“2026: Year of the Explosion” Day 11: With God, details are important.

“And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭14‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Dealing with large groups of people over an extended length of time is a challenge. Now, add to that challenge, that you are trying to lead this large group of people through the wilderness to a land of promise. Well, this is exactly what Moses did; and it was a very trying experience for him, to say the least.

At one point, when the people began to grumble about having no water, Moses and Aaron again sought the Lord and He instructed Moses to gather the people, then speak to the rock and water would come forth from it, enough to supply their need. Now, bear in mind, at another time when this happened, the Lord had instructed Moses to hit the rock with his staff; but that was not the command this time. However, Moses’ exasperation with the people led him to again hit the rock, rather than speaking to it as the Lord had instructed. This act of willful disobedience, kept Moses and Aaron from being able to enter into the Promised Land.

“Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.””

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭20‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

You may have heard the saying, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” But did you know where this is found in the Bible? To answer that question, let’s look at a story about Saul:

Saul, Israel’s first king, was once instructed by the Lord to go and destroy the Amalekites. That is, completely destroy them, taking no hostages, no spoil, from the battle. Saul did as the Lord instructed—except for overlooking some of the details.

“Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬, ‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Needless to say, the Lord was not pleased with Saul. So, the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to give Saul some very bad news.

“The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.””

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭15‬:‭10‬-‭11‬, ‭13‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Yes, the Lord rejected Saul as king, because he did not pay attention to the details, rather going with what the people wanted to do. So, Saul learned the hard way that “obedience is better than sacrifice.”

In today’s portion from the story of David’s victory at Baal-perazim, we see that the Lord instructs David to approach the follow-up battle with the Philistine’s, in a different manner than he did in the first battle with them. David obeyed all the details given to him by the Lord. And, he was all the better for it.

Child of God, details matter to the Lord. If He is leading us, then He is not expecting that we will go rogue and decide to improvise. As we have seen, doing so, can have disastrous consequences.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!