1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sometimes we find ourselves “between a rock and a hard place.”  I think that saying applies very well to this passage on every front.  David is living with the Philistines who are about to go to war with Israel so David will be expected to fight the country over which he has been anointed king.  Saul is fearful of this war and God will not give him any direction, so he decides to go consult a spirit medium in order to get direction from Samuel who has recently died.  Ironically, Saul had banished all mediums so he too finds himself in a very conflicted place.  As we read this chapter, its content places us “between a rock and a hard place.”  On the one hand we do not believe that the dead can be consulted though what can only be called witchcraft.  On the other hand the text clearly says that Samuel appeared to his woman, she was frightened by this unfamiliar experience and the message she received was 100% accurate. 

DAVID’S DILEMMA: David finds himself in a very real dilemma; he has been hiding with the Philistines in exile for some time now and the time has come for the Philistines and Israel to go to war.  The king of the Philistines makes sure to communicate to David that he expects him to go to war with him and fight against his own people.  David simply responds: “today you will see what I can do.”  David’s response is, understandably, rather cryptic.  Whether David becomes a valiant warrior for the Philistines or turns on the Philistines in the midst of the battle; the Philistine king will “see what he can do.”  It seems that either way David will become a traitor to one nation or the other on this day.   I think that it is important to remember that David is in this position because he became fearful of Saul and began to doubt God’s ability to protect him.  Whenever we sin we run the risk of finding ourselves in very difficult dilemmas.

SAUL’S SEANCE: Saul wants to seek God for advice about what to do in the face of the upcoming battle.  However, God has turned from Saul long ago and he cannot get any direction.  Saul, once again, reveals his lack of wisdom and fear of God by taking matters into his own hands and going after a spirit medium.  He knew that this was wrong and we know that he knew because he had banished all of these mediums earlier in his reign.  We see that Saul’s spiritual convictions are blown about like a feather in a tornado.  He changes directions and convictions simply based on his own circumstances and desires and not the Law of God.  When he puts on a disguise he reveals that he knows full well that what he is doing is wrong.  Saul wants direction and he is willing to sin in order to get it.  We must learn to stand firm on our convictions no matter how difficult our circumstances might become.  We can also be assured that there is no disguise in the world capable of hiding us from the eyes of God.

GOD’S GREATNESS: I will be honest at this point and say that I really do not know what happened during this seance.  Whether God used and evil spirit to reveal His message and tricked the woman into believing it was Samuel; or if God really permitted Samuel to appear to this woman as a unique exception to His normal mode of operation; either option presents difficulties for us to understand.  I think that I think that God made an exception and allowed Samuel to deliver this final message to Saul.  The reason that I say this is simply because that is what the text says happened and because the message was spot on with what happened.  I could be wrong and I certainly do not believe that this is any kind of a norm that any believer should ever practice.  We can all find out when we get to heaven what really happened that day.  Whatever happened, it is important for us to remember that God is God and that He does not need our permission to do things that are out of the ordinary.  It is very dangerous for us to try to put God into some sort of theological box and determine what that box determines God can and cannot do.  God is greater than all of our boxes and we can be assured that whatever He did or did not do on that day He was right.