1 Samuel 15:29

And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent,.... Neither of the evil which he had threatened to Saul in taking away the kingdom from him; nor of the good which he had promised to David in

And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

He calls God the Strength of Israel; partly, to show the reason why God neither will nor can lie; because lying is a weakness, and proceeds from the sense of a man’ s weakness, because he cannot many times accomplish his design without lying and dissimulation; which therefore many princes have used for this very reason. But, saith he, God needs no such artifices; he can do whatsoever he pleaseth by his absolute power, and hath no need to use lies to accomplish his will. Partly, to show that Israel should be no loser by Saul’ s loss, as he might vainly imagine, because he had saved them from their enemies on every side, . For not Saul, but God, was the Strength and Protector of Israel, and he would continue to save them when Saul was lost and gone. And partly, to assure Saul that God would execute this threatening, because he wanted not strength to do it, and none could hinder him in it. Nor repent, i.e. nor change his counsel; which also is an effect of weakness and imperfection, either of wisdom or power.

1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he [is] not a man, that he should repent. Ver. 29. And also the Strength (or Eternity) of Israel will not lie nor repent.] This was most fearful, and showed that the sentence passed upon Saul was irrevocable. Do not think, saith a reverend man, this is a case that seldom comes; it is done every day, upon some or other. Dr Preston.

(29) The Strength of Israel will not lie.—This title of the Eternal, here rendered “the Strength of Israel,” would be better rendered the Changeless One of Israel. The Hebrew word is first found in this passage. In later Hebrew, as in 1 Chronicles 29:2, it is rendered “glory,” from the Aramaean usage of speech (Keil). Some, less accurately, would translate it here “The Victory,” or “the Triumph of Israel,” will not lie, &c. In the eleventh verse of this chapter we read of the Eternal saying, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king,” while here we find how “the Changeless One (or Strength) of Israel will . . . not repent.” The truth is that with God there is no change. Now He approves of men and their works and days, and promises them rich blessings; now He condemns and punishes the ways and actions of the same men; hence He is said “to repent:” but the change springs alone from a change in the men themselves, not in God. Speaking in human language the Lord is said “to repent” because there was what appeared to be a change in the Eternal counsels. “One instrument,” well says Dean Payne Smith, “may be laid aside, and another chosen (as was the case of Saul), because God ordains that the instruments by which He works shall be beings endowed with free will.” So God in the case of King Saul—in human language—was said to repent of His choice because, owing to Saul’s deliberate choice of evil, the Divine purposes could not in his case be carried out. Predictions and promises in the Scriptures are never absolute, but are always conditional. Still, God is ever the “Changeless One of Israel.” “The counsel of the Lord stands for ever” (Psalms 33:11). “I am Jehovah; I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Verse 29. The Strength of Israel will not lie ] What God has purposed he will bring to pass, for he has all power in the heavens and in the earth; and he will not repent - change his purpose - concerning thee. We may say it was some extenuation of Saul's fault that the people insisted on preserving the best of the prey; for who could resist the demands of a victorious mob? But his crime was in consenting; had he not, the crime would have been theirs alone.

29. the Strength of Israel] This word, which occurs here only as a title of God, combines the ideas of stability, permanence, constancy: the Strength or Confidence of Israel does not change as men do. will not lie nor repent] The words closely resemble Numbers 23:19. There is a verbal contradiction between this utterance and 1 Samuel 15:11, which is usually explained by saying that in 1 Samuel 15:11 the historian uses language according to the manner of men (ἀνθρωποπαθῶς), while here the prophet speaks as befits the nature of God (θεοπρεπῶς). This is only a partial solution. It is precisely because God is unchangeable, that in His dealing with men He must seem to change His action as they change their conduct. This is one aspect of the great problem which runs through all religion, how human free-will can coexist with the Divine Sovereignty. Scripture is content to state both sides of the question, and leave conscience rather than reason to reconcile them.

The strength of Israel - A phrase which occurs only here. The word means, perpetuity, truth, glory, victory, and trust, or confidence.

29. Strength of Israel — Jehovah, thus called not only because of his omnipotence, but also because of his constancy and truth — the glorious object of Israel’s confidence.