In the prelude to today's reading, Saul is ordered by God to exterminate all traces of the Amaleks including their livestock.
First a word on theology. My theology teacher in college told us that the Old Testament represented incomplete revelation. So the Old Testament characters must have misunderstood what God wanted them to do. This interpretation is supported by what Jesus eventually did and said.
In any case, Saul proceeds to kill all the Amaleks but "He and his troops spared Agag (king of Amalek) and the best of the fat sheep and oxen, and the lambs. They refused to put under the ban anything that was worthwhile, destroying only what was worthless and of no account."
When Samuel got mad at Saul for not exterminating all traces of the Amaleks, Saul had this to say: "The people spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the LORD, your God".
And Samuel responded with this:
"Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler."
I know there's a verse in the bible somewhere (aside from this one) that says the Lord doesn't want sacrifices. In that version, what God wants is a humble and contrite heart.
This version seems to be telling us that what God wants is obedience, to do what he tells us to do, rather than what WE think is pleasing to him.
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