Samuel relates to Saul what God had said unto him the night before, which night Samuel spent in sorrowful prayer, because of Saul’s sins. “When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?” He reminds Saul of the commands of God which he had wickedly transgressed, and inquires, “Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord.” (4aSG 74.1) MC VC

“And Saul said unto Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things, which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.” (4aSG 74.2) MC VC

Saul here uttered a falsehood. The people had obeyed his directions. But in order to shield himself, he was willing the people should bear the sin of his disobedience. (4aSG 74.3) MC VC

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” (4aSG 74.4) MC VC