The Witchcraft of Self-Will Text: 1 Samuel 15:10-35
Introduction: The Anatomy of Rebellion
There are two ways to live in this world. You can live according to the Word of God, or you can live according to your own word. There is no third option. Every sin, every rebellion, every act of cosmic treason flows from the second choice. It is the decision to become your own god, to be the captain of your own soul, to declare that you know better than the one who made you. This is the original sin of the Garden, and it is the sin that brought down Israel's first king.
The story before us is not simply an unfortunate episode in the life of a failed monarch. It is a vivisection of the human heart in its rebellion against God. It is a master class in self-justification, blame-shifting, and the use of religious camouflage to hide a disobedient will. Saul's failure here is not a minor slip-up. It is the final exam that he fails spectacularly, revealing that he never truly understood the nature of his office or the character of the God who gave it to him. He wanted to be a king like the other nations, and in the end, he revealed he was a pagan like the other nations, trusting in his own wisdom and fearing men more than God.
We must pay close attention, because Saul's heart is a mirror of our own. The excuses he makes are the same excuses we make. The desire to look good in front of others, the temptation to redefine obedience to suit our preferences, and the impulse to offer God religious performances instead of a broken and contrite heart, these are not ancient problems. They are the weeds that grow in the soil of every human heart. And as Samuel will make terrifyingly clear, this kind of rebellion is not just a mistake; it is a form of witchcraft. It is an attempt to conjure a world where God's Word is not ultimate.
The Text
Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words." And Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahweh all night... And Yahweh regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
(1 Samuel 15:10-35 LSB)
Divine Grief and Bleating Evidence (vv. 10-16)
The scene opens with a word from God to Samuel, and it is a word of profound sorrow and judgment.
"I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words." (1 Samuel 15:11)
Now, we must handle this word "regret" carefully. Later in this same chapter, Samuel will say that "the Eternal One of Israel will not lie or have regret; for He is not a man that He should have regret" (v. 29). Is this a contradiction? Not at all. Scripture is showing us two truths. In His essential being, in His eternal decree, God is unchanging and has no regrets. He is never surprised; Saul's failure was part of His sovereign plan from the beginning. But in His covenantal relationship with His people, in His historical dealings with us, God expresses genuine grief and sorrow over sin. This is an anthropopathism, language that helps us understand God's relational posture. God is expressing a change in His administration toward Saul. The season of favor is over; the season of judgment has begun. This is the sorrow of a father whose son has gone astray.
Saul's sin is twofold: he "turned back from following" God, and he "has not established My words." It is a sin of commission and omission. He has abandoned the path of obedience and failed to uphold God's clear command. In response, Samuel is angry and grieves all night. This is a righteous anger, directed at Saul's sin, and a deep sorrow for the man and the nation. True prophets are not dispassionate reporters; they feel the weight of God's Word.
When Samuel confronts Saul, the king is completely oblivious, having just built a monument to himself. Pride is the first thing to sprout from the grave of obedience. Saul greets Samuel with a pious declaration: "Blessed are you of Yahweh! I have established the word of Yahweh." This is the cheerful confidence of a man who has successfully lied to himself. But sin always leaves evidence. Samuel's response is devastatingly simple: "What then is this sound of the sheep in my ears and the sound of the oxen which I am hearing?" You cannot hide disobedience. It bleats. It lows. It makes noise. The evidence of Saul's compromise was walking and talking all around him.
Cornered, Saul immediately resorts to the classic tactics of the guilty. First, he blame-shifts: "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best..." It was not me, it was "the people." A true leader takes responsibility; a coward points fingers. Second, he puts a religious spin on it: "...to sacrifice to Yahweh your God." He tries to paint his disobedience as an act of supreme piety. We were just trying to give God a really nice offering! Notice also how he says "Yahweh your God," creating a subtle distance between himself and the God he has just disobeyed.
Obedience Over Oblation (vv. 17-23)
Samuel cuts through the excuses and delivers the charge from God. He reminds Saul of his humble beginnings, "though you were little in your own eyes," to highlight the arrogance of his current position. God gave him everything, and he has responded with contempt for God's Word.
"Why then did you not obey the voice of Yahweh, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh?" (1 Samuel 15:19 LSB)
Saul doubles down on his self-deception: "I did obey the voice of Yahweh!" He redefines obedience to mean "doing most of what God said, plus a few of my own improvements." He boasts of bringing back King Agag as a trophy and insists the animals were for a holy purpose. This is the heart of false religion. It believes it can please God with gestures and rituals while the heart is in full rebellion.
This sets the stage for one of the most important declarations in all of Scripture.
"Has Yahweh as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22 LSB)
This is the death knell for all forms of external, performative religion. God is not interested in your church attendance, your tithes, your elaborate worship services, if your heart is not submitted to His Word. He does not want the best of what He has commanded you to destroy. He wants your obedience. Sacrifice offered as a substitute for obedience is an insult. It is an attempt to bribe the judge. God wants your heart first; then, and only then, are your sacrifices acceptable.
Samuel then provides the theological foundation for this principle, and it is staggering.
"For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, He has also rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:23 LSB)
Let this sink in. When you willfully disobey a clear command from God, you are practicing witchcraft. Why? Because divination and witchcraft are attempts to manipulate the world, to bend reality to your will, to get what you want apart from God's stated means. Rebellion does the same thing. It says, "My will be done, not God's." It is an attempt to conjure a reality where you are the sovereign. Insubordination, or arrogance, is idolatry because you are setting yourself and your judgment up in the place of God. You are bowing down to the idol of self. The logic is perfect and inescapable. Because Saul rejected God's Word, God, in symmetrical justice, rejected Saul from his office.
A Counterfeit Confession (vv. 24-31)
Faced with the loss of his kingdom, Saul finally says the words, "I have sinned." But is it true repentance? The rest of the verse tells us everything we need to know. "I have indeed trespassed... because I feared the people and obeyed their voice." This is not a confession; it is an explanation. It is worldly sorrow, the sorrow of getting caught. He is not grieved that he has offended a holy God; he is grieved that he is facing the consequences.
His request confirms it: "So now, please forgive my sin and return with me, that I may worship Yahweh." This sounds good, but his real motive is revealed after Samuel refuses. Saul grabs Samuel's robe, it tears, and Samuel delivers the prophecy that the kingdom has been torn from him. Then Saul pleads again: "I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me."
There it is. His chief concern is not his relationship with God, but his public image. He wants Samuel to stand with him to keep up appearances. He is worried about his poll numbers. This is the repentance of a politician, not a penitent. It is a desperate attempt at damage control. He wants to worship Yahweh, but only if he can do it while saving face.
The Justice of God (vv. 32-35)
The scene concludes with a stark and brutal act of obedience. Samuel, the prophet, must do what Saul, the king, refused to do. He calls for Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Agag comes cheerfully, thinking the danger has passed. "Surely the bitterness of death has departed." He was wrong. He had lived by the sword, making women childless, and now he would die by the sword.
"As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before Yahweh at Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:33 LSB)
This is not a fit of prophetic rage. This is the calm, deliberate, judicial execution of God's holy command. The command of herem, or devotion to destruction, was a unique command in redemptive history, aimed at a culture so saturated with evil that it had to be surgically removed to protect God's covenant people. It was an act of divine justice, and Samuel carries it out without flinching. This bloody act stands in stark contrast to Saul's squeamish, man-pleasing compromise.
The story ends in sorrow. Samuel and Saul part ways forever. Samuel grieves for the man Saul could have been, and the Lord reaffirms His covenantal grief over the whole affair. The kingship built on the fear of man and the praise of men had crumbled to dust.
Conclusion: The True King's Obedience
We read this story and we rightly condemn Saul. We see his pride, his cowardice, his phony piety. But we must see ourselves. How often have we chosen partial obedience? How often have we feared the opinions of our friends, our family, or our culture more than the clear command of God? How often have we engaged in the witchcraft of self-will, trying to create a world where we are in charge?
Saul shows us that our best religious efforts, when divorced from a heart of true obedience, are worthless. To obey is better than sacrifice. The lesson of Saul is that we cannot save ourselves. We need a better king.
And God has given us one. Saul was rejected for his disobedience, but God gave us a King, Jesus Christ, whose entire life was one of perfect obedience. He did not fear the people. He did not fear the elders. He did not fear the cross. He said, "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). His food was to do the will of His Father.
Where Saul failed to destroy God's enemies, Christ crushed the head of the serpent. Where Saul offered a disobedient sacrifice, Christ offered the only sacrifice that could ever please God, the sacrifice of Himself, an act of perfect obedience. Our rebellion is witchcraft, and the only remedy is the blood of the King who was perfectly obedient, even to the point of death. Therefore, we must reject the throne of self, turn from our own pathetic attempts to justify ourselves, and bow the knee to the one true King, Jesus Christ, who reigns forever.