1 Samuel 28: Having No Hope and Without God

 

Introduction

 

Last time we finished with a cliffhanger moment. At the beginning of Chapter 28 David faced a dilemma of his own making. He had been too clever for his own good and now would have fight with the Philistines, or face the consequences of refusing to fight.

We wait to see what David will do. We can imagine David wondering to himself, ‘How am I going to get out of this fine mess?’. The tension builds.

And then, suddenly, our focus switches back to Saul. We must wait to see what will happen to David next time. Instead, in Chapter 28, we witness Saul’s hopeless desperation.

It is a sad story- the man who was once ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest, now shrunken in despair. To use the language of Ephesians 2, Saul is one who is ‘…having no hope and without God…’.

And so, in Chapter 28 we see Saul’s:

Desperate Situation

Desperate Measures

Deadly State

As we hear of Saul’s hopeless desperation let us be aware that it reflects our own natural condition apart from Christ. If we hear God’s voice today, we must not harden our hearts. Rather, we must seek the Lord while He may be found.

So, let us turn, firstly, to hear of… Saul’s Desperate Situation

On the evening that would turn out to be Saul’s last, he found himself in the most desperate situation of his entire life. To help us understand why this was so the writer notes three aspects of Saul’s situation.

Firstly, in verse 3 we read of Samuel’s absence. Samuel was dead and buried in Ramah. And remember, Samuel was the one who had anointed Saul as king and brought him messages from God.

Although Saul and Samuel had not been on speaking terms for some time, now that he is dead, Saul wishes that he could talk with him- we will see that in just a moment. So, as we encounter Saul at this moment we must be aware of Saul’s sense of abandonment- he is without Samuel, he is without God.

So, Saul’s desperation was because of Samuel’s absence. Then, secondly, Saul’s desperation was the result of the Philistine presence. In verse 4 we learn that the Philistines had assembled to launch a massive invasion of Israel.

And this Philistine force was probably the most serious attempt so far by the Philistines to break Israel. We see they had positioned themselves where they could use the full force of their chariots. And, from verses 1 and 2, we learn that Saul had every reason to suspect that David and his six hundred men were part of the Philistine ranks. This was a Philistine force with strategic advantage and warriors who had outwitted Saul’s elite troops in past encounters.

This may explain what we read in verse 5: When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 

The once courageous warrior was now a trembling mess. The present crisis was just too much for him.

Now, it should be obvious to us that Saul indeed faced devastating enemy. But what the verse reveals is desperate state of Saul’s soul. Unlike David, Saul possessed no faith with which to take courage and lead his people against the odds.

Saul, in the grip of spiritual and moral darkness, was paralysed by unbelief. Suddenly, he became aware, for the first time in years, of his need of God’s Word.

So, Saul is desperate because of the presence of the Philistines, the absence of Samuel, and because, thirdly, God is silent. In verse 6 we learn that God refused to answer Saul when he called.

Samuel was dead, and the Lord had sent no other prophet. The Urim was a means the priests used to seek God’s guidance, but Saul slaughtered the priests. Dreams were sometimes a means of divine instruction, but there too Saul met silence.

So, Samuel is gone, God is silent, the Philistines are on the horizon, the end is in sight. This is Saul’s desperate situation- he faced the greatest crisis of his life without hope and without God. What was he to do?

This was Saul’s desperate situation. Here we pause and ponder the lessons we can learn in this moment.

You see, in Saul we have a heartbreaking picture of someone who has hardened their heart to God rather than engaging with God in true faith. We see, time and time again, that Saul sought God on his own terms, for his own purposes. And in this situation, he sought God too little and he sought God too late.

Saul was willing, in his desperation, to engage in empty religion to manipulate God. But the True and Living God cannot be manipulated by the false religion of dead men.

However, God will always hear the cry of a broken heart and contrite spirit. Those who call on the Lord in faith will receive grace- grace upon grace.

What a dreadful thing it is to harden the heart against God and His Word! We would do well to heed the warning here: seek the Lord while He may be found. And seek the Lord on His terms- He is not a ‘good-luck charm’ we turn to only in trouble or need- He is the Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. We seek Him in faith and repentance so that we might find true life in Him.

So, we have Saul’s desperate times, and next we have… Saul’s Desperate Measures

In verses 7 and 8 we read that as God is silent, Saul turns to the most shocking and unconventional of sources for guidance- a medium at Endor. The very commandment of God that Saul had once so diligently enforced, according to verse 3, he now intended to break! In his desperation Saul wrongly turned to what he had rightly prohibited.

Saul’s decision to seek help from a medium- someone who claims they can make contact with the dead- shows us just how far he has fallen. Here indeed was a man who had found himself ‘…having no hope and without God in the world…’.

Saul’s disguise, in verse 8, was likely needed to both escape detection by the Philistines whose position he had to pass through to get to Endor, and to conceal his involvement in what was, ultimately, a crime. But there is also something symbolic in this failed king removing his royal robes as he made his last effort to escape his fate.

We see Saul sneaking off to meet the medium- no spear, no robe, no hope- his kingly identity in tatters; all that he has mercilessly hunted David to protect was slipping from his grasp.

So, in his desperation Saul goes to this medium. No details of the journey are given, just the fact that he reached his destination ‘…at night…’.

It would have to have been at night, of course, to avoid detection. However, the narrator also appreciates that darkness was appropriate context for the story about to be told.

The reference to the death of Samuel in verse 3 is hint enough for us to guess who Saul wanted to reach through the medium. She, of course, did not know Saul’s identity or for whom he would ask.

Sensibly the woman was cautious with her mysterious visitor; in verse 9 she says: “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?”. The woman’s words are genuine. The last person she would have expected to approach her with this request would have been Saul.

And her words should have pricked Saul’s conscience. He was now deliberately breaking his own ruling made in obedience to the Law of God.

However, Saul was in no mood for self-examination; in verse 10:

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

The ridiculous irony of Saul swearing an oath by the Lord he was so blatantly disobeying seems to have escaped Saul. Here is yet another sign of Saul’s hardened spiritual condition.

If we had any doubt about Saul’s purpose, it is now revealed; in verse 11 we read:

Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

“Bring up Samuel,” he said.

It is important to notice that the narrative gives us no precise details about what the woman then did. But between the end of verse 11 and the beginning of verse 12 Samuel appeared and scared the woman out of her wits!

Here we learn nothing about the practice of mediums (except that their practice is outside of God’s Law). We may wonder, ‘Did this woman really have the power to bring Samuel back from the dead?’. The passage does not say so, it simply tells us that Samuel appeared.

Given what we learn at the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, it seems far more likely that the Lord sent Samuel to Saul on this evening, just as He sent Moses and Elijah to Jesus. For His own reasons the Lord permitted Samuel to appear before Saul and speak one final word of God.

The dark powers of this woman (if she possessed any) were irrelevant. This was God, once again, sovereignly at work in His Way to achieve His Will through His Word.

On recognising Samuel, the woman suddenly sees through Saul’s whole scheme. The woman now found herself in the presence of the king who had enforced the Law of God against her practices and the prophet who was God’s mouthpiece. Her terror was completely understandable.

 

In verse 13 Saul reassures the woman she is safe. In verse 14 he seeks clarification that the figure is really Samuel. When satisfied that it is Samuel, Saul responds by paying homage. The king had at last been brought to his knees.

The woman seems to have left Saul at this point. The following moments seem to have been between Saul and Samuel alone.

Samuel was the first to speak. In verse 15 we are remined that Samuel was always a ‘straight-to-the-point’ prophet: Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul explains that in his desperation he has taken the desperate measure of trying to get the dead prophet to tell him what to do.

So, Saul sought a word of comfort and direction. In verses 16 to 19 Saul gets a word. But it is hardly a welcoming or encouraging word. Instead, Samuel called Saul’s mind back to what happened in Chapter 15 at Gilgal. Samuel affirms that God is fulfilling the prophecy he gave that day: God will tear the kingdom from Saul and give it to David.

Saul’s disobedience, specifically failing to destroy the Amalekites, was the root cause of his downfall. Saul thought his failure to obey God to be a little thing, but God saw it as deadly rebellion to His sovereign rule.

Saul would not listen to God, and now God would not speak to Saul, except to announce the arrival of his long-awaited judgment. The Saul who would not heed the Word of the Lord would face the battle cry of the Philistine horde.

Not only did Samuel remind Saul, first, that God had forsaken him in silence, and second, that God was visiting Saul with judgment, but he concluded with a third message: that Saul would face the deadly consequences of his sinful ways. In verse 19 Samuel concluded:

The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

When man abandons God, he desires only that God leave him to his own devices. But when God abandons man, He assigns for Him the judgment of death.

Here we are reminded of what we learned in the Children’s Address:

Question 18: Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished?

Answer: No, God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them both in this life, and in the life to come.

We naturally struggle with any mention of God’s righteous anger. But we must not forget that sin must be punished by a holy God. And let us never forget that in His holiness God offers His grace in the Gospel. May the wonder of God’s grace call us to wholehearted devotion to God and His Word.

In Saul’s desperate measures we are reminded of the words of Isaiah 55:

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him…

So, we have Saul’s desperate situation, his desperate measure, and then… Saul’s Deadly State

It was utter desperation that had driven Saul to the desperate measures of this night. In verse 20 the narrator then informs us of Saul’s deadly state:

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 all that night.

The once mighty Saul lay helpless. The once tall and impressive king now lay on the ground.

The only help available to him was a woman of pagan practices. In verses 21 and 22 she returns to offer Saul food. In verse 23, after initially refusing the help, the helpless, hopeless Saul listens to the woman and his servants and. In verses 24 and 25 the condemned man then enjoyed his final meal.

Looking at Saul in his deadly state should move us and cause us to ponder. This was a man who began with such promise. Everybody thought he was the best. Now he is sitting on bed- not even his own bed- a shadow of his former self.

And then Chapter 28 closes with the poignant words: That same night they got up and left. In the darkness of the night the desperate deed was done. In the darkness of the night Saul slipped away to meet his fate; without hope and without God.

Considering Saul’s deadly state, Dale Ralph Davis urges Christians to reflect on their situation in this context:

You may be exhausted from work. In fact, your employer may be giving you a raw deal . . . You have lost your health or family troubles are now cropping up. The text says there is something far worse. Do you realize what a solace it is in the face of all your failure to have access to the throne of grace and the smiling face of God in prayer? Do you realize that all that you have suffered is not nearly so tragic as someone moaning, “God has turned away from me”?

The truest misery of all is to realise yourself abandoned by God. As a Believer, whatever we may face, we have peace that passes understanding when we remember God’s gracious help is freely available when we call on Him in faith.

Today, if you are in Christ, a Believer belonging to God, you can take hold of all the promises of God in whatever darkness you face. Today, you belong to the One who promises He will never, ever leave you. Today, you belong to the One who says He is your Helper and your Keeper. Today, in Christ, we belong to God, so we have eternal hope.

Conclusion

Paul’s description of the Ephesians, ‘…without hope and without God in the world…’, is a strikingly appropriate way to describe Saul in Chapter 28. Saul was suffering the ultimate consequences of his rejection of God’s Word and disobedience of God’s Way- rejection by God and silence in his hour of need.

Paul’s description of the Ephesians, ‘…without hope and without God in the world…’, is also an appropriate way to describe the state of our world- and any of us before we come to faith in Christ. This is the ‘bad news’ we must confront before the ‘good news’ of the Gospel can be of any true comfort.

Then we will appreciate the wonder of the Gospel; as Paul says in Ephesians 2:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Now in Christ Jesus we have God. Now in Christ Jesus we have hope. Let us not harden our hearts to this Good News, but receive it in faith and then live in the fullness found only in Christ.