1 Samuel 15:24-25 Justify

 ”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 obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”“ I Samuel‬ ‭15‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words: Saul’s statement begins like a genuine confession but that changes as he continues and says, “because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” Saul refused to own up to his sin and instead blamed the people who “made him” do it.

i. “When he could deny it no longer, at length he maketh a forced and feigned confession; drawn thereto, more by the danger and damage of his sin, than by the offence; mincing and making the best of an ill matter.” (Trapp)

ii. To say, “because I feared the people” tries to justify one sin with another. “Had he feared God more, he need have feared the people less.” (Clarke)

b. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD: Instead of dealing with the deep issue of his heart of rebellion and stubbornness against God, Saul thought that a word from Samuel could fix everything. But a word or two from Samuel would not change the settled nature of Saul’s heart.

i. God knew that Saul’s heart was full of rebellion and stubbornness and that it was settled in that condition. That is something that no man could know with certainty, looking from the outside. But God knew it and He told Samuel. A simple “please pardon my sin” would not do when the heart was settled in rebellion and sin against the LORD. (Guzik)

Justify 

I am reminded of a similar circumstance when Adam made an excuse and tried to justify one sin with another:

”Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”“ ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There are times that we jokingly say, the woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave or made me ________. 

Or she says, the Bible says the man is supposed to make the coffee….. He-brews. 😇

But justifying one sin with another by trying to place the blame on another is no laughing mater!

We would do well if we prayed this daily and meant it!

”Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.“

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you ever justified one sin with another? I have!

Blessings