Why do you think David was granted special favour in spite of what he did, while Saul was cut off at the first hint of disobedience?
King Saul is told to attack the Amalekites: "And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them...But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." When Saul fails to do this, God takes away his kingdom. Saul's sin is arguably failing to complete genocide (which I struggle with in and of itself), whereas as we all know David sinned in a whole string of ways - and must have known he was sinning. But I understand there are heart issues here:
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 heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king.
On a side note, I am disturbed to find out how these genocide passages echo through Christian history. It was often used, for example, in American stories of the confrontation with Indians. During the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Catholic popes declared the Muslims Amalekites, and in the great religious wars in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, Protestants and Catholics each believed the other side were the Amalekites and should be utterly destroyed.
King Saul is told to attack the Amalekites: "And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them...But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." When Saul fails to do this, God takes away his kingdom. Saul's sin is arguably failing to complete genocide (which I struggle with in and of itself), whereas as we all know David sinned in a whole string of ways - and must have known he was sinning. But I understand there are heart issues here:
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 heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king.
On a side note, I am disturbed to find out how these genocide passages echo through Christian history. It was often used, for example, in American stories of the confrontation with Indians. During the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Catholic popes declared the Muslims Amalekites, and in the great religious wars in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, Protestants and Catholics each believed the other side were the Amalekites and should be utterly destroyed.