3. It is not my fault

It is not my fault


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    1 Samuel 15:1-28 says, "Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.[2] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.[3] Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.[4] And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.[5] And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.[6] ¶ And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.[7] And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.[8] And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.[9] 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: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.[10] ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,[11] 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.[12] And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.[13] And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.[14] And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?[15] And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.[16] Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.[17] And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?[18] And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.[19] Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?[20] And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.[21] But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.[22] And Samuel said, 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, and to hearken than the fat of rams.[23] For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.[24] ¶ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.[25] Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.[26] And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.[27] And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.[28] And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou."

    I find it very interesting that when there is an altercation with my children they rarely are quick to take responsibility. If of them hit the other, then it was the other one’s fault because they walked into their fist. If one tripped the other, then they shouldn’t have been walking there. When I ask why the peanut butter was left out, it is her fault because I got it, but she used it too so she should put it away. The children seem to always be able to find someone else to blame for why they are in trouble. Yet we as adults are not always much different.

    Throughout the Bible people always looked for someone else to blame for their sins. When Saul brought back the king of the Amelekites and their animals, he first blamed the people (1 Samuel 15:15). Saul said, “they brought them back”, yet it was Saul who was the king and allowed that to happen. Then Saul turned it around on God and said that they were brought back to sacrifice. Doesn’t God want sacrifice? Isn’t sacrifice a good thing? Even as late as 1 Samuel 15:20 Saul is still saying that he obeyed God...and brought back the king, yet both cannot be true. Then once again in 1 Samuel 15:21 Saul blamed the people once again by saying that they are the ones that took the animals. Then Saul uses the excuse that he (the king of Israel) feared the people and that is why he allowed them to take the animals (1 Samuel 15:24).

    Why do we want to blame other people for our sins? Why is it that when we find ourselves doing wrong our first instinct often is to find someone else to blame. Is it my parent’s fault for the way I was raised? Is it my spouses fault because of how they treat me? Is it society’s fault for the influence they have on the children? Is it video game’s fault for the violence that is committed? Is it the media’s fault for the hatred that is becoming so common? I will be the first to tell you that each of these things can have an influence on people just as the people obviously had an influence on Saul. So who is ultimately responsible? Does the fact that these things had an influence on me somehow lessen the fact that I did wrong?

    The reality and truth of the matter is, sin is sin. If something is wrong, then it is wrong and I am accountable regardless of how I was influenced. I am responsible for how I live and sin is never right even when I am in a situation where doing right becomes very difficult. Ezekiel 18:20 says, “the soul that sins it shall die”. Excuses do not take away sin. Blame does not take away sin. Blame and Excuses will leave us in the sin that we committed and separated from God. Yet to be forgiven as Christians, we must be willing to change our actions and admit that we were wrong (1 John 1:7-10). The truth is that when we find ourselves in sin, it is our fault. We may have been influenced by others, encouraged in that sin, submerged in a society that condones and promotes sin, but truth is when we find ourselves in sin we chose to sin. We must take responsibility for that sin so that we can repent and be forgiven!

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  • I find it easier to ask for, and receive forgiveness when I find no one to blame but myself.

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