third saturday of lent

Saturday, February 23

Opening Prayer

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statues, and I will observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. —Psalm 119:33-35,40

1 Samuel 15:17-23 NIV

Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?”

“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

But Samuel replied:


       “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

       as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

       To obey is better than sacrifice,

       and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

       and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

       Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

       he has rejected you as king.”