Partial obedience

I love how the Bible includes stories of people's disobedience, not because disobedience is good, but because God is. His response to disobedience is recorded for us; we don't have to wonder about His perspective on the matter: it's pretty plainly delineated, and holds true now as well as the time of the first Israelite monarchs.

I'm thinking specifically of King Saul, when the LORD gave him the specific task of wiping out Amalek and all people and animals associated therewith (story found in 1 Sam 15). Saul obeyed... mostly. He spared the best animals and Agag the Amalekite king. When confronted by Samuel, Saul dithered-- first, "but I did obey!" Then, "it was the people's idea; they didn't want to follow through." Oh, and, "I did it so we could worship God by sacrificing to Him." How noble, how thoughtful. Or was it.

How disappointed Saul must have been to lose his kingdom because of this act of partial obedience (which is truly disobedience), his failure to completely 'devote to destruction' the Amalekites, as God through Samuel had instructed him. What hubris it takes to disobey: 'He said this, but I think it would be better to...' I am horrified by it in Saul's life, yet guilty of it myself. How much better to humbly obey, which brings God joy and results in blessing. I wonder if Saul ever got it, if he was ever grieved because he had grieved God... or if he was just sorry he got caught. The LORD regretted having made him king. Ouch.

Partial obedience, delayed obedience, and surface obedience to impress others are not acceptable to God. He is looking for men and women who will respond with instant, complete, whole-hearted, and joyous obedience each time He speaks.

-Del Fehsenfeld, Jr. qtd. in Seeking Him

God delights in obedience--the prompt, careful heeding of His voice-- more than the sacrifice of rams (1 Sam 15:22). He delights in obedience more than sacrifice, yes, but I also find it significant that He delights in obedience. I don't often think of God as overly happy, or overflowing with delight. (Don't you have to be serious to be holy?) But that is a misconception on my part. He is holy and righteous and Judge and Father and everything-that-He-is all at once, always. Did you know God sings? I never realized Scripture says He sings, but it does.

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing (Zeph 3:17).

Not only does He sing, it's joyful singing. Again, He takes great delight in someone, in this case, Jerusalem. Oh, that I would remember Saul's real, tragic example of the result of disobedience, and determine to obey God as fully as possible, as quickly as possible.