1 Samuel 15:11 (LSB)

Passage

“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words.” And Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahweh all night.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and they were not willing to devote them to destruction; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

1 Samuel 15:10 Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying,

1 Samuel 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not established My words.” And Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahweh all night.

1 Samuel 15:12 Then Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.”

1 Samuel 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of Yahweh! I have established the word of Yahweh.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "regret", "saul", "king", "turned", "back", "following", "established", and "words". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "regret" and "saul", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Then the word of Yahweh came to..." into verse 12's "Then Samuel rose early in the morning...", so "regret" and "saul" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "regret" and "saul" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.