💬 1 Samuel 15:22 | Surrender Is All It Takes

Happy Friday, everyone!

If you missed any of this week’s emails, you can read them here: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! 

Let’s wrap this week up and send you off into the weekend with one simple action to take.

In today’s email…

• 🤴 A summary of everything we’ve learned this week

• 👂️ One step to help you obey the voice of God

• 📚️ In case you missed it…

✉️ subscribe here | support our work 👐 

MEMORIZE 🧠 

Has ___ ____ __ great _____ __ _____ _________ ___ __________,

__ __ obeying ___ _____ __ ___ ____?

Behold, __ ____ __ better ____ sacrifice,

___ __ ______ than ___ fat __ ____.

1 Samuel 15:22

CONTEXT 📕 

Let’s recap the journey we’ve been on this week.

On Monday, we zoomed out.

We looked at the bigger picture of 1 Samuel: the rise of Saul, the decline of obedience, and the warning signs we often miss in our own lives.

We saw that Saul wasn’t just a failed king…he was a mirror.

When Saul substituted ritual for obedience, he didn’t just make a tactical mistake.
He rejected God’s voice and in turn, lost God’s favor.

On Tuesday, we focused on chapter 15.

This was Saul’s turning point and his unraveling. God had spoken clearly, but Saul obeyed selectively. And in one brutal verse, Samuel dismantles Saul’s self-justification:

“..to obey is better than sacrifice.”

We wrestled with how easy it is to do almost everything God asks. How we can often rationalize, excuse, and explain away partial obedience.

And we looked at how your level of obedience reveals where your trust truly is.

On Wednesday, we slowed way down and unpacked four Hebrew words from this verse:

• Shāmaʿ (SHAH-mah) – to listen and obey, not just hear

• Zebāḥîm (zeh-VAH-kheem) – sacrifices, the impressive but incomplete substitute

• Chēphets (KHEH-fets) – what delights the heart of God

• Qōl (kohl) – God’s voice, the invitation we often ignore

Each of these words showed us that God is less interested in religious behavior and more interested in relational trust.

Then on Thursday, we pivoted toward Jesus.

Saul failed. David tried. But only one King fully obeyed.

Jesus didn’t just offer God something for us. He offered Himself instead of us.

• Where Saul spared the best of the animals, Jesus became the Lamb.

• Where Saul hid behind spiritual language, Jesus walked in perfect surrender.

• Where Saul lost everything by clinging to control, Jesus gave up everything to save us.

As I’ve studied this verse, I’ve learned a lot about Saul, but even more about myself.

I hope this has been a reflective week for you, too.

APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃‍♂️ 

Here’s what all this means for you:

• You don’t need to perform your way into God’s approval

• You don’t need to impress Him with “sacrifice”

• You don’t need to “do stuff for God”

You just need to obey God.

And how can you obey God unless know His voice?

And how can you know His voice if you’re near Him?

And how can you be near Him if you’re not spending time with Him?

This is why Jesus said:

God can speak to us in a number of ways. Here are a few:

• Through Scripture

• Through creation

• Through dreams

• Through the Holy Spirit within you

• Through fellow believers

This weekend, here’s one simple action to take.

1. Get together with a few trusted friends who follow Jesus.

2. Bring your Bibles and journals.

3. Share this simple question: What is God actively trying to do in your heart in the current season of life.

4. Spend 1-2 minutes in silence reflecting on it. Each person can write down what they’re sensing or hearing from God.

5. Then discuss it with each other, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable.

This is one of those questions that always helps my friends and I stop, reflect, and make room for God.

It strengthens our bond as friends, and brings us all closer to our Father.

This weekend, let’s make room for God and invite Him to keep doing a new work in our hearts.

RESOURCES 📚️ 

In case you missed it, here are a few resources to help you dig deeper into the verse and its themes:

• 📚️ Obedience to Christ by A.W. Tozer (link)

• 📚️ The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places by Nik Ripken (link)

• 📚️ Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 8) (link)

• 📹️ 1 Samuel overview by The BibleProject (link)

• 🎙️ Sermon: Radical Obedience by Jon Tyson (link)

• 🎙️ Sermon: The Liberty of Obedience by Tim Keller (link)

• 🎙️ Sermon: The Rise & Fall of King Saul by Matt Heerema (link)

• 🎵 Faithful God by I AM THEY (Spotify | Apple Music | Full Malachi Daily Playlist)

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ANSWER KEY ✅ 

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 listen than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22