Rightly Troubled

God chose a man named Saul to lead the Israelites as their first king, and Saul led.  He did some good things in leadership, but then drifted away from full obedience to God and toward reliance on himself (1 Samuel 13).  It would take awhile, but Saul's rule would eventually come to an end.

"Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 'I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.'  Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.  Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul..." (1 Samuel 15:10-12a).

Saul messed up.  It was not just an error in judgment; it was sin.  His behavior was wrong, and so was his heart.

What scripture tells next matters deeply:

The Lord was grieved.

Samuel was troubled by what grieved God.

Samuel cried out to the Lord, and did so all night long.

In the midst of his grief, and after prayer, Samuel took action.

With Pastor Joel's series on "Indispensable People," I think this phrase might describe Samuel here.  When Saul went astray, Samuel neither ignored the behavior nor despised the man.  He recognized the magnitude of what had happened and was appropriately troubled by it.  He prayed, intensely.  And, when it was right, he approached Saul.  He anchored himself to truth when it was difficult, maintaining boundaries while genuinely mourning a very real loss.

We need people like that -- people who value God and others enough to stand for what is right, who are genuinely righteous, whose response to those who stray from God is grief rather than arrogance -- and we are called to be people like that.