Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Samuel 14-16
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 98
Key Verse
1 Samuel 15:4 — “And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.”
Devotional Thought
What does it mean to obey God when obedience costs you something you cannot get back? That is the question this passage presses upon us, and it does not let us answer cheaply. In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan climbs a sharp rock with his armourbearer and says, “It may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” Two men against a garrison—yet God shakes the earth and melts the Philistine host. But by evening Saul has bound the people with a rash oath, and Jonathan, who never heard it, tastes a little honey and is sentenced to die. The people rescue him, and we are left wondering what kind of king pronounces death over the very man God used to save Israel.
Then comes chapter 15, where the contrast sharpens into judgment. Saul is sent to destroy Amalek utterly, and he does—almost. He spares Agag and the best of the sheep and oxen. When Samuel confronts him, Saul insists, “I have performed the commandment of the LORD,” then blames the people, then claims the animals were kept to sacrifice. Samuel’s answer cuts through every excuse: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice… For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Partial obedience dressed in religious language is still rebellion. Saul feared the people more than he feared God, and the kingdom was rent from him.
We live in a season—late August, the last warm weeks before the turn of the year—when it is tempting to give God the harvest of our leftovers. We keep the best for ourselves and offer Him the remainder, calling it devotion. But God is not asking for our surplus; He is asking for our trust. Jonathan’s courage and Saul’s compromise stand side by side as two ways to live: one that risks everything on God’s power, and one that hedges every bet while speaking the language of faith.
Psalm 98 gives us the proper response. “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things.” The God who saves by few or by many, who judges with equity and remembers mercy, is worthy of wholehearted praise—not the praise of leftovers, but the joyful noise of a life fully yielded. Let the floods clap their hands. Let us obey fully, while it is still today.
Reflection
- Where in your life are you offering God partial obedience—keeping back the “best of the sheep” while claiming your intentions were good?
- Jonathan acted on the conviction that the LORD saves “by many or by few.” What would change if you truly believed that this week?
Prayer
Lord God of Israel, You who save by many or by few, we confess that we have often obeyed You partially, keeping back what we thought we could not spare. Forgive us for fearing people more than we fear You. Give us the courage of Jonathan, who trusted Your power against impossible odds, and the honesty of heart that refuses to dress up disobedience as devotion. Teach us that to obey is better than sacrifice. Let our lives be a new song of wholehearted praise, sung before You, the King, in spirit and in truth. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 98:1 — “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.”