The people of Israel suffered while Saul was their leader. Saul did not obey God’s commands. Saul also set up a monument to honor himself for his victory in a war, raising himself above God.

When Samuel asked Saul, “Why did you not obey the Lord?” Saul lied, saying that everything he did was for God. Of course, Samuel already knew what Saul had done, and this was an opportunity to ­repent.

But Saul’s answer was ridiculous. He tried to cover up his greed with religious excuses. Saul claimed that he had saved out the best sheep and cattle in order to sacrifice them to God. But that was a lie. He also shifted blame to others, saying it was the soldiers who had saved out the best sheep and cattle.

So Samuel said, “Enough!” And he told Saul that because he had rejected the word of the Lord, God had now rejected him as king over Israel.

How about us today? Do we live our lives as we please? Do we lift ourselves up and ignore God’s words? Do we make up religious excuses when we have done wrong? Do we blame others for our wrong­doing?

If we do these things, we need to repent and appeal to God for his mercy and grace. We do not want to face the suffering of being rejected by God.