Grief Over The Hopless

“Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.” (1Sa 15:10-11 AV)

There is no doubt that Samuel loved the LORD and his people.  When he saw that Saul did not have it within himself to walk in obedience to God’s word, it grieved him deeply.  This grief was not founded in a lack of faith that God could not fix this.  God did in the person of David.  Samuel had more faith than this.  I think what grieved Samuel so much was Saul himself.  He saw a man that could have done a wonderful service for God and the people of God, yet when push came to shove, preferred his own value judgment over the word of God.  Saul was pragmatic.  If the king Agag and the best of his sheep could be of some use, then why destroy them as God directed?  If Samuel does not show for the noon sacrifice to the convenience of Saul, why not circumvent the office of priest and prophet and offer the sacrifice himself?  Samuel grieved because Saul was a self-willed man who had a lot of things right, but whose will was not surrendered to the LORD.

Years ago my wife and I had the opportunity to work with young people.  Junior and senior high school students to be specific.  There were great joys.  But also great sorrows.  When we would survey the group of young people before us, we could see the potential of each and every young person.  We could see how the LORD gifted them and what the LORD could do with their lives.  The hardest reality of youth work is seeing so much potential go to waste.  There were those young men we were sure God would call into the ministry, or who would serve as deacons, or who would love the LORD and serve in the church.  There were the young ladies who had gentile spirits who we were sure would grow up godly, find a godly man to marry, and be the epitome of a godly mother.  They would love the LORD and serve Him in the church as pastor’s wives, Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, church staff, etc.  The sad reality is, the vast majority would fall to the world or fail because of poor parenting.  The potential we saw often went to waste and it grieved those who worked with them.

The man of God who loves the LORD and loves His people will be bothered by underachieving.  It isn’t enough to preach to them.  It isn’t enough to teach them.  There must be some grieving.  There must be some tears of sorrow and disappointment.  We cannot get to the place that regret is tolerated or ignored.  As much of a disappointment was to Samuel, he never stopped praying for him and grieving over him.  Yes, we should not ignore the healthy sheep in favor of those who will not comply to the word of God.  But that doesn’t mean we should stop grieving altogether.  It should bother us.  It means God has given us a heart for the sheep.