle, calves and lambs and, in so doing, "transgressed the commandment of the Lord." (v.24)
A consequence of Saul's disobedience was his seemingly changed relationship with God. Although already shown to be as human as you and I, Saul had experienced the Spirit of the Lord and had acted in ways showing that he acknowledged God to be
his God. However, when speaking to Samuel in mid chapter (15), Saul refers on more than one occasion to "the Lord
your God", implying that God was
Samuel's God but no longer
Saul's. Even though 1 Sam 15 v.31 tells us that Saul did subsequently "worship the Lord", things were never the same and it's in the following chapter (16 v.1) that we read that "...the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him."
Getting back to the link which I've twice referred to, what is it? It is
FEAR. Saul himself explained in the second part of 1 Sam 15 v.24 that the reason for his transgression was his fear of the people (and hence his adherence to their voice). It's the same fear which we all have from time to time and in varying measure of telling others about Jesus - His life, His death and the reason therefore and His resurrection.
In sensitive and delicate situations, care and tact are most definitely called for, but if we agree with what Oswald Chambers teaches, we must somehow introduce the spiritual into the physical.
