What meaneth the bleating of the sheep?

Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal." Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" – 1 Samuel 15.10-14

Saul and his issues scare me a bit because he does the kind of things that I am tempted to do, and sadly sometimes do. He offered a sacrifice instead of waiting on Samuel because it made sense to him.

Here’s the story. Saul was was supposed to eliminate the enemy, including their livestock. Once again though he did what made sense to him. He decided to keep the livestock alive. No matter how you try to reason it Saul chose to disobey because he thought his choice was best.

When Samuel came Saul tried to cover it up and claimed that he did as he was told. But there was a problem. There was a noise coming from nearby.

‘What is the bleating of the sheep and the mooing of the cows that I hear?’ Samuel asked.

Caught. Can you imagine how Saul felt? Don’t you hate that feeling when you are guilty and found out and there is nothing you can do about it.

I don’t know about you – but I have been there and can still feel that emotion in my heart. I hate that ‘what meaneth the bleating of the sheep moment.’ I hate  the guilt that comes with it. I hate the shame.

But, you know what? We can avoid those moments with others and with God. All we have to do is simply do what is right. Just trust God and do right and we don’t have to worry about ‘what is that bleating noise?’