Thank you for that message Alistair, and thank you for making us think, after all it's just common sense. It's like my kids , I pray for them, I try to instruct them and direct them. When they fail it should grieve us not make us angry because if we're angry how can we pray for them?, have you ever heard of an angry prayer ? not the best way to do it. It should grieve us, our prayers will then be mixed with tears and the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Which means we must be living right ourselves ,that doesn't mean perfect that means repenting confessing resetting our sights on pleasing God by his help we will be a success in his eyes.
I loved the insight into vs 7, and wholeheartedly agree. But I really don't agree with the interpretation of Samuel's response in the previous chapter to what Saul had done. I really believe that Samuel was really angry. It may make a nice intro to how nice a shepherd is when confronted by someone who disobeys, but I think it's an unrealistic interpretation and also expectation. Even the best of shepherds get mad sometimes, Jesus in the temple is a pretty good example of our perfect shepherd getting pretty darned ticked! As far as Samuel goes I think what he did to Agag is a pretty good insight into his feelings at the time. He doesn't just dispatch the king, he hacks him up! Definitely not the norm. The sorrow came later as his anger subsided and the awareness of the consequence of what Saul had done overwhelmed him in the night. Then he grieved, and greatly so.
One of my favorite sections of scripture! Thanks for your teaching. Here's a fun song I just finished to help our peeps memorize 1 Samuel 16-7. Enjoy! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FnGeiLQ9Tuw.html
