1 Samuel 15:29 - God is Immutable.

1 Samuel 15:29; God is Immutable.

1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV)  He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie 
or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his 
mind. 

CONTEXT

Saul asks in vain for pardon  (15:24-31)

CROSS REFERENCES

Numbers 23:19 (KJV)  God is not a man, that he should lie; 
neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall 
he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  

Ezekiel 24:14 (KJV)  I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to 
pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, 
neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy 
doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.  

2 Tim. 2:13 (KJV)  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: 
he cannot deny himself.  

Titus 1:2 (KJV)  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot 
lie, promised before the world began;  

Hebrews 6:18 (KJV)  That by two immutable things, in which it 
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, 
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:  

Malachi 3:6 (KJV)  For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye 
sons of Jacob are not consumed.  

Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, 
and for ever.  

James 1:17 (KJV)  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from 
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no 
variableness, neither shadow of turning.  

COMMENTARY / APPLICATION

What a commentary. Saul, the king, was ruled by fear. He had 
feared the Philistine army. Now he was afraid of his own people. If 
only Saul had feared God, respect for the LORD would have freed him 
from the burden of fearing mere men. [The 365-Day Devotional 
Commentary] 

Some find reading about Saul frightening. Saul reminds them of 
their own weaknesses. Saul reflects their own flaws. And so they 
wonder. Perhaps like Saul they've gone too far. Might they too be 
rejected by God? 
Yet the story of Saul isn't intended to frighten us. It's in our 
Bible to encourage us. And to teach us how to avoid the pitfall that 
trapped Israel's first, failed king. 
Saul's basic problem was that he was unwilling to trust God, and 
so found it impossible to obey Him. Saul panicked when confronted 
by a massive Philistine force (1 Sam. 13). He forgot that God was 
able to deliver. Because he did not trust God to act in the 
deteriorating situation, Saul disobeyed the LORD. 
By the time we read this last story, Saul is even afraid of his 
own people. Once again Saul's fear comes from a lack of trust, and 
is expressed as a failure to obey the LORD. 
The one thing that ruined Saul's life and destroyed his future 
was his inability to trust God, expressed in his failure to obey. 
This is what's so encouraging about Saul's story. As we read it we 
come to understand the central issue in the spiritual life. Saul's 
story teaches us that the one thing we must do is to trust God, and 
that trust will free us to obey. 
When you or I feel fear or sense panic, that's the time to pause 
and remember who our God is. To think about His greatness. To 
remember His power. To meditate on His love. When we keep our hearts 
fixed on who God is, we trust ourselves to Him. And we obey. [The 
365-Day Devotional Commentary]