1 Samuel 15:13

13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”

1 Samuel 15:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 15:13

And Samuel came to Saul
At Gilgal:

and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord;
signifying that he had abundant reason to bless the Lord on his account, not only that he had anointed him king, but had sent him on such an errand, in which he had succeeded so well, and it was a pleasure to him that he might report it to him:

I have performed the commandment of the Lord;
either he was really ignorant that he had done amiss; and thought that his sparing Agag, when he had destroyed all the rest, and reserving some of the best of the cattle for sacrifice, could not be interpreted a breach of the orders given him; or if he was conscious he had broken the commandment of the Lord, this he said to prevent Samuel's reproof of him, and to sooth him with flattering words.

1 Samuel 15:13 In-Context

11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.

12 Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”

13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”

14 But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”

15 Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”