Sermon 55: 1 Samuel 15:24-29

24. And Saul said to Samuel: 'I have sinned, because I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your words, fearing the people and obeying their voice. 25. But now, I beg you, bear my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord.' 26. And Samuel said to Saul: 'I will not return with you, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.' 27. And Samuel turned to go away, and he seized the edge of his cloak, and it was torn. 28. And Samuel said to him: 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29. Moreover, the Triumphant One of Israel will not spare and will not be moved by repentance, for he is not a man that he should repent.'

Here we are first taught that Saul was at last struck and subdued by Samuel's sharp reproof. For at the beginning of the reproof he seemed to want to defend his innocence and brought forward excuses with which to protect himself. But when Samuel thundered this sentence — that not to obey the voice of God is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as the crime of idolatry — he was defeated and fell silent, and when he saw no room given for excuse, he confessed his crime. From this it appears that doctrine alone is not sufficient to bring men to God, but that reproofs and threats must be added to it. And surely the apostle Paul, teaching how Scripture is useful, admonishes that it is useful not only for teaching but also for exhortation and reproof. From this we gather that it is not enough for those reading sacred Scripture if they understand God's will, or if they perceive and comprehend in their minds what they have read or heard from teachers and preachers of God's word. For since by nature we are full of hypocrisy and always seek vain refuges, or are even completely stupid, it is necessary that we be pricked to the quick. Therefore if, after doctrine has been set forth, we hear thunderings against sinners and God's judgments and threats brought forward against the sins of men, this ought not to seem strange and unusual to us, since we need these aids. Therefore we must make every effort to profit from them. For what condemnation, what punishment is prepared against those who will harden themselves against God's reproofs, when we see Saul — a man otherwise quite arrogant and profane — moved and in some way subdued by Samuel's more vehement reproof? If he who was devoid of the grace of God's Spirit nevertheless trembled and was touched by repentance, what will happen to those who persist in obstinacy? Therefore let us above all learn from this that if after a fall we are admonished and taught the right way and stimulated by some sharper reproof, and our disgrace, ingratitude, and malice are exposed and thrown in our faces, we should restrain ourselves and not persevere in sins, but rather return to a right mind.

Moreover, although Saul acknowledges his sin, it is not without qualification. And finally, if we are reproved more sharply and vehemently, he confesses not with a true and sincere confession, for he still seeks some refuge, saying that he feared the people — as if he were casting all the blame upon those who had been the instigators of preserving both Agag the king of the Amalekites and the fat cattle for sacrifices and holocausts. Surely the people could have solicited the king, and a murmur could have arisen among the common people. Yet he consented to this evil, even though by the authority he held over the people he could have prevented it. But why does he blame the people, when he himself was the leader and instigator, and did not reserve the livestock with a simple desire for sacrifices and holocausts, but with a corrupt motive, wishing to bring back the spoils, as we taught before? But come, let us inquire into the cause of this fear behind which he tries to shield himself as with a buckler. It is unbelief. Had not God chosen him as king? Under whose protection and care was he then? Surely while he fears the people, he seems to have forgotten God, from whom he had received his royal authority, and from whom, while the people were not thinking of him, he had received prosperous success in that office. Is he not therefore doubly guilty before God, consigning so many benefits to oblivion? Does he fear the people, as if he were not sufficiently safe under God's protection? From this it appears that the one seeking refuges betrays his own unbelief, as if he were saying: 'I did not trust in God; I neglected his promises because I doubted them; I did not rely on his care ...and protection, but I fled into the hands of men.' Indeed, he would say that this was not his intention, but nevertheless this is the meaning of his answer. And so those who seek vain refuges only entangle themselves more. For God does not permit them so to disguise their sins and adorn them with cosmetics that their disgrace does not appear, and they incur the greatest dishonor before God and men. For hypocrites are accustomed to despise God's judgments, provided they retain some authority and reputation for virtue among men. But God assigns them a reward worthy of their works. For though condemned before his majesty and the face of the angels, he uncovers among men the disgrace they try to cover up as much as possible. This is evident in Saul, who wished to deflect part of his blame onto the people, who must, however, become a witness of his unbelief, since the words and deeds of Saul himself are produced — and indeed for greater condemnation. For besides his open rebellion, his impiety toward God is exposed: that he did not glorify God as he ought, but on the contrary made little of God and placed his hope in the people, whose rebellion he had nevertheless experienced when, having been designated king by God, he was presented to the people.

Moreover, his words of this sort are worthy of singular observation: 'I have sinned, because I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your words.' By these words he designates his sin: namely, that he did not fulfill the Lord's commands, of which Samuel himself had been the minister and interpreter; and therefore he confesses his rebellion. And this is the head of all iniquities — not to be subject to God. Therefore if we wish to order our lives rightly, we must take care to measure them by the divine word, which is full of holiness — because in it our salvation and perfection is placed, as we heard in that sentence that obedience is better than many sacrifices, indeed that it is the mother of virtues. Let this therefore be the foundation of our actions, which otherwise will turn into ruin and destruction. It must also be observed that Saul places on the same level the mouth of God and the word of the prophet. By these words we are taught not to seek God's will above the clouds when the heralds of his word are granted to us by his grace; just as we see Moses also addressing and admonishing the people with these words: 'This commandment which I command you today is not too high for you, neither far off. Nor in heaven, that you should say: Which of us is able to ascend to heaven to bring it down to us, that we may hear and fulfill it? Nor placed beyond the sea, that you should make excuse and say: Which of us can cross the sea and bring it down to us, that we may hear and do what is commanded? But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.' Here therefore Saul declares that he has made some progress in God's school when he confesses that he has transgressed the word of the Lord and the words of the prophet. For he does not place God's word and the prophet's words as things differing from one another, but rather acknowledges that the prophet's words are as it were the very mouth of God and the organ of the Holy Spirit, and a faithful minister of the office committed to him. Therefore this doctrine must be drawn from this passage: that when we read sacred Scripture, we should know that God is there setting forth his will to us; of which we ought to be persuaded, and not seek vain refuges here and there. For this testimony is most certain and inviolable, where God has once given authority to his word — so that we may know that we have to do with him alone. And the same must be determined concerning the faithful interpreters of sacred Scripture who sincerely perform their duty in teaching us God's will. We must by all means acquiesce in them, nor should we ever hope for impunity if we have held them in contempt and mockery. Just as many scoundrels and impious and profane men are encountered everywhere, who profess that they wish to obey God but are ignorant where he is to be sought and by what signs he is to be known. Far from us be this arrogance — indeed let such madness be cast away from us; rather let us willingly submit our necks to God's word, and receive God's word with humility and reverence whenever it is set before us by God's command, and let us know that all our trust is to be placed there. In short, let this be fixed and firm in our minds: that for God to wish to appear to us by visible signs would be the same as if we wished to drag him down from heaven. For we ought to be content with his word, to which he has given sufficient faith and authority. Therefore no other charge is needed to condemn us when we have departed from the way shown by God's word. Just as we see our Lord Jesus Christ also using this argument against those who contradicted his discourse: 'I will not condemn you on the last day,' he says; 'that word against which you now resist and which you obstinately reject will condemn you.' Therefore let us know that God's word is sufficient to condemn us, if we have not hearkened to it and received it with the humility and reverence that befits us. On the contrary, however, we should be persuaded that we will be received by God and admitted into the number of his own and held as righteous when we have followed his commands, even though the world may persecute us, hating us worse than a dog or a snake.

Moreover, when Saul here brings forward the fear of the people, by which he says he was led to listen to their voice, he tries indeed to lessen and minimize his sin, but he increases it, since that obedience is full of rebellion when we are transformed by men and led away from God, so that he no longer retains his right over us. In short, that humility by which we serve men and mortal created things detracts from God and his word ...and brings some prejudice; it is sheer obstinacy and rebellion against God. Such today is the obedience of the hypocrites in the papacy, who exercise foolish and empty ceremonies and superstitions invented by the fathers with far more solicitous and anxious mind than what is prescribed by God's word — and indeed deceived by a specious pretext, that obedience is owed to the holy mother church. But truly, since God himself has spoken and made known his will, why is he not hearkened to? Why are the sacred books closed? Why are men served and obeyed instead? And what is greatest, why is righteousness sought from there before God? Indeed, God would have to yield his right of dominion which he holds over us — which cannot be said or even thought without enormous blasphemy. But let us learn so to obey men that we do not detract anything from God's command and power, but rather retain God's word as the rule of our actions and words, and allow ourselves to be governed by it.

Meanwhile, however, Saul is said to have asked Samuel to spare his sin and return with him and worship Jehovah. But the fact that he asks Samuel to remit his sin does not therefore turn him into a deity. For in truth it belongs to God alone to blot out sins, as he testifies through the prophet Isaiah: 'I am he, I am he, who blots out the iniquities of men, and there is no other.' But Saul did not wish to make so much of Samuel as to attribute to him what belongs to God, as if he could blot out and remit sins and transgressions, but he used the customary manner of speaking. For we ask men to forgive us our offenses in this way, so that they may not prevent them from being friendly and serving our interests according to their ability. But he adds that he wishes to worship God, whether to appease his wrath or to give thanks better than he had done before. But, as will appear from what follows, this was Saul's intention: to keep Samuel with him, that by his company he might retain his authority among the people. But pardon for offenses must be sought from men in such a way that we do not detract anything from God; and therefore not as from judges who have the power of absolving us and blotting out the deserved condemnation, but as from those whose friendship we wish not to be wounded, and who we desire to serve our interests no less than before. But Saul, as it appears, while he is about to worship God and beg for pardon, prays Samuel to use him as an intercessor with God, since he had known him to be an outstanding prophet. And we saw before that Saul held him in the greatest honor, as one ordained by God as a prophet. Therefore one might say that Saul did not offend God by such a grievous lapse, since he turns to him to worship and is humbled, and even condemns himself, that God may receive him into grace. But in his heart there lay hidden a closed-up hypocrisy. For he follows the custom of those who indeed acknowledge their sins but do not wish them to be commemorated, but rather to be at once absolved. So hypocrites are accustomed, when no place of escape remains, to confess their sins indeed in passing, and to repeat the 'I have sinned'; but immediately they wish to be absolved. Why so? Because they fear all accusation and charge, and shrink from correction. And so they wish to be reproved with one word, and absolved with the same; for sins are buried in silence so that they may never come into the sight of men, and by their hypocrisy they dazzle the eyes of men. But this is not what should be done. Rather, when our conscience presses us, let us learn to be cast down and humbled before God and men, so that we may patiently bear whatever correction God has wished to impose. And if he uses men's ministry in chastising us, let us willingly undergo the punishments, and not speak against him or grow indignant, as we see all those grow indignant and rage against God who, by feigned and pretended confession of sins, hunt for a reputation of holiness among men.

And that is enough about these things. Let us pass on to what follows, where Samuel is said to have responded that he would not return with him because he had been rejected by God — as if to say that he could not resist God's decree, and since the matter had been pronounced, he must acquiesce in it. Here first the question arises: how is it then that Samuel afterwards returned with Saul, when he had previously denied that he would do so? For he seems to be inconsistent and to waver, which does not befit a prophet — that in him there should be said to be 'Yes and No,' which Paul rejected from himself in 2 Corinthians, when he says: 'Our faithful God knows that our word among you was not Yes and No.' But it must be observed that Samuel, denying that he would return with Saul, means the same as if he were saying that he could no longer stand on his side — as if to say: 'It is not for me to defend you, just as I did not appoint you king by my own choice; so neither can I preserve you by my own authority. I indeed inaugurated and anointed you king by God's command, but since you have fallen from that royal dignity by your fault, expect nothing more from me. For neither did I confer anything on you; up to this point I have promoted your dignity in which you are placed, established by God, and I have protected it according to the office committed to me. But since God has threatened that you will no longer be king, it is right that I should obey God.' This was Samuel's intention. But when he afterwards accompanied him, he does so to take away or change nothing from the irrevocable sentence of the Lord, nor undertaking anything without God's command, but rather honoring the royal dignity, to which he wished to be subject until Saul should be plainly stripped of office. Indeed God's decree about rejecting Saul had been made, but it was not yet made manifest. Therefore Samuel had to render some obedience to him, since it was not his office to call the people away from obedience, but to await the time predetermined by God. Therefore Samuel could not exceed the boundaries of his calling — and afterwards we see him commanded to anoint David as successor. Therefore it is not at all surprising if Samuel previously denied that he would go with Saul, and soon afterwards did the contrary. For he did not accompany Saul with the purpose of prolonging the time set by God against God's will, but rather to keep himself in subjection to the power and dignity established by God, until a legitimate change should be made by God himself. Finally, it is not said that Samuel was not also sent by God at least to accompany Saul for some time. So there is no contradiction or inconsistency in Samuel's words, when in part he denies that he can give help to Saul, because it has seemed otherwise to God; but on the other hand he obeys Saul, accompanying him as he had asked, until God should plainly strip him of office and designate another successor. For he says, addressing Saul: 'I will not return with you, because the Lord has rejected your kingdom and given it to your neighbor.' Since therefore these things are joined together, God had to designate some other successor before the time appointed for Saul should elapse. Therefore Saul's kingdom was rejected with respect to God indeed, but not with respect to men. For inasmuch as Samuel is a prophet, he is indeed God's messenger to declare the outcome; but meanwhile he does not cease to be a member of the people. And therefore he had to be subject to the king until God himself should bring about the change and fulfill his decree in fact. But this had not yet been effected, for David had not yet been anointed. And even if he had been anointed, he had not yet been sent into possession of the kingdom, which did not happen until many years later, as we shall see — since David struggled with such great difficulties and afflictions that his condition would seem far better and more desirable to be a shepherd in his father's house than king of a great people, and to be unceasingly oppressed by so many great calamities. Finally, we see that there is nothing absurd in the fact that Samuel denies that he will go with Saul — namely insofar as God himself has rejected him, he too leaves him and turns away from him; and yet he accompanied him, because he knew that obedience was still owed to the king, until at the time appointed by God, David should succeed in his place.

There follows next the account that, when Samuel had turned to leave and Saul had grasped the edge of his cloak to hold him back, it was torn. Then Samuel further declared God's decree to him with these words: 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor.' Although it is likely that Saul, with great affection, wished to detain the prophet, he did not nevertheless apply such great force to the garment as to tear it. But by God's doing it happened that by this sign the Lord's decree of which we have spoken should be confirmed and ratified, and Saul should be more vehemently struck. For although admonished, he still sought refuges and thought that God would consign that sin to oblivion — for he was not yet truly affected by a sense of his sin. The fact that he dissimulates his sin was a sign that he did not yet have true repentance from a sense of it as he ought. Therefore whether Saul interpreted this as a general or a particular threat, he ought nevertheless to have considered that the prophet's threats were not vain. Examples are met with everywhere in Scripture. For although sinners are at times moved by some sense of their sins — when of course God's word strikes their ears and threats are set forth in his name — and they then confess their sin, yet, when God defers the punishment for some time, they immediately, forgetting God's threats, cast off all fear and promise themselves impunity for sins. Behold how, when God is using only threats and words, men lend duller ears, indeed grow deaf and do not hear what they are admonished about — namely when those endowed with authority and dignity. Therefore it was necessary for Saul to be made more certain by some external sign and testimony of those things which he had already heard from Samuel. And so when the edge of the cloak was torn and the prophet said that this was a sign of that royal authority torn away which he had received from the Lord, the decree of God of which Samuel was the interpreter and messenger was thus ratified; and Saul himself was struck and affected more vehemently, so that he might dispose himself to consider God's threat more attentively — although he was not therefore brought back to a better mind. For we shall next see his hardening and murmuring against God, and finally his despair. Nevertheless, God's word always retains its authority, even though it brings nothing but condemnation to the reprobate and unbelievers. Therefore, although Saul was hardened, he was nevertheless made inexcusable, and nothing has been detracted from God's word. From this it appears that God's word never falls fruitlessly to the ground, but always retains its force and authority intact, whether men accept it or contradict and resist it. Finally, by this external sign God wished to teach Saul that the threats of Samuel the prophet about his being stripped of office were settled, which Saul had nevertheless received as it were with a duller ear. And this has been the use of signs in every age: that since men became deaf to God's word and threats, they should be taught by some other means and certain signs presented to their eyes and ears submitted to those things which they had previously neglected.

Moreover, the fact that Saul is condemned through the comparison instituted between Saul and David — by this we are taught that he has no cause to speak against God, because God has just causes for punishing him; and he himself cannot complain that there is no other who deserves to be preferred to him in dignity, as though he excelled all others in dignity. For Samuel shows that God will most easily find ...someone to substitute for him, far better and more excellent in dignity. And surely it is certain that God does not labor greatly in seeking out men suited for any dignity or office, as though if he sought he would find none; but he himself stirs up and supplies such men. And surely just as he created the world from nothing, so also he himself forms and disposes men so as to make them suited for the offices to which he calls them — and in this way he never lacks those whom he may put in the place of those whom he has stripped of office. In short, by this sentence Samuel cast down Saul's arrogance and foolish obstinacy and stubbornness, lest he persuade himself that no one could be found in the people who could be substituted for him. Therefore he teaches that God will easily raise up others, and find from his goodness those better than Saul. For neither are they such by nature, nor are they made so by their own strength as long as they live here, but they are disposed by God himself and made fit for this or that office, stripped of that human frailty which makes us unfit for every good work. Yet we see David fall into more grievous sins than Saul, if you consider externally. But it ought to satisfy us that he is called better than Saul by the Lord, whom alone we can affirm to be a competent judge — by whose sentence we must stand, as Paul advises. From this then let us learn that we, having been established in some degree of dignity by God, unless we have done our duty as becomes us, can be cast down by him into ultimate destruction, or be afflicted with perpetual ignominy and disgrace. Nor will those be lacking to him who will execute what seems good to him, since he does not need another's help and can easily do without us, since better men will not be lacking him whose work he may use. For whatever we have, we have received from him, and it has flowed from his liberality. For he is the perennial and inexhaustible fountain and origin of all fullness. And if he has bestowed a portion of his Holy Spirit on us, he can bestow a hundred thousand times more on others, whose work he wills to use, when we have become so wretched as to depart from his obedience. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ once said to the Jews that God could transfer his kingdom elsewhere and share it with peoples who would gather fruit from it. For the Jews were held by this opinion and were as it were intoxicated by it: that God could not consecrate to himself another people, because he had chosen them as his peculiar possession and inheritance, that they were sons of Abraham, to whom the promises had been made. And so they thought they held God so bound to them that if God's law and his promises ceased to exist among them, no place would remain in the whole world in which to set up his church. But Christ refutes this arrogance when he says that God can transfer his kingdom elsewhere whenever it seems good to him, and increase and amplify it. From this it appears how this doctrine is to be applied to our use, both publicly and privately: namely, that if God has heaped his gifts and grace upon us, we should apply ourselves to his worship with all the more ardent zeal, the more we are bound to him. Therefore let us know that he can also strip those who abuse his gifts of those same gifts and transfer them to others who will use them better. But especially when it concerns the doctrine of salvation, we must take care that it be employed by us for God's glory. For if we are ungrateful, God can certainly deprive us of the same and transfer the preaching of his word to other nations, even the most remote and most foreign to God's kingdom, who however will accept it and bear far richer fruits than we. Therefore we must apply all our efforts to this — that each one faithfully discharge the office to which he has been called by God, and walk in his fear, lest by our ingratitude we be deprived of such great benefits. For God is not changeable and does not alter his purpose, but we give him occasion to exercise his judgments upon us when we profane his gifts, which ought to have been dedicated and consecrated to his glory and our salvation.

There follows next: 'Moreover the Triumphant One in Israel will not spare and will not be moved by repentance, for he is not a man that he should repent.' By these words Samuel confirms the sentence I touched on above, namely that God will lose nothing if Saul is deprived of his royal dignity — which Saul could nevertheless have persuaded himself, just as this vice strikes such deep roots in us that we think God is bound to us, although we have everything from him and he owes us nothing. But because we are heaped up with his benefits, we are wonderfully puffed up, and grow insolent because of the same, and persuade ourselves, not without madness, that God is bound to us; and therefore that he must be content with our flatteries and zeal. But Samuel here teaches that even with Saul removed, the strength of Israel cannot lie, and God can be moved by repentance. Saul therefore would seem about to take exception: 'God established me as king in Israel, and therefore the people must be defended by my care and zeal against enemies. What then will become of the people if there be no longer any king?' Samuel replies that God's decree does not depend on a mortal man, and that therefore, even with all human means lacking, God's will will nevertheless be fulfilled and accomplished, and therefore he says: 'The strength of Israel will not lie.' When he says 'strength,' he shows that the people does not subsist by its own strength, but by the strength and might of the one God; and therefore that its salvation does not depend on human powers but on the protection and care of the one God. Therefore most worthy of observation is the sentence: that God is never lacking to those who love him, who fear him, and who place all their trust in him. Then this also must be more deeply impressed in our minds: that even when all human means and reasons fail in our judgment, God will nevertheless find a way ...by which to bring his counsels to fulfillment, even though they do not appear to our eyes — and he will not seek power from elsewhere or outside himself by which to accomplish his will. For so great is the malice innate in us that we never acknowledge God's infinite power unless he himself opens our eyes and disposes our mind. And so we will never say of ourselves that God can accomplish what we lack; but we look only at external means and pursue what appears more probable. And so whatever is presented to our eyes we so apprehend that we are consumed with the greatest distress unless visible means are before our eyes by which we may hope God will help us; and if we happen to be deprived of these, then it is as if all is lost — we rush into despair. Why so? Because we do not acknowledge that God's power is incomprehensible — which yet reveals itself to men in various ways out of his immense goodness, although he could easily do without all created things. Therefore, since those various changes of things, by which this world is shaken as by storms, are accustomed to disturb our faith vehemently, so that we doubt about God and his providence — whether he governs the world — this sentence must be recalled to mind: that God has sufficient strength in himself, and does not need to borrow it from elsewhere for the protection of his own; and that he is always truthful, and therefore will perfect a work once begun, since with inestimable power, truth and faithfulness are conjoined. But although his decree and counsel are incomprehensible to us, insofar as he promises to give us what we need, we must rest in this his promise. Therefore when God's word is faithfully and purely preached to us, let us also conclude that it will come to its perfection, even though those impediments may present themselves from which human reason judges this to be impossible. Then if we are oppressed by evils, or at least overwhelmed by some confusion, let us flee to his power, which can be diminished by no means, and place all our hope and trust in him alone. Therefore when we are agitated by various perturbations of this kind, let us be protected by this sentence as by a shield: that God does not repent — that is, never changes his purpose or his sentence. Moreover, before we hope for anything from God's decree, his will must be known, that we may have certain testimony of those things in which trust must be placed. For if we promised something to ourselves spontaneously, we would be tossed about rashly here and there, and would rely only on stubbornness, and our efforts would be in vain. But if we are made certain about God's will, just as we have firm enough testimonies everywhere in the sacred writings about the certainty of eternal salvation, we must necessarily flee to him in the terrors of conscience — since he declares himself so kind and merciful toward us that he receives us into grace whenever we confess our sins without disguise but with true repentance and beg pardon through our Lord Jesus Christ, whose faith is inviolable. Then in the most difficult things we must run to his help, that he may aid and protect us with his strong hand — which he will certainly do if we are cast down and humbled before him. And these promises about eternal life are made to us, on which it is fitting that we should so rely that even if heaven seems mixed with earth, we may nevertheless hope in his goodness, because he will never repent of it. As for what concerns the state of the present life, we also have divine promises that God will have mercy on us and protect us against so many dangers lest we perish in them. Yet we are not promised such tranquillity and ease that we will not be exercised and afflicted in various ways — but such whose outcome will be happy: provided we await the divine help in patience, and call upon him with humble vows and not with feigned heart, and not doubt that he extends his mercy to our bodies and souls. Therefore, if his promises have been more deeply implanted in our minds, and we remember this sentence — that God cannot repent — we will necessarily conclude that we can never fall from our hope, since no change ever falls upon God. And therefore, although all things may be turned upside down, and the whole world may conspire against us, and the abysses may seem opened to swallow us up, and the heavens may conspire against us with hell, let us nevertheless know and be certainly persuaded that this sentence of Samuel will always be true — namely that God never repents, and that we, fleeing to him, will receive help from him in our straits. But on the contrary, that the obstinate and rebellious will draw down his wrath and ultimate destruction upon their own heads — as is evident in Saul, who, instead of admitting the reproof made to him by Samuel with a mind of repentance, did not nevertheless cease to heap sins upon sins until he reached the height of impiety and fell into despair.

The words that follow — 'It is not for men to repent' — are added because such is the mind of men that they transform God to suit themselves and measure him by their own little measure. And so although at first sight this sentence may seem less suitable to God's majesty — that God cannot lie or be led by repentance — since no one doubts that God is truthful, yet, by the customary manner of Scripture, it is because such is the impatience of men that, if external means do not appear or fail, they distrust God. For example, if anyone has not stored up provisions according to his mind, he will fear hunger; if any danger threatens, his mind will suddenly fall — from which it sufficiently appears that God is made like men. For since we cannot trust his promises ...nor patiently and confidently await his help, it sufficiently appears that God is transformed by us, and that some changeableness is placed in him. Therefore it appears that this sentence is of great moment, which otherwise might seem rather trivial and less suited to God's majesty — by which our distrust and unbelief and other depraved thoughts are reproved, when we doubt about God whether he will bring help or not. But why do we doubt, when he who is truthful has promised? And he has even confirmed his promises by an oath, so that they may not be called into doubt by us. Why do they not have force enough in our judgment to give us faith? Surely we sufficiently betray ourselves to be making God like ourselves, and measuring his power by our capacity. For this reason there are frequent reproofs in the prophets, by which God reproaches the people of Israel that they did not have so great trust in divine help as was fitting. 'Do you,' he says, 'consider me to be like men? Indeed, I would rather shake heaven and earth than not hear you crying to me with all your heart. Your imaginations and foolish thoughts cast a delay upon my help. Therefore drive away fear, take away distrust, come to me, and I will provide you a refuge and consolation.' For when the people are afflicted, they persuade themselves that there is no longer any grace with God, and they grow more and more hardened in sins, when they have once put on this mind, that God no longer has mercy. And so God reproaches this, saying: 'Behold how you do not cease to make me like a mortal man. For you, seeking proof of my power, testify that you do not have faith in me, but rather rely on earthly and perishable things — which is nothing other than to fashion a new God for yourselves and not to count me among created things. But do not think that I can ever be changed.' Therefore this sentence must be impressed more deeply on our minds, by which God is said not to be like a mortal man — so that we may learn to place all our hope in him, and to depend on his providence, fashioning nothing foreign to his majesty, but acknowledging him such as he reveals himself in his word. And if we have promises about things that exceed our understanding and are repugnant to reason, let us by faith ascend above the world and persevere in obedience to him, certainly persuaded that there will always be sufficient material in him for glorying, when we have entrusted ourselves wholly to him; and even though all created things may conspire against us, we will have sufficient defense in him against all their assaults.

Now then, etc.

24. Saul said to Samuel: 'I have sinned. I have transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25. But now, please forgive my sin and return with me so that I may worship the Lord.' 26. Samuel said to Saul: 'I will not return with you. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.' 27. Samuel turned to leave, but Saul grabbed the edge of his robe and it tore. 28. Samuel said to him: 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29. Also, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man that He should change His mind.'

Here we first see that Saul was at last struck and overcome by Samuel's sharp rebuke. At the beginning, Saul seemed determined to defend his innocence and brought forward excuses to protect himself. But when Samuel thundered this verdict — that not obeying God's voice is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness is like the crime of idolatry — Saul was defeated and fell silent. Seeing no room left for excuse, he confessed his crime. This shows that teaching alone is not enough to bring people to God — rebukes and warnings must accompany it. The apostle Paul, explaining the usefulness of Scripture, says it is profitable not only for teaching but also for exhortation and reproof. From this we understand that it is not enough for those reading Scripture to merely understand God's will, or to grasp with their minds what they have heard from teachers and preachers. Since by nature we are full of hypocrisy and always searching for escape routes — or simply dull and unresponsive — we need to be pierced to the core. Therefore, when after teaching comes announced God's judgments and thunderous warnings against sin, this should not seem strange or unusual to us. We need these things. We must make every effort to profit from them. What condemnation and punishment must await those who harden themselves against God's rebukes — when we see that even Saul, a man otherwise quite arrogant and worldly, was moved and in some way subdued by Samuel's more forceful rebuke? If a man who lacked the grace of God's Spirit nevertheless trembled and felt something like repentance, what will happen to those who persist in stubborn resistance? Let us therefore learn above all from this: if after a failure we are confronted and shown the right path, and our disgrace, ingratitude, and wickedness are exposed and thrown before us — let us hold ourselves in check. Let us not persist in sin, but return to our senses.

Even so, Saul's acknowledgment of sin is not without qualification. Even after being sharply confronted, his confession is not sincere and genuine — he still reaches for a refuge. He claims he feared the people, as if casting all the blame onto those who had pushed for sparing King Agag and keeping the fat livestock for sacrifices. Perhaps the people had pressed the king, and a murmur had arisen among the common people. Yet Saul consented to this wrong — even though his authority over the people gave him the power to have prevented it. But why blame the people, when Saul himself was the leader and driving force, and did not keep the livestock out of any simple desire to offer sacrifices, but with a corrupt motive — wanting to bring back plunder, as we showed before? Let us examine the fear he uses as his excuse. At its root is unbelief. Had not God chosen him as king? Under whose protection and care was he living? While he feared the people, he seems to have forgotten God entirely — the God who had given him his royal authority and had brought him prosperous success in that office, all without the people's support. Is he not therefore doubly guilty before God — burying so many blessings in oblivion? Does he fear the people, as if God's protection were not sufficient? In seeking this refuge, Saul is betraying his own unbelief — as if saying: 'I did not trust in God. I neglected His promises because I doubted them. I did not rely on His care and protection, but fled into the hands of men.' He would deny that this was his intention — but this is the meaning his answer carries. Those who reach for empty excuses only entangle themselves further. God does not permit them to disguise and cosmetically cover their sins so that their shame does not show. He exposes them to the greatest dishonor before God and men. Hypocrites typically care little about God's judgment as long as they can maintain their reputation for virtue among people. But God gives them a reward worthy of their works. Though condemned before His majesty and the face of the angels, God uncovers before people the very disgrace they have worked so hard to conceal. This is plain in Saul, who tried to deflect part of his blame onto the people — but the people instead became a witness to his own unbelief, as Saul's own words and deeds were brought forward — to his even greater condemnation. For beyond his open rebellion, his impiety toward God was exposed: he did not honor God as he ought, but made little of God and placed his hope in the people — the very people whose resistance he had already experienced when he was presented to them as God's chosen king.

His words here are worth careful observation: 'I have sinned, because I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your words.' In these words he identifies his sin: he did not fulfill the Lord's commands, of which Samuel was the minister and interpreter. He confesses his rebellion. And this is the root of all iniquity — refusing to be subject to God. If we wish to order our lives rightly, we must measure them by God's Word, which is full of holiness — for in it our salvation and perfection are grounded. As we heard in that sentence: obedience is better than many sacrifices, and it is the mother of all virtues. Let this be the foundation of all our actions — otherwise they will turn to ruin and destruction. We should also notice that Saul places God's mouth and the prophet's word on the same level. By this we are taught not to seek God's will somewhere beyond our reach when He has graciously granted us heralds of His Word. Moses said the same to the people: 'This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you and is not out of reach. It is not up in heaven so that you have to ask, who will ascend to heaven and bring it to us so we can hear it and obey it? Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, who will cross the sea and bring it to us so that we can hear it and obey it? No, the Word is very near you — it is in your mouth and in your heart so you can do it.' Here Saul shows he had made some progress in God's school by confessing that he had transgressed both the word of the Lord and the words of the prophet. He does not treat God's Word and the prophet's words as two different things — he acknowledges that the prophet's words are, in effect, God's own mouth, the instrument of the Holy Spirit, faithfully fulfilling the ministry entrusted to him. From this passage we must draw this teaching: when we read Scripture, we must know that God is there presenting His will to us — and we must be persuaded of it, without looking for empty escape routes elsewhere. That testimony is certain and unbreakable, since God has given authority to His Word — so that we know we are dealing with God Himself alone. The same applies to faithful interpreters of Scripture who sincerely carry out their duty of teaching God's will. We must submit to them, and must never hope to escape punishment if we have held them in contempt and mockery. Many wicked, godless, and worldly people are found everywhere who claim they want to obey God but have no idea where to find Him or by what signs He is to be known. Far from us be such arrogance — let such madness be cast away from us. Rather, let us willingly bow our necks to God's Word, and receive it with humility and reverence whenever it is placed before us by God's authority. Let us know that all our confidence must rest there. In short, let this be fixed firmly in our minds: for God to appear to us by visible signs beyond His Word would be the same as dragging Him down from heaven. We must be content with His Word, to which He has given sufficient faith and authority. No other charge is needed to condemn us when we have departed from the path shown by God's Word. Our Lord Jesus Christ made this same point to those who contradicted His teaching: 'I will not condemn you on the last day,' He said; 'the word you now resist and obstinately reject will condemn you.' Let us know, then, that God's Word is sufficient to condemn us if we have not heeded it and received it with the humility and reverence that is fitting. On the other hand, we should be confident that God will receive us, count us among His own, and hold us as righteous when we have followed His commands — even if the world persecutes us and hates us worse than a dog or a snake.

When Saul brings forward the fear of the people as his reason for obeying their voice, he is trying to lessen and minimize his sin — but in fact he makes it worse. That kind of obedience is full of rebellion: when people reshape us and lead us away from God so that He no longer holds His rightful authority over us. In short, that humility by which we serve people and mortal creatures at the expense of God and His Word is sheer stubbornness and rebellion against God. This is precisely the obedience displayed by hypocrites in the papacy, who observe foolish and empty ceremonies and superstitions invented by their predecessors with far more anxious devotion than they give to what God's Word commands — deceived by the plausible pretext that obedience is owed to the holy mother church. But if God Himself has spoken and made known His will — why is He not heard? Why are the sacred books kept closed? Why are people served and obeyed instead? And above all — why is righteousness before God sought through human authority rather than God's Word? This would require God to surrender the sovereignty He holds over us — which cannot be said or even thought without enormous blasphemy. Let us therefore learn to obey people in a way that does not detract anything from God's command and authority — keeping God's Word as the rule of our actions and words, and allowing ourselves to be governed by it.

Meanwhile, Saul asks Samuel to forgive his sin and to return with him so he can worship the Lord. His asking Samuel to forgive his sin does not turn Samuel into a deity. It belongs to God alone to blot out sins, as He testifies through the prophet Isaiah: 'I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.' Saul was not trying to give Samuel what belongs to God — as if Samuel could blot out and pardon sins. He was simply using a common way of speaking. When we ask people to forgive our offenses against them, we mean that we want them not to hold a grudge and to continue being helpful and friendly toward us as best they can. He also adds that he wants to worship God — whether to appease His wrath or to give thanks more fully than he had before. But as what follows makes clear, Saul's real intention was to keep Samuel at his side so that Samuel's presence would help him maintain his authority among the people. We must seek pardon from others in a way that does not detract anything from God. We should seek it not as from judges who have the power to absolve us and erase our deserved condemnation, but as from those whose friendship we do not want to damage and whose goodwill we hope to retain. It appears that Saul, being about to worship God and ask for pardon, also wanted Samuel to serve as an intercessor for him with God — since he recognized Samuel as an outstanding prophet. We saw earlier that Saul had held Samuel in the highest honor as one ordained by God as a prophet. So one might say: Saul did not fail so grievously here, since he is turning to God to worship Him, humbling himself and even condemning himself so that God might receive him into grace. But deep within his heart lay a hidden, sealed-up hypocrisy. He is following the pattern of those who acknowledge their sins but do not want them dwelt upon — they want to be absolved immediately. This is what hypocrites do when they have no room left to escape: they confess their sins briefly, tossing out 'I have sinned' — and then immediately want to be done with it. Why? Because they fear every charge and accusation and shrink from any real correction. They want to be rebuked in one breath and absolved in the next — so that their sins are buried in silence and never come before people's eyes, while their hypocrisy dazzles everyone around them. But this is not how it should be done. Rather, when our conscience presses us, we should learn to be cast down and humbled before God and before others — so that we can patiently bear whatever correction God wishes to impose. And if He uses human ministry to discipline us, let us submit to the correction willingly, without arguing against Him or growing resentful — as we see all those grow resentful and rage against God who pursue a reputation for holiness among people through a feigned and pretended confession of sins.

Enough on those matters. Let us move to what follows, where Samuel says he will not return with Saul because God has rejected him — as if to say: he cannot resist God's decree, and since the verdict has been pronounced, he must accept it. Here a question immediately arises: how is it, then, that Samuel did afterward return with Saul, when he had just said he would not? This seems inconsistent and wavering — something that does not fit a prophet. As Paul said of himself in 2 Corinthians: 'Our faithful God knows that our word to you was not Yes and No.' But we must understand that when Samuel says he will not return, he means he can no longer stand on Saul's side — as if saying: 'It is not my place to defend you, just as I did not appoint you king by my own authority. Neither can I preserve you by my own power. I anointed you king by God's command, but since you have fallen from that royal dignity through your own fault, expect nothing more from me. I conferred nothing on you by myself. Up to now I have upheld and protected the dignity God established for you, in the office committed to me. But since God has declared you will no longer be king, it is right that I obey God.' That was Samuel's meaning. When he did accompany Saul afterward, he did so without taking anything away from or changing the Lord's irrevocable sentence, and without doing anything outside of God's command. Rather, he was honoring the royal dignity — to which he considered obedience still due until Saul was openly stripped of office. God's decree rejecting Saul had been made — but it had not yet been publicly revealed and carried out. Therefore Samuel still owed Saul some measure of honor, since it was not his role to call the people away from obedience but to wait for the time God had appointed. Samuel could not overstep the boundaries of his calling — and afterward we see that he was commanded to anoint David as successor. So it is not at all surprising that Samuel first denied he would go with Saul and then did the opposite. He did not accompany Saul with the intention of stretching out or defying God's timeline. Rather, he kept himself in subjection to the authority God had established, until God Himself would make the legitimate change. And it is not said that God had not also instructed Samuel to accompany Saul for a time. There is therefore no contradiction or inconsistency in Samuel's words. In one respect he denied he could give Saul support — because God had decided otherwise. But in another respect he obeyed Saul and accompanied him as requested, until God would openly strip him of office and designate his successor. For Samuel had said to Saul: 'I will not return with you, because the Lord has rejected your kingdom and given it to your neighbor.' Since those two things were connected — God's rejection of Saul and the appointment of a successor — God had to designate that successor before Saul's time was fully elapsed. So Saul's kingdom was rejected in God's eyes — but not yet in men's eyes. Samuel was God's messenger to announce the outcome, but he was still also a member of the people. He therefore had to remain subject to the king until God Himself brought about the change and carried out His decree in fact. This had not yet happened — David had not yet been anointed. And even after being anointed, David had not yet entered into actual possession of the kingdom, which would not come for many years — as we shall see. David would go through such great difficulties and afflictions that the life of a shepherd in his father's house might have seemed far better and more desirable than being king of a great people, constantly overwhelmed by enormous calamities. In the end, then, there is nothing contradictory in the fact that Samuel denied he would go with Saul — in that, as far as God had rejected him, Samuel also distanced himself from him — and yet accompanied him, because he knew that obedience was still owed to the king until the time appointed by God, when David would succeed him.

We next read that when Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed the edge of his robe to hold him back — and it tore. Samuel then declared God's decree further: 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor.' Although it is likely that Saul grabbed the garment with intense emotion, wanting to detain the prophet — he probably did not apply enough force to tear it himself. By God's doing, the tearing happened as a sign — so that the Lord's decree we have been discussing would be confirmed and made vivid, and Saul would be struck more forcefully. Even after Samuel's rebuke, Saul was still reaching for excuses and imagining that God would simply overlook his sin — showing he was not yet truly gripped by genuine remorse. His continued evasion was itself a sign that he had not yet arrived at true repentance. Whether Saul read this as a general or a specific warning against him personally, he still should have recognized that the prophet's warnings were not empty. Such examples are found throughout Scripture. Sinners are sometimes moved by some awareness of their sin when God's Word strikes their ears and warnings are proclaimed in His name — and they then confess their sin. But when God delays the punishment for a time, they quickly forget His warnings, cast off all fear, and convince themselves they will escape. We see how, when God uses only words and threats, people listen with duller ears — they go nearly deaf and fail to hear what they are being warned about, especially those who hold positions of power and dignity. Therefore Saul needed to be made more certain by some outward sign and demonstration of what he had already heard from Samuel. When the edge of the robe tore and the prophet declared that this was a sign of the royal authority being torn away — the authority he had received from the Lord — God's decree was thus confirmed. And Saul was struck and shaken more deeply, so that he might take God's warning more seriously — though this did not ultimately bring him to a better state of mind. As we will see next: hardening, murmuring against God, and finally despair. Nevertheless, God's Word always retains its authority, even when it produces nothing but condemnation for the reprobate and unbelievers. So though Saul hardened himself, he was made completely without excuse — and nothing was taken away from the authority of God's Word. This shows that God's Word never falls fruitlessly to the ground. It always retains its full force and authority, whether people receive it or contradict and resist it. Finally, by this outward sign God wished to make unmistakably clear to Saul that Samuel's warnings about being stripped of office were firm — warnings Saul had been hearing with only half an ear. This has been the use of signs in every age: since people grow deaf to God's Word and warnings, He teaches them by other means — setting certain visible and audible signs before them to compel them to attend to what they had previously been ignoring.

The fact that Saul is condemned through a comparison between himself and David teaches us that Saul has no grounds to argue against God, because God has just cause for punishing him. Saul cannot even complain that no one else deserves the honor more — as if he were superior to all others. Samuel makes clear that God will have no difficulty finding someone to replace him — someone far better and more qualified. And it is certain that God does not struggle to find men suitable for any dignity or office, as though such people were hard to come by. He Himself raises them up and equips them. Just as He created the world from nothing, He forms and shapes people to be suited for the offices He calls them to — and in this way He is never at a loss for those to put in place of those He has removed. In short, Samuel's declaration cut down Saul's arrogance and foolish stubbornness, lest he persuade himself that no one in all the people could be found to take his place. God can easily raise up others, and from His goodness find men better than Saul. Those men are not better by nature, nor do they make themselves better through their own effort. God Himself shapes and equips them for each office, stripping away the human frailty that makes us unfit for every good work. We also notice that David went on to fall into sins that were in some ways more grievous than Saul's, judging by outward appearance. But it must be enough for us that the Lord Himself calls David better than Saul — and the Lord is the only one we can declare to be a competent judge. Before His sentence we must stand, as Paul says. From this let us learn that when God has placed us in any position of honor or dignity, if we do not carry out our duty as we should, He can cast us down into utter ruin or cover us with permanent shame and disgrace. He will not lack for others to carry out His purposes, since He has no need of our help and can easily do without us. Better people will always be available whose work He can use. Whatever we have, we have received from Him — it has all flowed from His generosity. For He is the perennial and inexhaustible fountain and source of all fullness. If He has granted us a portion of His Holy Spirit, He can grant a hundred thousand times more to others whose work He wills to use, when we have made ourselves so wretched as to depart from His obedience. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ once told the Jews that God could transfer His kingdom elsewhere and share it with peoples who would bear fruit from it. The Jews were held captive by the conviction — almost intoxicated by it — that God could not consecrate another people for Himself, since He had chosen them as His own peculiar possession and inheritance, the sons of Abraham to whom the promises had been made. They imagined they held God so bound to them that if His law and promises ceased among them, no place would remain in the whole world for His church. But Christ refutes this arrogance by saying that God can transfer His kingdom wherever He chooses and expand and enlarge it. This shows how this teaching applies to us both publicly and personally: if God has poured out His gifts and grace upon us, we should serve Him with all the more burning zeal, the more we are indebted to Him. Let us know that He can strip those who misuse His gifts of those very gifts and transfer them to others who will use them better. Especially regarding the teaching of salvation — we must take care to use it for God's glory. If we are ungrateful, God can certainly take it from us and transfer the preaching of His Word to other nations — even the most remote and distant from God's kingdom — who will receive it and bear far richer fruit than we have. We must therefore give all our effort to this: that each of us faithfully fulfills the office to which God has called us, walking in His fear — lest by our ingratitude we be stripped of such great blessings. For God does not change or alter His purpose. But we give Him occasion to exercise His judgments upon us when we profane His gifts — gifts that ought to have been dedicated and consecrated to His glory and our salvation.

What follows next: 'Also, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man that He should change His mind.' By these words Samuel confirms the point I mentioned above: that God will lose nothing if Saul is stripped of his royal dignity. Saul might have convinced himself otherwise — for this vice takes such deep root in us that we think God is bound to us, even though we have everything from Him and He owes us nothing. Heaped up with His blessings, we grow wonderfully proud and insolent because of them, persuading ourselves — quite absurdly — that God is indebted to us and must therefore accept our flattery and devotion. But Samuel teaches here that even with Saul removed, the strength of Israel cannot fail — and that God can act without him. Saul might seem about to object: 'God established me as king in Israel, and therefore the people must be defended through my care and leadership against enemies. What will become of the people if there is no longer a king?' Samuel's reply is that God's decree does not depend on any mortal man — and therefore, even if all human resources were lacking, God's will would still be fulfilled and accomplished. This is why he says: 'The Eternal One of Israel will not lie.' When he says 'the Eternal One,' he shows that the people's survival does not rest on its own strength, but on the strength and might of God alone. Their salvation does not depend on human powers, but on the protection and care of God. This sentence is most worthy of our careful attention: God is never lacking to those who love Him, fear Him, and place all their trust in Him. This too must be pressed more deeply into our minds: even when all human means and reasoning fail by our estimation, God will find a way to bring His purposes to fulfillment, even when we cannot see it. He will not look outside Himself for the power to accomplish His will. The malice deep in us is so great that we never acknowledge God's infinite power unless He Himself opens our eyes and prepares our hearts. Left to ourselves, we will never say that God can accomplish what lies beyond our resources. We look only at outward means and pursue what seems most probable. Whatever is placed before our eyes we grasp at so tightly that we are consumed with the greatest distress if there is no visible means of help in sight — and if we are stripped of those visible means, it is as though everything is lost and we fall into despair. Why? Because we do not acknowledge God's incomprehensible power — which He reveals to people in various ways out of His immense goodness, even though He could easily do without all created things entirely. Therefore, since the various upheavals that shake this world like storms are so prone to disturb our faith — making us doubt whether God governs the world and whether He cares for us — this sentence must be recalled to mind: that God has sufficient strength in Himself and does not need to borrow it from anywhere else for the protection of His own. He is always truthful, and therefore He will bring to completion the work He has begun — for inestimable power and truth and faithfulness are joined together in Him. Although His decree and counsel are incomprehensible to us, insofar as He has promised to give us what we need, we must rest in His promise. Therefore, when God's Word is faithfully and purely preached to us, let us conclude with confidence that it will come to its fulfillment — even if obstacles arise from which human reason would judge that to be impossible. And if we are oppressed by troubles or overwhelmed by confusion, let us flee to His power — which no obstacle can diminish — and place all our hope and trust in Him alone. When we are shaken by various disturbances, let us shield ourselves with this sentence: God does not repent — that is, He never changes His purpose or His verdict. But before we hope for anything from God's decree, we must know His will — we need certain testimony of those things in which our trust is to be placed. If we simply presumed on things of our own invention, we would be tossed about recklessly from place to place, relying only on stubbornness, and our efforts would come to nothing. But when we are made certain about God's will — as we have firm testimonies throughout Scripture about the certainty of eternal salvation — we must necessarily flee to Him in the terrors of conscience. For He declares Himself so kind and merciful toward us that He receives us into grace whenever we confess our sins openly and without disguise, with true repentance, and beg for pardon through our Lord Jesus Christ, whose faithfulness is inviolable. Then in the most difficult circumstances we must run to His help, that He may aid and protect us with His mighty hand — which He will certainly do if we are humble and cast down before Him. These promises of eternal life are made to us, and we must rest on them so firmly that even if heaven and earth seem to be mixed together, we may still hope in His goodness — because He will never change His mind about it. As for the present life, we also have God's promises that He will have mercy on us and protect us through the many dangers we face so that we do not perish in them. Yet we are not promised tranquility and ease free of all hardship — but rather that the outcome will be good, provided we await God's help in patience, call upon Him with humble and sincere hearts, and do not doubt that He extends His mercy to our bodies and souls. Therefore, if His promises are deeply planted in our minds and we hold onto this sentence — that God cannot change His mind — we will necessarily conclude that we can never fall from our hope, since no change ever falls upon God. Even if everything is turned upside down, even if the whole world conspires against us, even if the abyss seems to open to swallow us and heaven and hell conspire against us — let us know and be firmly persuaded that Samuel's sentence will always hold true: God never changes His mind, and those who flee to Him will receive His help in their trouble. On the other hand, the obstinate and rebellious will draw down His wrath and final destruction upon their own heads — as is plainly seen in Saul, who, instead of receiving Samuel's rebuke with a repentant heart, did not stop piling sin on sin until he reached the height of impiety and fell into despair.

The words that follow — 'He is not a man that He should repent' — are added because such is the nature of people that they reshape God to suit themselves and measure Him by their own small standards. At first glance this statement might seem less suited to God's majesty — that God cannot lie or be moved to change His mind. After all, no one doubts that God is truthful. But according to Scripture's customary manner, such words are added because human impatience is so great that if external means do not appear or fail, people immediately distrust God. For example: if someone has not stored up provisions to his satisfaction, he fears starvation. If any danger threatens, his mind collapses. From this it is plain enough that God is being measured by human standards. Since we cannot trust His promises or patiently and confidently await His help, we are in effect attributing changeableness to God — as if He might not come through. Therefore this sentence carries great weight, even though it might seem almost trivial or beneath God's majesty — for it rebukes our distrust, our unbelief, and our distorted thinking whenever we doubt whether God will help us or not. But why do we doubt when the One who is truth itself has promised? He has even confirmed His promises with an oath, so that we would have no grounds to question them. Why are His promises not enough to give us faith? In our doubting we reveal plainly enough that we are making God like ourselves and measuring His power by our own capacity. This is why the prophets are full of rebukes — God repeatedly calls Israel to account for not placing sufficient trust in His help. 'Do you consider Me to be like men?' He says. 'I would sooner shake heaven and earth than fail to hear you when you cry to Me with all your heart. Your imaginations and foolish thoughts are what delay My help. Drive away fear, cast aside distrust, come to Me, and I will be your refuge and consolation.' When the people are afflicted, they convince themselves that God's grace has run out for them — and having taken on that mindset, they grow increasingly hardened in sin, persuading themselves that God no longer has mercy. And so God rebukes this: 'See how you will not stop making Me like a mortal man. By seeking proof of My power, you testify that you do not trust Me but rely instead on earthly and perishable things — which is nothing other than fashioning a new god for yourselves and refusing to count Me above created things. Do not think I can ever change.' Therefore this sentence must be pressed more deeply into our minds — that God is not like a mortal man — so that we may learn to place all our hope in Him, to depend on His providence, to imagine nothing unworthy of His majesty, and to know Him as He reveals Himself in His Word. And when His promises concern things that exceed our understanding and seem to contradict reason, let us by faith rise above the world and persevere in obedience to Him — firmly persuaded that we will always find in Him all the material we need for confidence and praise, when we have entrusted ourselves wholly to Him. Even if all created things conspire against us, we will have sufficient defense in Him against every assault.

Now then, etc.