“1 Samuel 15: Striving to Keep All of God’s Commandments,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual (2026)
“1 Samuel 15: Striving to Keep All of God’s Commandments,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual
1 Samuel 8–10; 13; 15–16: Lesson 72
1 Samuel 15
Striving to Keep All of God’s Commandments
Though God gives commandments to guide us and bring us joy, we might be tempted to respond to His commandments the way that Saul did. God gave Saul and his army specific instructions through the prophet Samuel about their conflict with the Amalekites. Saul and his army followed some of God’s commands but felt justified disobeying others. This lesson can help students understand the importance of striving to obey all of God’s commandments.
Student preparation: Invite students to think of reasons people might have for choosing to disobey God’s commandments. Students could record their list in a note on their phone or write it on a small piece of paper. Invite students to bring their lists to class.
Possible Learning Activities
Cafeterias
Consider beginning class by contrasting situations when it is appropriate to pick what we like with situations when it is not. You could display several kinds of food or pictures of several kinds of food. Invite students to imagine all this food is available for them to eat.
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Which foods would you choose to eat? Which would you choose not to eat? Why?
Read this statement from President Russell M. Nelson, looking for how our approach to obeying God’s commandments should differ from how we choose our food:
[Have] faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. [You] will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith. (“Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 34)
Invite students to summarize what President Nelson taught about keeping all of God’s commandments into a statement of truth. Using the students’ own words, help them identify a truth like striving to keep all of God’s commandments leads to joy or picking and choosing which of God’s commandments to keep leads to misery.
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Why might someone choose not to keep certain commandments from God?
Reflect on your own approach to obeying God’s commandments by silently pondering the following questions:
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How do you respond when you hear a commandment or standard you might not be sure you want to keep?
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How important to you is striving to obey all of God’s commandments?
As you study today, seek the Spirit’s help in understanding the importance of striving to obey all of God’s commandments.
King Saul’s choices
Consider summarizing or reading the following paragraph to help students understand the events leading up to 1 Samuel 15.
After the Lord told Samuel to let the Israelites have a king, the Lord directed Samuel to anoint a young man named Saul to be the king (see 1 Samuel 8–10). When threatened by an attack from the Philistines, Saul disobeyed the Lord by offering a sacrifice that he wasn’t authorized to make (see 1 Samuel 13:8–9). Samuel then taught Saul the consequences of his disobedience (see 1 Samuel 13:10–14). In Chapter 15, we see a similar pattern when Saul doesn’t follow the Lord’s instructions with exactness.
Read 1 Samuel 15:1–3, 7–9, where the Lord gave Saul and his army specific commandments. As you read, look for which of the Lord’s commandments Saul and his army chose to obey and which they chose not to obey.
You might want to remind students that we don’t know all the reasons God commanded Saul and his army to destroy the Amalekites and their animals. But we do know God is perfect and loves all of His children, and we can still learn valuable lessons from Saul’s response to God’s commandment.
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How might the truth taught by President Nelson have helped Saul and his army?
Attitudes and justifications
The following study activity can help students recognize attitudes and excuses that can lead to disobeying God. Students could complete the activity in groups or individually.
After the battle with the Amalekites, Samuel spoke to Saul about his and his army’s disobedience.
Read 1 Samuel 15:13–24, looking for attitudes and excuses that influenced Saul’s choice to disobey God’s commandments.
Students could write what they find on the board. They might point out that Saul:
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Lied about his obedience (verses 13, 20).
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Tried to justify his disobedience (verses 15, 21).
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Blamed others for his actions (verses 15, 21).
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Became prideful (verse 17).
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Didn’t prioritize what was most important (verse 22).
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Worried more about the opinions of others than obeying God (verse 24).
You might invite students to compare Saul’s attitudes and justifications with the Savior’s attitudes and actions in Matthew 26:36–39. Invite students to share what they learn about obedience from the Savior’s example.
Then, consider separating students into groups. Ask them to create the following list.
Make a list of some commandments that people today might choose to overlook or ignore.
Ask each group to pick one of the commandments on their list. Have them create a scenario in which a teenager might be tempted to disobey the commandment by adopting some of the attitudes or justifications students identified from 1 Samuel 15. Or you could watch “Honesty: You Better Believe It!” (4:46), from ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Stop the video at time code 1:27 and invite students to use the young woman’s situation as the scenario. (You could show the conclusion of the video after students answer the questions below.)
Using their scenarios, invite students to discuss the questions below with their group.
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How might someone in this situation be tempted to use the attitudes or justifications that Saul used?
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How could choices to obey or disobey this commandment eventually lead to joy or misery?
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What related gospel teachings could help us choose to obey God if we were in this situation?
God’s love
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped us understand why Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us laws that They expect us to obey:
The love of the Father and the Son is freely given but also includes hopes and expectations. … [Q]uoting President Nelson, “God’s laws are motivated entirely by His infinite love for us and His desire for us to become all we can become.”
Because They love you, They do not want to leave you “just as you are.” Because They love you, They want you to have joy and success. Because They love you, They want you to repent because that is the path to happiness. But it is your choice—They honor your agency. You must choose to love Them, to serve Them, to keep Their commandments. Then They can more abundantly bless you as well as love you. (“The Love of God,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 18)
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What would you share from this statement with someone who feels like God’s commandments are not very important?
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How has keeping a specific commandment of God helped you “to have joy and success”?
Choosing to obey all of God’s commandments
You might want to tell students that Saul’s choices to reject God’s counsel led to God instructing Samuel to find another king to take Saul’s place (see 1 Samuel 13:14; 15:28).
To help students demonstrate their understanding of the importance of obeying God’s commandments, consider displaying the following instructions.
Pick one of the following activities to complete in your study journal:
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Imagine that you have friends who are Latter-day Saints and who are justifying breaking certain commandments. They have been pressuring you to do the same. Write what you want to remember from this lesson to help you follow God’s commandments.
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Fill in the blanks: I want to obey God’s commandments because . Something I want to remember from what I felt or learned today is .
Consider sharing your testimony of the blessings that come from striving to obey all of God’s commandments.