A FAITHFUL, PATIENT, EXPECTANT WAITING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army." David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do." Achish replied, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Endor," they said.

So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name." But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"

Saul swore to her by the Lord, "As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this."

Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" "Bring up Samuel," he said.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!" The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground." "What does he look like?" he asked. "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors — to David. Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."

Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night. When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way." He refused and said, "I will not eat." But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.

The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.

1 Samuel 28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have read in the last two chapters of 1st Samuel, David and his men decided to join Achish, king of Gath, and the Philistines to keep Saul from searching for him and his efforts were successful.

Now as Chapter 28 opens, we see the Philistines gathering “their forces to fight against Israel” and King Achish telling David that both he and his men were to “accompany (him) in the army. After David tells Achish, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do", we read where Achish says he will make David his “bodyguard for life”, wishful thinking for we know that David has been anointed already to be the king of Israel.

So with the Philistines readying to go to war with Israel, we find Saul having “gathered all the Israelites” while setting up “camp at Gilboa”. It’s there that scripture tells us Saul became afraid with terror filling his heart after he “saw the Philistine army”. We further learn that Saul had “inquired of the Lord” but had received no answer…not by “dreams or Urim or prophets”. Desperate in the midst of his fear, Saul decided to turn elsewhere for guidance.

How often do we do this...calling on the Lord for instruction and then lacking the patience and trust to wait on the Lord’s guidance? For the Lord sometimes hesitates to grant us His wisdom while trying to teach us to faithfully and expectantly anticipate His direction…direction that is always offered at the right time in accordance with His will for us.

In Saul’s case, he allowed his fear of the mounting opposing forces to drive him toward a reckless, compulsive quest for any word that might soothe his anxieties. In an opportunity to get right with the Lord, even though he had been rejected prior, Saul instead did what he had done before, turned to whoever he could to try and get what only God could give him. In Saul, we see a man who was never willing to completely surrender all that he was and all that he had to the One who gave it to him.

Well, I think we see the same thing happen in our lives. For when we start to face impending troubles, how often do we quickly turn to whoever we can to give us what only God can give? Like Peter on the wind-driven waves of the lake, we start to walk toward the Lord on the water, only to let fear and doubt creep in…and as that fear and doubt creep in, we begin to sink into the water and toward the dark depths below. It’s at that time, that we, like Peter, realize that no one else but the Lord can save us…and so we cry out to Him as we sink and receive His rescue. (Matthew 14:22-32) We also, like Peter, learn that we never had to lose faith or doubt in the first place…because we serve a Lord who is always with us and will always guide us through life’s circumstances…good and bad. We need just trust Him fully…with a faithful, patient, expectant waiting.

Back to the scriptures…where we see Saul asking his men where he might find a medium to consult since the Lord wasn’t answering him. And we read that this was in direct violation of his own order as he had “expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land” after Samuel’s death.

So Saul’s men tell him there was a medium in Endor, after which he disguises himself and goes to her at night asking her to, “Consult a spirit for me…and bring up for me the one I name."

Well, the woman was obviously upset by the request because she knew that the request was against Saul’s decree, not knowing of course that she was speaking to Saul himself. Most of all, she was afraid that she would be put to death if she honored the man’s request. And so to get the woman to give him what she wanted, Saul used the name of the Lord for his purpose, ironically speaking on the Lord’s behalf when we know the Lord wasn’t speaking to him at all! After all, this is why he was seeking the medium in the first place.

So Saul swears to the medium, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this” and with this reassurance, the woman obliges Saul’s request and asks him, “Whom shall I bring up for you?" And Saul tells her to bring up Samuel.

Then something amazing happens for as the medium saw Samuel, she knew that the man speaking to her was Saul and quickly asked him, “Why have you deceived me?” Saul, now exposed, tells the medium to not be afraid and asks her what she was seeing. And after she tells him she had seen “a spirit coming up out of the ground” that looked like an old man wearing a robe”, Saul “knew it was Samuel” and “bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground”.

Scripture tells us that the summoned Samuel was not pleased with Saul’s actions and asks Saul why he had done such a thing. Saul tells the spirit of Samuel, “I am in great distress…The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do." In other words, Saul was placing Samuel on the same plane as God. For after all, hadn’t Samuel been a prophet and had brought God’s word to him before?

Through Samuel’s response, Saul is reminded of his prior actions and how God had responded to them. He’s also reminded that Samuel had already told him once about what was going to happen. For Samuel tells Saul that “The Lord has done what he predicted through me” tearing the “kingdom out of (Saul’s) hands and (giving) it to one of (his) neighbors — to David.” Samuel goes on to remind Saul that the Lord had done this because he had failed to “obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites” and as a result, the Lord was going to “hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines”. Further, Saul and his sons would die in the battle and the “army of Israel” would be handed over to the Philistines."

In other words, the end was near for Saul. He had wanted a message so badly that he went away from the Lord…and so a message he received. He would not survive the coming battle.

Well, as you would expect, Saul did not handle the news well. Scripture tells us that he “fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words” with his strength gone because “he had eaten nothing all that day and night”. Interestingly enough, we see the medium go to Saul and try and encourage him to eat which he does after receiving further encouragement from his men. And after eating the meal prepared by the woman, Saul and his men left…with Saul knowing the end was near and probably wishing he had not went to the medium pressing for some instruction from the deceased Samuel.

Saul had gone to the wrong source in his time of trouble…not just in this instance but in many instances throughout his life. And now, he had went to the well one too many times. The Lord will not tolerate disrespect and willing disobedience. His commands had made that clear…commands that Saul didn’t feel like he had to follow. After all, he was the king. But he wasn’t THE King…capital “K”.

We need to keep this in mind as we go through our lives and learn from the mistakes of Saul. For we will all find ourselves in the midst of difficult and challenging circumstances in life…and these circumstances may force us to feel a sense of urgency as trouble begins to mount, just as the assembling Philistine army began to cause Saul to feel pressured. And this mounting sense of urgency might just cause us to stop waiting for the Lord with patience and trust…with faith and hope knowing He is God and nothing is beyond the work of His almighty Hands.

So how will we respond? Will we go after guidance and truth from others who can in no way give us what the Lord can? Will we trust the wisdom of man over the wisdom of the Father?

If we do, then we, like Saul, are only asking for trouble. For if the Lord isn’t speaking to us when we call, then there’s a good reason why…and we should continue to wait on Him…faithfully…patiently…and expectantly…knowing He will always bring His word to us in the right place, in the right circumstance and in the right time. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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