Samuel sendeth Saul to destroy the Amalekites: his army, 1-5. He favoureth the Kenites; spareth Agag, and the best of the spoil: God rejects Saul from being king, 6-11. This Samuel declares to Saul; he commendeth, excuseth, at last humbleth himself, 12-25. Samuel is unmoved herewith; his mantle rent is a sign to Saul of his ruin: God cannot lie, 26-29. Samuel killeth Agag; goeth from Saul, and mourneth for him, 30-35.
John Dagg's Manual of Theology: 'The doctrine of God's eternity, and that of his unchangeableness, are nearly allied to each other; and if his eternity excludes succession, it must also exclude the possibility of change. Unchangeableness applies not only to his essence, but also to his attributes. His spirituality is ever the same, his omnipresence the same, and so of the rest. His purpose, also, is unchangeable; it is called "his eternal purpose." [Ephesians 3:11] He says: "My counsel shall stand." [Isaiah 46:10] He is said, in Scripture, to repent; but, in the same chapter [1 Samuel 15] in which it is twice said that God repented, it is also stated: "He is not a man, that he should repent.…
Thomas Boston's Distinguishing Characters of True Believers: 'Evasion: We have no ill in our minds, when we use these words; they just come out rashly. Answer. Ill words are certainly the product of an ill heart, Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:21-22. But alas! most men are strangers to the ill of their hearts, Isaiah 44:20. They that murdered Christ's disciples, John 16, and Saul, 1 Samuel 15, when he Spared Agag, and the cattle of the Amalekites; might have pretended they had no ill in their minds: yet the former were murderers, and the latter a rebel to God. It is God's law, and not men's designs, that is the rule of their words and actions. The tongue is an unrul…
Thomas Boston's "The Sins of Sinners Finding Them out": 'Do not employ yourselves to defend or justify your sin, as if there was little or no evil in it; but rather lie open to conviction from the word of God, which is the law of liberty. This is an evil frequent in the world, by which men shut their own eyes, and drag their consciences at the heels of their selfwill. They will extol some notorious sins as great duties. Thus Saul extolled his own sinful conduct in the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15. What they have done, not because it was lawful, must be lawful because they have done it. Their credit is engaged, and therefore they cannot quit it…
Matthew Henry: 'In this chapter we have the final rejection of Saul from being king, for his disobedience to God's command in not utterly destroying the Amalekites. By his wars and victories he hoped to magnify and perpetuate his own name and honour, but, by his mismanagement of them, he ruined himself, and laid his honour in the dust. Here is, I. The commission God gave him to destroy the Amalekites, with a command to do it utterly, verses 1-3. II. Saul's preparation for this expedition, verses 4-6. III. His success, and partial execution of this commission, verses 7-9. IV. His examination before Samuel, and sentence passed upon him, notwithstanding the many frivolous pleas he made to excuse himself, verse…
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