But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, and of the fat calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1 Samuel 15:7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, and of the fat calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1 Samuel 15:10 Then Yahweh’s word came to Samuel, saying,
1 Samuel 15:11 “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
The verse centers on "sheep", "saul", "people", "spared", "agag", "best", "cattle", and "calves". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "saul", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 8's "He took Agag the king of the..." into verse 10's "Then Yahweh s word came to Samuel...", so "sheep" 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 "sheep" and "saul" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.