"Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines."
--1 Samuel 28:19 (NKJV)
From the daily Bible reading on May 21, 2013 of Psalm 96; 1 Corinthians 2; 1 Samuel 27-29.
Samuel was dead and buried. The Philistines amassed their forces and encamped at Shunem, ready to do battle with Israel in the plains of Jezreel where their more sophisticated weapons would give them an even greater advantage. In obedience to the law, Saul had exiled all the mediums and those who purported to communicate with spirits. And now God had gone silent and would not speak with Saul either in his dreams or through his priests or any of the prophets. In a near-panic, the king had nowhere left to turn so he told his trusted servants to find someone who could conjure up the spirits of the dead. As it happens, one medium, a woman, had managed to hide from the purge. In disguise, Saul and his men went to her and asked her to bring forth Samuel. From the scripture describing her reaction as screaming (please see verse 12), apparently the medium surprised herself by the actual spirit of Samuel coming forth rather than her usual parlor tricks. (God allowed Samuel to deliver His message to Saul. It just seems more fitting that way, since Samuel, at the Lord's bidding, had anointed Saul as king over Israel that he should now pronounce God's condemnation over him as well.) The once proud and mighty king fell face down to the ground as he explained the dire situation to Samuel's spirit and sought his counsel. Samuel was perturbed, to say the least.
In effect, Samuel replied to Saul saying, "What did you expect? I told you and all the children of Israel that having a king rule over you, rather than trusting in the Lord our God, would only work as long as you obey the voice of the Lord our God. Disobey, and He will take His favor from you. And disobey you did. You thought your decision making to be better than His and you refused to deal with the Amalekites as He ordered, and the people blindly followed you, just happy to have a king all their very own. Now you will all pay the price. You and your sons will soon be dead, with me. Your army will be defeated and routed. And God will make David, whom you tried your best to kill, king over all Israel. I warned you this could happen, and now it is." And indeed it did.
Saul and the people of Israel paid a huge price for disobeying God. Saul thought he knew better than God, that he could get away with second-guessing the Lord of all creation. Too often we're guilty of the same thing. We think our ideas are better than what God has planned. We try to order Him to do our bidding, offer Him deals if He'll do things our way. We only tithe or worship or love Him and one another when it is convenient or serves our purposes. We expect God to answer us just because we call the name of His Son. We've been warned. Samuel sounded the alarm and told us exactly what can happen. We must obey the Lord and listen to His voice. Otherwise we may make a very costly mistake. Obey the Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, Lord of all, Holy Holy Holy be Your name in all creation! Forgive us, merciful Father, for not obeying You, for not heeding Your word, for not following Your instructions. Please remind us to always pause before making a decision so that we might seek Your counsel, and listen for Your voice in our lives. Please do not take Your favor from us but continue to pour out Your many blessings upon us. In the gracious name of Jesus we beg You and we pray. Amen.
In effect, Samuel replied to Saul saying, "What did you expect? I told you and all the children of Israel that having a king rule over you, rather than trusting in the Lord our God, would only work as long as you obey the voice of the Lord our God. Disobey, and He will take His favor from you. And disobey you did. You thought your decision making to be better than His and you refused to deal with the Amalekites as He ordered, and the people blindly followed you, just happy to have a king all their very own. Now you will all pay the price. You and your sons will soon be dead, with me. Your army will be defeated and routed. And God will make David, whom you tried your best to kill, king over all Israel. I warned you this could happen, and now it is." And indeed it did.
Saul and the people of Israel paid a huge price for disobeying God. Saul thought he knew better than God, that he could get away with second-guessing the Lord of all creation. Too often we're guilty of the same thing. We think our ideas are better than what God has planned. We try to order Him to do our bidding, offer Him deals if He'll do things our way. We only tithe or worship or love Him and one another when it is convenient or serves our purposes. We expect God to answer us just because we call the name of His Son. We've been warned. Samuel sounded the alarm and told us exactly what can happen. We must obey the Lord and listen to His voice. Otherwise we may make a very costly mistake. Obey the Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, Lord of all, Holy Holy Holy be Your name in all creation! Forgive us, merciful Father, for not obeying You, for not heeding Your word, for not following Your instructions. Please remind us to always pause before making a decision so that we might seek Your counsel, and listen for Your voice in our lives. Please do not take Your favor from us but continue to pour out Your many blessings upon us. In the gracious name of Jesus we beg You and we pray. Amen.
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