Proverbs 15:8 "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight."
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD." There
was one person who immediately came to my mind as I read across these words
this morning. Do you remember King Saul? He was the first king of Israel. The
people had come to Samuel and demanded a king so they could be like all the
other nations. God forbid that we would ever want to be like other nations
whose gods are of this world; yet that is exactly what they wanted. "We
want someone to reign over us." Samuel tried to tell them that it was
wrong, but they persisted. God gave them what they wanted. We should always be
very careful what we ask for. We just might get it and then realize it wasn't
the best for us after all. The reason I thought of King Saul was because his
"sacrifices" were an abomination unto the Lord. God had told them to
destroy everything and everyone of the Amalekites. "But Saul and the
people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the
fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy
them..." (1 Samuel 15:9) What was their reasoning for keeping "all
that was good"? First of all, the judgement of what was good was their own
decision - not God's. But in their minds, they had a purpose for keeping
the "good". Saul's reasoning that was stated to Samuel was,
"... the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice
unto the LORD thy God." (1 Samuel 15:15) Samuel told Saul concerning
this wrong decision, "... 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..." (1 Samuel 15:22) The result of Saul's
disobedience was that the kingdom would be taken from him and given to another.
That other person was David, who was a man after God's own heart. We know David
was not a perfect man, but he set a standard for most of his decisions. David's
rule, for most of his decisions, was to first ask God to give him direction for
his actions. David understood that obeying God was most important in his
life. He knew the importance of prayer in his daily actions. He understood,
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer
of the upright is his delight."