Bede : But Samuel said to Saul: Leave me, and I will tell you, etc. Above, we read that Saul on the day was anointed king; on the day that he should be anointed, and now at night he is shown to be rejected. This is not by chance and without reason, but because the day sometimes signifies justice, night sin, he was chosen by day, and rejected by night, who due to the modesty of humility deserved to rule, due to the sin of disobedience he deserved to be rejected, not by divine judgment, but by the varying merit of man. But today the Lord saying: For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20); whoever is called, by deeds of darkness is separated from the light of the chosen. — Commentary on Samuel Gregory the Dialogist : 16. What does it mean when he says: "Let me alone, and I will tell you," unless that while deceitful men persist in verbosity, they do not grant their examining superiors an opportunity to speak? As if to say: While you do not cease from verbosity, you do not permit me to say the things you ought to hear. By this word the intention of the flatterer can also be mocked; for while he believes he is pleasing through the blandishment of praise, he supposes that those whom he praises are, as it were, held fast by those same praises. It is therefore as if the chosen leader were to mock his praiser with honorable gravity, saying: You who praise me—I cannot speak harsh things to you. Let me alone, therefore, that is, permit me to speak, and understand the things I am about to say. And because, as I said, flatterers believe they are pleasing by praising, they by no means expect to hear harsh things from those whom they praise. Therefore, as if about to hear joyful and favorable things, Saul follows up, saying: "Speak." But chosen men, when they hear their own praises, do not grow soft from the rigor of justice amid the encouragements of praise. For those who despise the deeds of the reprobate can by no means accept their words. Because, therefore, they cannot be bent by praises, they both examine dishonest flatterers with subtle reasoning and pursue them with stern judgments. Whence it follows: (Verses 17–19.) And Samuel said: "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not made the head among the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel; and the Lord sent you on a mission and said: Go, slay the sinners of Amalek, and you shall fight against them until their utter destruction. Why then did you not listen to the voice of the Lord, but turned to the spoil and did evil in the eyes of the Lord?" — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 2