1.
Route 66 : 1 Samuel

2. THE KING WHO NEVER LISTENED
LESSON SAMUEL
THE KING
WHO NEVER
LISTENED

3. I’ll be your king!
Look at the cool king I have. He even has a coat that makes him look like Santa Claus!
I want a king!
Well, mine is an all beef patty, 2 pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun!

4. Saul’s Diary! OPEN YOUR TRAVEL JOURNAL TO PAGE 81.
Read: 1 Samuel 9:1 – 10:27
Read: 1 Samuel 13:7 - 14
Keep this in mind! Israel has rejected God’s design. They were supposed to rely on Him but the people “whined” and wanted a king – someone “physical” that they could see!
Today I did a stupid thing. We were getting ready to fight the Philistines. Samuel told me to wait for him at Gilgal, but….
I never thought this would happen to me! A few days ago I went to look for my father’s donkey’s. When I couldn’t find them, I went to ask Samuel the prophet for help. But he told me…
… he did not come. I was anxious to go to battle, so I offered the sacrifices myself. When Samuel came, he scolded me for disobeying and not trusting the Lord.
1 Samuel 10: Bible (NASB)
and he said to the sons of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”
… to come and eat with him and stay overnight. He said God had a special plan for me. I am to be the next King of Israel!!!

5. Saul’s Diary! Read: 1 Samuel 18:1 – 19:10 Read: 1 Samuel 15:12 - 35
I’m still king! Why don’t they understand that? I’m king! Not David! After David killed Goliath…
Samuel’s not talking to me. He said God doesn’t want me to be king anymore. I should have done what he said. We had a battle yesterday, and ….
I made him an officer, and he won his battles. A woman sang a song about how much greater he is than I am. So I tried to ruin him by giving him my daughter as his wife. I gave him a dangerous mission against the Philistines, but he survived. I became so mad that I threw my spear at him but missed!
Samuel told me to kill all the people and animals of the city we captured. I did what he told me, except I spared the king and a few animals. I planned to sacrifice the animals to god, but Samuel became angry because I disobeyed.

6. Saul’s Diary! Read: 1 Samuel 26:1 - 25
I was wrong about David. When I went out to kill him…
We camped on a hill beside the road. David came while we slept and took my spear and water jug. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. Then David called to me from the next hill. He showed me the jug and spear. I repented and promised that I would stop trying to hurt David.

7. What was Saul’s greatest failure?
Doing things his own way instead of obeying God.
Examples:
He couldn’t wait on Samuel and offered sacrifices himself (13:7-14)
God told him to kill every living thing among the Amalekites, but he didn’t kill King Agag and some of the animals. (15:1-15)

8. “To obey is better than sacrifice.”
Saul always had a “good excuse” for disobeying God’s commands. When Samuel asked him why he didn’t kill all of the sheep and cattle, Saul said “We brought back some of the sheep to sacrifice to the Lord. The rest we totally destroyed.”
“But you still disobeyed God,” Samuel said.
“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

9. GOD WANTS TOTAL OBEDIENCE!
REFLECTION
God wants us to obey. We might think our way seems better. We might bend God’s rule just “a little.” But…
GOD WANTS TOTAL OBEDIENCE!
What excuses do we make for failing to obey God “fully?”