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From: 1 Samuel 15:16-23

Saul Is Again Condemned by Samuel (Continuation)

[16] Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD
said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.”

[17] And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you
not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over
Israel. [18] And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go,
utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them
until they are consumed.’ [19] Why then did you not obey the voice of
the LORD? Why did you swoop on the spoil, and do what was evil in the
sight of the LORD?” [20] And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the
voice of the LORD, I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent
me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly
destroyed the Amalekites. [21] But the people took of the spoil, sheep
and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice
to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” [22] And Samuel said, “Has the LORD
as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the
voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is as the sin of
divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you
have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king?”

Commentary:

15:1-35. The battle against the Amalekites is the occasion for Saul to
be rejected by God forever. The episodes dealt with up to this have
built up evidence of Saul’s sins, particularly his lack of trust in
God. However, here his disobedience is clear to see.

This account contains echoes of earlier divine condenmnations. The
Lord “repents” (an anthropomorphic expression) having made Saul king
(v. 11), as he earlier “was sorry” for having created man (Gen 6:6);
Saul’s rejection of God’s plans (vv. 11, 23, 26) led to his rejection
by God. Saul’s access to the throne is blocked, just as the gates of
Paradise were closed on Adam (Gen 3:23-24). As in the case of Adam,
God’s punishment of Saul is severe and there will be no going back on
it, for Saul’s is a very grave sin, that is, a sin of rebellion and of
rejection of God and his word (v. 26).

From this point on, even though he knows that the Lord does not
acknowledge his kingship, Saul will continue to be king in name,
because the sentence given against him was told him by Samuel in
secret (vv. 30-31), just as his first anointing was done in secret
(cf. 10:1-16).

15:22-23. Samuel’s oracular pronouncement, given in verse form here,
is one of the oldest of its kind in the Bible. From the literary point
of view it is very beautiful; and it also provides a clear definition
of obedience, which it identifies with acknowledgment of God:
obedience is the most perfect form of divine worship—more perfect
than the offering of sacrifice; disobedience is a form of idolatry.
The sentence against Saul is harsh and unambiguous; it applies the
ancient law of vengeance (an eye for an eye...), “rejection” being
referred to in the fault and in its sentence.

This short canticle in praise of obedience finds an echo in the
Northern prophets (Amos 5:2.1 and Hos 6:6) and it will be updated by
Jesus (Mt 9:13) who gives the fullest definition of the meaning of
obedience to God and those who represent him. “Obedience, and holy
obedience alone, gives us a clear view of the will of God. Superiors
may make mistakes, but we can never err in obeying” (St Maximilian
Kolbe, “Letters”, in “The Divine Office”, Office of Readings, 14 August).

Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.