In the lessen of King Saul we learn that obedience is what God requires.  Saul did not obey the LORD.

Samuel also said unto Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.  And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.  And Saul said unto the Kenites, “Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.  And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, “It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
1 Samuel 15:1-11

The LORD, through Samuel had given king Saul a command to go and destroy the Amalekites, because they had not treated Israel right when they were in the wilderness.

Now,  I know what people of today in the year 2025 are thinking as we read this event; “That is genocide,” or “That is very cruel,” yet that is God’s way of dealing with evil.  Who are we to question our Creator?  If God gives a command to do something, then we need to do it when, and where He says; and with haste.

As followers of Jesus Christ – Christians, we are to love our neighbors, and our neighbor maybe an enemy.   We must first deal with the evil within ourselves.  At a time a few years back, I was in prayer, and concerned about the evil I saw in the world, and I asked the Lord, “Why do you allow evil in the world? You could with the snap of Your finger destroy evil.”  Then this thought came to my heart and mind, “If God were to destroy evil, He would need to destroy me.”  That has been my answer for that question ever since then.

God will be compassionate to whom He will be compassionate.  He is merciful to whom He will be merciful.  The LORD God is wiser, and smarter than billions of the wisest people working together.

Something to think about concerning the complete destruction of a group of evil people is that the Amalakites is that there was evidently one that was shown mercy who grew up, and one of the descendants of Agag, was born as Haman in the  book of Esther.  Haman tried to kill all the Jews in Persia, but He failed.

When we fail to obey the commands of God we sin.  Even if we succeed in obeying in part of the command, and fail in the hard part, we have been disobedient children.  King Saul lost the kingdom – a dynasty that could have been his, but He failed to obey the LORD.

We are not redeemed, we are not saved, we are not justified by keeping commandments, but Jesus tells us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  Since we are justified by grace through faith, then we will desire to keep His commandments, because we love Him.  If You do not have a desire to always be on the right side of God, and do His will, then you are not justified by grace through faith.

Jesus Christ died for our sins; we were  a rebellious, disobedient, and evil people; yet God so loved us He sent His only begotten Son – Jesus Christ – to  go to the cross, become the curse of sin, taking the judgment that we  deserved, dying for us.  He was buried, and He rose again.  Because He rose again we can come to Him, confessing Him as Lord, and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and He saves us unto eternal life.

Will you trust Him today?  It is His will that you do so.