spared the best of the flocks and herds to sacrifice to the Lord. Again, Samuel confronted Saul, but all the prophet received from the king were excuses: • “The people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed” (15:15). • “I did obey the voice of the LORD, … but the people took some of the spoil” (15:20). Samuel’s stinging reply—“Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king” (15:23)—finally