ARE YOU MISSING YOUR OPPORTUNITY?

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.

Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh and they fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31

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

As the Book of 1 Samuel comes to an end, we also see the story of Saul, the first king of Israel, come to a close.

Now, you may recall that Samuel’s spirit, summoned by the medium at Endor, had told Saul that he and his sons would soon die at the hand of the Philistines because he (Saul) had disobeyed the Lord and failed to “carry out His fierce wrath against the Amalekites” (1 Samuel 28:16-19). Because of this, Saul ended up making the Lord his enemy, not a place anyone should want to ever be.

Despite the prophecy from Samuel, we find Saul taking the Israelite army into battle. Perhaps he still believed that he could still triumph as we have seen his arrogance displayed in the past, especially when he decided to worship himself after erecting a monument in his own honor at Carmel (1 Samuel 15:12).

Time and time again, we saw Saul decide to do what he wanted to do, abusing the power God had given to either get what he desired or kill anyone who would get in the way of that. Point in case was the many times he tried to eliminate David as well as his attempts to kill his own son, Jonathan. And so now, Saul would face the consequences for his actions as he went up against the enemy.

For we read where “the Philistines fought against Israel” with some Israelites able to flee the onslaught while others “fell slain on Mount Gilboa”. The scriptures tell us that the “Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons”, first killing “Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua” before critically wounding Saul after “the archers overtook him”.

Sensing his end was near, we see where Saul ordered his armor bearer to kill him before the Philistines did, once again showing he would dictate how he died and went to the grave, bucking the prophetic words of Samuel and the will of the Lord. We read where the armor bearer was too terrified to do as the king requested and so , Saul “took his own sword and fell on it”, killing himself after which the armor bearer did the same.

And so when all was said and done, the Lord’s word as spoken by Samuel’s spirit came to be. “Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day” on the battlefield against the Philistines…and Saul’s saga was over…a saga the made me stop and wonder what might have been if Saul would have just embraced the opportunity God had given him. This further had me pondering how many times people today miss their opportunity as well. For like Saul, the Lord is ready to call us to do great things in His name if we’re simply willing to surrender our lives to Him and submit everything to His will. The Bible shows us clearly that He can and will do this through anyone.

Going back to Saul, we need to remember when he first was chosen by God. He was from the smallest tribe (Benjamin) and his clan was the least of all the clans in that tribe. In fact, if someone would have been betting on which clan the first king of Israel would come from, Saul’s clan would have faced astronomical odds. Despite this, we know it was God’s will to select Saul to lead His people…a people who had insisted to have a king like all the other nations.

And so Saul rose up from the obscurity of the least clan in the smallest tribe of Benjamin to become the king of Israel and did so because he was chosen by God. What an awesome privilege and chance he had to serve the Lord at the highest possible level.

But unfortunately, Saul missed his opportunity, allowing the power of his position to get the best of him and change him from being a servant of God to a man who only serve himself. And so the Lord took away his privilege, taking away all He had given Saul while showing us that arrogant, self-fulfilling service only leads to self destruction in the end.

Friends, we can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of Saul, squandering the opportunities God gives us by choosing to be the lord of our own lives and, in doing so, walking down the road of self destruction.

We can avoid this by acknowledging and respecting His absolute sovereignty, turning our lives and all we have over to Him, and submitting ourselves totally to His will with the goal of glorifying Him in everything we do.

The world would also offer us things to do but there’s only one right path to follow…the path the Lord leads us on…and Saul walked off of it.

Let’s not do likewise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUST TURN TO THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?"

"Pursue them," He answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine where some stayed behind, for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.

They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat - part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

David asked him, "To whom do you belong and where do you come from?"

He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag."

David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?"

He answered, "Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master and I will take you down to them."

He led David down and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking, and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.

David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder."

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the people with him. As David and his men approached, he greeted them. But all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers said, "Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go."

David replied, "No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies."

He sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir; to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, and Racal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites; to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 30:7-31

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

At the beginning of 1 Samuel, chapter 30, we found David and his men in great distress. For after being denied the opportunity to fight alongside the Philistine army by King Achish, they were sent home to Ziklag, only to find their town ransacked and burned with their family members and all belongings stolen by the Amalekites. You’ll recall that all this angered David’s men so much that they discussed stoning him, placing blame on David.

So what was David to do now?

He had been rejected by the Philistine commanders.

His town had been ruined and all his women, children, and possessions were stolen.

And now, his men were so mad that they wanted to kill him.

Well, as we see in today’s passage from the rest of chapter 30, David did the only thing he could do. He turned to the Lord.

For after he had his priest bring him the holy ephod, David “inquired of the Lord” asking:

“Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?"

In other words, David wanted to know if it was God’s will for him and his men to go after the marauding Amalekites.

Now, there’s little doubt that David and his men, if left to their own devices, would have easily gone out on their own to take back what was wrongfully taken from them, avenging the attack on Ziklag. But here we find David showing us something very important when facing an important decision.

We should never rely on our own wisdom.

And so David asked the Lord what he should do and the Lord was ready with an answer, replying:

“Pursue them…You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

Well, we see that this was all David needed to hear as he gathered his “six hundred men” and began the pursuit…a pursuit that not everyone could finish for we read where “two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine” and so they remained behind while “David and four hundred men continued” on.

Not long after leaving the ravine area, David’s men “found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David” who made sure the man was given “water to drink and…part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins” to eat. The food restored the Egyptian’s strength “for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights” and David took advantage of the occasion to ask the man some questions.

First, David wanted to know who the man belonged to and where he had come from. He learned that the Egyptian man was a “slave of an Amalekite” who had abandoned him after he had become ill three days earlier and, as we know, that was how long the man had gone without food and water.

The Egyptian went on to tell David that he had been with the Amalekites when they “raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb” as well as the burning of David’s town of Ziklag. Sensing the Egyptian might assist him, David asked:

"Can you lead me down to this raiding party?"

Surely feeling that he could get back at his Amalekite master over the way he had been mistreated, we see the Egyptian agree to do what David asked if he could have the assurance that he wouldn’t be killed or turned back over to the Amalekites. We read where David agreed to these terms and with the agreement in place, the Egyptian led David and his men to where the Amalekites were, finding them “scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah”. The scriptures show us that David wasted no time attacking his enemy, fighting them “from dusk until the evening of the next day” and allowing only “four hundred young men” to escape on camels. After this, “David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives” bringing back all of his people as well as his “flocks and herds”.

And with that, all seemed well again.

David and his men had their families back as well as everything else that had been taken but as we see, it didn’t take long for a dispute to happen, disrupting the joy of the victory and its spoils. For we read that as “David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him…left behind at the Besor Ravine”, problems arose when “all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers” said:

"Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go."

In other words, the men left behind could have their families but nothing else, as if fighting in the battle was a prerequisite for receiving any further reward.

Well. We see where David quickly rejected the demands of the evil troublemakers saying:

“No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike."

And with that, David turned his words into a “statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this”. And he also “sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah” after arriving back in Ziklag.

And so a chapter that started with David and his men devastated by loss and their family and possessions in the hands of the enemy, finished with a happy ending. And it only ended up that way because David turned everything over to the Lord.

When he needed strength, he turned to the Lord.

When he needed guidance, he turned to the Lord.

And when he needed to combat the greediness of the evil troublemakers in his army, he reinforced the fact that everything they had been given…the plunder, protection, and victory in battle…had come from only one source…turning the attention of his men to the Lord and his provision. Because of this, all of the six hundred men would receive an equal share of the spoils.

Through his actions, David shows us that a bounty of blessings is possible if we only turn to the Lord and place our full trust in Him. For him, God gave him strength, guidance, safety, and understanding as to what he was to do.

The great news today is that the Lord stands ready to do the same for us, meeting our needs as long as it is in accordance with the Lord’s will and purpose for us. All we need to do is seek Him give Him our full and faithful trust, knowing that His ways are always perfect. When we do this, the Lord will take care of the rest and, like David, lead us to persevere and gain victory over our difficult circumstances.

Friends, let us all give thanks to the Lord for His willingness to always be there for us whenever we turn to Him. May we praise His holy name, now and forevermore.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

STRENGTH WHEN WE NEED IT MOST

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. The commanders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews?"

Achish replied, "Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul, king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him."

But the Philistine commanders were angry with him and said, "Send the man back that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances:

'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?’"

So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you but the rulers don't approve of you. Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers."

"But what have I done?" asked David. "What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

Achish answered, "I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, 'He must not go up with us into battle.' Now get up early, along with your master's servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light."

So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them but carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.

But David found strength in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 29, 30:1-6

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

Live life long enough and you’ll see that times come that leave us disappointed and despaired…distraught and in need of comfort and peace. It’s during those times that we find Satan trying to make us feel isolated and alone…lost and without hope…confused and disoriented…numb and unloved.

Maybe you can relate. I know I can.

Well today’s scripture passage, we find David entering into this kind of circumstance and through the account, we discover the key to dealing with these kinds of matters when they come upon us.

Now, you may recall from yesterday’s message how Saul was told by Samuel’s spirit in that he and his sons were about to die in battle against the Philistines…all because he had decided to not obey the Lord…the One who had anointed and appointed him as Israel’s king. And so as chapter 29 opens, we see where the Philistines are beginning their approach on Saul and his army. The scriptures tell us that “the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands” while “David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish”. It was at this point that the Philistine commanders brought a concern to the Philistine king, Achish.

We read where these worries were centered on David and the Hebrew men who accompanied him but initially Achish rejects their concern saying:

“Is this not David who was an officer of Saul, king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him."

Still, the Philistine commanders persisted in their argument and, now angry with Achish, they made the following demand:

“Send the man back that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?’"

Now, I’m sure that the Philistine commanders well knew the history that David had with their nation. After all, in his youth, David had killed the mighty Philistine giant Goliath because he had Israel’s God with him. What if they were being set up for a repeat performance for as the song portrayed, David had only grown stronger in his battle prowess and war successes. It was obvious that he still had the Lord on his side. And so the commanders wanted to play things safe and eliminate any possibility that David might turn on them in the midst of the fighting, siding with his native Israelites.

Well, seeing that the commanders were not going to back down, Achish gives into their request and calls David to him saying:

“As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you but the rulers don't approve of you. Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers."

We see where David didn’t take this news well for the scriptures reveal his sheer disappointment as he asks Achish:

“But what have I done?…What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

Despite this plea, we read where Achish had his mind made up as he knew his commanders weren’t going to change their stance. And so he answers David’s question while attempting to quell his disappointment saying:

“I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, 'He must not go up with us into battle.' Now get up early, along with your master's servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light."

Achish had made his decision and wasn’t going to change his mind and so we read where David and his men returned to Ziklag “early in the morning”.

Now we know that David was already disappointed at being rejected by the Philistine commanders and this had to really weigh on his heart and mind as he made the three day journey back to Ziklag, the town Achish had given him and his men. But this disappointment from rejection wouldn’t compare to the anguish and despondency that he and his men felt when they reached home.

This is because they found their town ravaged and burned by the Amalekites who “had raided the Negev and Ziklag”. And the enemy forces didn’t just destroy the town, they also took everyone captive, including the “women and all who were in it, both young and old”. The only positive was that the Amalekites had not killed any of their family members but instead “carried them off as they went on their way”.

Despite this, we read where David and his men were greatly distressed, weeping “aloud until they had no strength left to weep” but this grief soon turned to anger as David’s men began to blame him for what had happened. This escalated to the point where they were “talking of stoning him” because “each one was bitter in spirit because of (their) sons and daughters”.

And so David, who had lost his two wives - Ahinoam and Abigail, had reached a real low point in his life…a point that left him greatly upset. It was at this place…in the valley of gloom at a time when everything seemed to be coming apart at the seams…a time when he fell weak under the burden of his troubling circumstances…that David found a source of strength…the only true source of strength that could pull him through his situation.

That strength…a strength that came when he needed it most…came from the Lord his God.

Friends, this is the good news for us today…that David’s Lord is the same Lord we serve today…a Lord who is always willing and ready to grant us the strength we need at just the right time in the midst of any circumstances we may face.

Indeed, when we feel we are falling within hardship because of our weakness, He is there to lift us up, set us back on our feet, and empower us to walk ahead, meeting the challenges we face through His strength and guidance.

And that’s the only way we can make my brothers and sisters. None of us has the strength to persevere and handle difficulties on our own.

Now, I don’t know what you might be going through today but I can probably say with some confidence that you probably haven’t been rejected to fight against a Philistine army and sent home to a town that was ravaged and burned with your family carried off by marauders. Still though, you might be going through something that makes you be able to relate to David, experiencing a trial or trials that are bringing you some sort of angst.

If you’re aren’t, rest assured that you will eventually.

Whenever those troubles come, we see in our scriptures today how we can always turn to the Lord for strength when we need it most. And if we’re honest, we need that strength each and every day as we live this called life and the circumstances it brings.

One thing is certain, without the Lord in our lives, we are destined to fall into discontentment and even possibly hopelessness. Conversely, with Him, we can do all things because His strength is ever present (Philippians 4:13)…always there when we need it most…a perfect strength that reminds me of the lyrics of a great Christian song, “His Strength is Perfect”…lyrics that I’ll close with today:

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone

He'll carry us when we can't carry on

Raised in his power the weak becomes strong

His strength is perfect

His strength is perfect

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A FAITHFUL, PATIENT, EXPECTANT WAITING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our 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, a plan that was successful.

Now as chapter 28 opens, we see the Philistines gathering “their forces to fight against Israel” and King Achish tells David that both he and his men were to “accompany (him) in the army. To which, David replied:

"Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do".

Pleased with his eagerness to fight alongside, we read where Achish pledges to make David his “bodyguard for life” which was nothing but wishful thinking for we know that David has been anointed and was destined to be Israel’s next king.

And so with the Philistines readying to go to war with Israel, Saul was getting his forces prepared as well, gathering “all the Israelites” and setting up “camp at Gilboa”. It was there that the scriptures tell us that he was struck with a paralyzing fear as terror filled his heart over the prospect of fighting the mighty Philistine army.

Surely adding to his frightened mindset was that he had been unsuccessful to connect with the Lord after inquiring of Him. He received no answer despite seeking God by way of “dreams or Urim or prophets”. And so desperate for some comfort and assurance, we see Saul turn elsewhere for guidance.

I wonder how often we do this as well. We call on the Lord for some direction in a life circumstance and then lack the patience and trust to wait for Him to deliver. The problem is that we expect God to operate within our expectations when we don’t have any right to dictate anything to Him. Rather, He will always conduct His business in accordance with His perfect way and in His perfect time…and this can include making us wait so to produce patience, one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

In Saul’s case, he allowed his fear of the mounting opposing forces to drive him toward a reckless, compulsive quest for anything that might soothe his anxieties. He had an opportunity to get right with the Lord again, despite being rejected prior, but he once again repeated the mistakes from the past, choosing to follow his own misguided wisdom. In this case, he turned to whoever he could to try and get what only God could give him.

Sadly, Saul becomes a biblical case study of someone who was never willing to completely surrender all of himself to the God who gave him the privilege to lead His people.

Again, we’re also like this way too often. For when we start to face impending troubles, we have a tendency to panic and quickly pivot to anyone but God to try and get what only He can provide. Like Peter stepping out of the boat onto the wind-whipped waves of the lake, we start to walk on the water towards the Lord only to let fear and doubt creep in…and when that happens, we begin to sink into the depths below.

When we get there, we, like Peter, come to the stark realization that only God can save us…and so we cry out to Him before He reaches down and pulls us out of trouble, rescuing us from harm and drawing us into His protection (Matthew 14:22-32). All this should teach us to never doubt or lose faith in the first place because we serve a Lord who is always with us, ready to lead and guide us through our life’s circumstances…whether good or bad. We just need to fully trust Him, adopting a faithful, patient, expectant waiting.

Well, 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, a request that actually contradicted his order after he had “expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land” following Samuel’s death. We read where Saul’s men tell him about a medium in Endor and so he disguises himself before going to her at night saying:

“Consult a spirit for me…and bring up for me the one I name."

Well, this obviously upset the woman because she was being asked to violate the king’s decree, not knowing of course that she was speaking to Saul himself. We see where she was most afraid of being put to death if she honored the request.

Speaking into this situation, we see Saul turn to sin yet again, being so brazen as to invoke the name of the Lord for his wicked purpose, posing as if speaking on the Lord’s behalf when we know God wasn’t speaking to him at all.

After all, this is why he was seeking the medium in the first place.

So Saul tells her:

“As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.”

And with this reassurance in hand, the woman obliges Saul’s request, asking:

“Whom shall I bring up for you?"

To which, Saul tells her Samuel, sparking what had to be an unexpected response from the medium. For as she saw Samuel, she immediately knew that the man speaking to her was none other than Saul, asking him:

“Why have you deceived me?”

With his cover now blown, Saul tells the medium to not be afraid, inquiring about what she was seeing. And after she telling 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”.

Well, the scriptures show us that the summoned Samuel was not pleased with Saul’s behavior and rebukes him, asking how he could have done such a thing. In response, Saul tries to explain himself saying:

“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 level as God for after all, hadn’t Samuel been a prophet and had brought God’s Word to him before?

Well, through Samuel’s response, we see Saul reminded of his prior actions and how God had responded to them. We also see Samuel let him know that he had already told him what was going to happen before when he was living. Look at his words again here:

"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."

In sum, the end was near for Saul. He had wanted to know the future so badly that he sought counsel outside of God and so his fate became set for he would not survive the coming battle.

Well, as you would expect, Saul did not handle the news well. We read where 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 in the first place.

In the end translation, Saul had gone to the wrong person in his time of trouble…not just in this instance but in many instances throughout his life. And now, he had unfortunately gone to the well one too many times for the Lord will not tolerate blatant disrespect and/or willing disobedience. He had commanded this so to make it clear but Saul decided to pick and choose when he would comply. And while he was the king, he wasn’t greater than THE King of kings (capital “K”).

Friends, we need to keep this in mind as we go through our lives and learn from the mistakes of Saul. For there’s no doubt that we will 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 pressure Saul. Our enemy uses that mounting sense of urgency to get us to stop waiting on the Lord with patience and trust…with faith and hope knowing He is a God who cares for us and will work things out for our good (Romans 8:28). We have no one in life like Him for there is nothing beyond the work of His almighty Hands.

So how will we respond to this message today?

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 our Heavenly Father who loves every one of His children so dearly?

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

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.