Saul’s confession in 1 Samuel 15 sounded spiritual—but it wasn’t repentance. Learn how fearing people replaces fearing God, why obedience is better than sacrifice, and how true confession brings mercy.




https://youtu.be/wCw0Fmarhk0




Table of contents* The Background to Saul’s Hollow Confession* A Confession With An Excuse Is An Excuse* We Obey What We Fear* Reject God and Be Rejected By God* We Should Submit To God’s Discipline* Saul’s Ongoing Rebellion* Saul’s Second Hollow Confession* Saul’s Concern with Appearances* We Shouldn’t Confess To Get Something* Why David Was Not “Better” Than Saul* David Was Better Than Saul Because He Repented* David Was Better Than Saul Because He Knew God



Maybe you’ve noticed that when public figures or large corporations apologize, their apologies sound, let’s say, strange. They say things like, “Mistakes were made,” or “If anyone was offended, we’re sorry.”



It’s the kind of apology that sounds good at first, until you realize nobody’s actually taking responsibility for anything. It’s carefully worded to protect image and reputation. The goal isn’t ownership of fault; instead, it’s damage control. There’s an appearance of humility without actually being humble. They want forgiveness without admitting guilt.



We might roll our eyes at these kinds of hollow apologies, but, if we’re honest, we can do the same thing spiritually. We say, “I’m sorry, Lord,” but what we really mean is, “I don’t like the consequences.”



This is precisely what happened with Saul. When he said, “I have sinned,” he didn’t mean, “I am broken over my sin.” He meant, “I’ve been caught, and I want to look good in front of the people.” His confession wasn’t repentance; it was reputation management.



The Background to Saul’s Hollow Confession



God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them. He defeated the Amalekites, but allowed some to live and kept some of their valuable stuff. One of Saul’s most significant problems is that he didn’t understand that partial obedience is disobedience, and if I had more room in the sermon, I would have made that a lesson. God sent the prophet Samuel to confront Saul:




1 Samuel 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”




This is unbelievable: Saul was in the midst of disobeying God, yet he set up a monument for himself. Hopefully, I don’t have to tell you that even when we obey God, it is a bad idea to set up a monument for ourselves. Clearly, Saul is feeling pretty good about himself:




1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”