I Samuel 28:11-12
“Finally, the woman said, ‘Well, whose spirit do you want me to call up?’ ‘Call up Samuel,’ Saul replied. When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, ‘You’ve deceived me! You are Saul’”
“The woman said, ‘So whom do you want me to bring up?’ ‘Samuel. Bring me Samuel.’ When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly to Saul, ‘Why did you lie to me? You’re Saul!’”
There are a couple of hard things about these verses. Saul began with such promise. It is heartbreaking to see him come down to this in his last days; spiritually adrift, paralyzed with fear and failure, and consulting a witch.
Then we wonder that God’s prophet Samuel responded to the call of such a woman. Perhaps understanding comes with noting the apparent Samuel accepts Saul’s worship, something the real Samuel never would have done. (I Samuel 28:14 and Deuteronomy 5:7) This was a spirit impersonating Samuel but how did it know the future? Maybe it didn’t but spoke out of Satan’s intention to destroy all God has wrought and only seemed to provide an accurate prediction. Scripture repeatedly confronts us with the choice to trust God or sit in judgement of him. If I understood everything, how would he be God? So, I choose to trust that our good God always acts in accordance with his character and leave the perplexing parts of scripture in his hands.
Lord, I am grateful to rest in your authority and wisdom. You know what you are about, and I don’t have to know everything.
I Samuel 27:10-12
“Achish would ask, ‘And whom did you raid today?’ David would tell him, ‘Oh, the Negev of Judah,’ or ‘The Negev of Jerahmeel,’ or ‘The Negev of the Kenites.’ He never left a single person alive lest one show up in Gath and report what David had really been doing. This is the way David operated all the time he lived in Philistine country. Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, ‘He’s made himself so repugnant to his people that he’ll be in my camp forever.’”
“‘Where did you make your raid today?’ Achish would ask. And David would reply, ‘Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.’ No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines. Achish believed David and thought to himself, ‘By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!’”
The Bible records real life and it is a comfort to we who live it. These verses portray David in one his less inspiring moments. Living amongst Israel’s traditional enemies must have been hard for his followers. Achish, who seems like a nice guy was deliberately deceived. There was also the raiding discussed in the previous post. How could this have been God’s best plan? Perhaps it wasn’t. David, worn by the ceaseless tension of leading a large band of outlaws in the wilderness, maintaining multiple hideouts, constantly on the move, decided God could not protect him anymore and found his own solution. He chose to live among Israel’s heathen enemies.
We have moments like this too, giving up on God and taking matters into our own hands. We fail in faith just as David. And we also end up in big trouble as David did when he found himself arrayed with the Philistines for war against Israel. (I Samuel 29:1-2) Graciously God bears our failings, covers for our blunders, and provides a way out. His purpose for us still goes forward, though not as well as it could have and not without consequences. Real life recorded in the Bible teaches us we are not lost and may still climb up on God’s best path for our lives.
Oh Lord! This is so good to read. My life seems a constant series of mistakes and you know all about them. I give them to you, trusting you alone can work magic through them, continuing to fit me for eternity.
I Samuel 27:8-9
“From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—these people were longtime inhabitants of the land stretching toward Shur and on to Egypt. When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing—the works. Then he’d return to Achish.”
“David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times. David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish. ”
This is troublesome to moderns, especially people of the West, so centered on the rights of man. How can someone who loves a loving God do such a thing? It is easily made into an argument for rejecting Biblical faith.
There are two things to consider before doing so. Context is key. David was part of the early Iron Age, in the Middle East around 1000 B.C.E. It was characterized by balkanization and the development of social classes. Iron meant better tools for farming and increasing yield which drove cultural development. It also meant better weapons and more warfare between developing national identities. Might ruled right and human life was cheap.
When Biblical passages are perplexing, look for what God was doing and use other Bible passages to aid understanding. In Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence.” God will not tolerate evil. Later in Genesis God tells Abraham his descendants will be oppressed and enslaved in a foreign land and “After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction." (Genesis 15:16) God stays his hand of judgement until a culture is fully saturated with evil and beyond redemption. Perhaps the sins of these nomads in the Negev were ripe for judgement and David was God’s agent of destruction. We don’t know what went on in the nomad’s camp and must trust that God did.
Lord, thank you for helping me write about this. Please use it to teach others of yourself, assuring them you keep evil’s score and will redeem the destruction it has wrought. Let them know it is because you love us so.
I Samuel 26:10-11
“He went on, ‘As GOD lives, either GOD will strike him, or his time will come and he’ll die in bed, or he’ll fall in battle, but GOD forbid that I should lay a finger on GOD’s anointed. Now, grab the spear at his head and the water jug and let’s get out of here.’”
“Surely the LORD will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. The LORD forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!’”
David respected God’s holiness; his otherness, righteous integrity and perfection. Somehow, he learned of it in his journey from runt shepherd to warrior outlaw, something Christian’s living in the age of grace can fail to grasp. David believed Saul’s life as anointed king belonged to God. David would not step in with worldly expediency and murder the king. Instead, he chose to wait upon God’s holy purpose. When we understand God’s holiness, we also learn to wait.
Lord, forgive my barging ahead with what seems expedient, failing to wait upon you. Help me remember to always check with you first. May my actions be seasoned with resting and waiting upon your purpose, honoring you, my holy Lord.
I Samuel 25:36-38
“When Abigail got home she found Nabal presiding over a huge banquet. He was in high spirits—and very, very drunk. So she didn’t tell him anything of what she’d done until morning. But in the morning, after Nabal had sobered up, she told him the whole story. Right then and there he had a heart attack and fell into a coma. About ten days later GOD finished him off and he died.”
“When Abigail arrived home, she found that Nabal was throwing a big party and was celebrating like a king. He was very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything about her meeting with David until dawn the next day. In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him what had happened. As a result he had a stroke, and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck him and he died.”
With these verses we get a peek into Abagail’s life and God shows us she is not just someone incidental to David’s story. She was likely just past puberty when married to the abusive man Nabal. When she met David, she had somehow become a mature, graceful, and wise woman, testimony of God’s ministry to her heart. After the experience of David’s charisma, her return to the consequences of her actions must have been disheartening. Whatever she expected as she stood before her husband, it probably wasn’t this kind of deliverance. God’s plan for Abigail took an unexpected turn and, within a couple of days, she found herself in a new life for which she’d been well prepared. That preparation occurred during the struggle to please God in one ordinary day after another in difficult circumstances. Do not distain the ordinary. It is God’s classroom for us. While our life may not be as newsworthy as Abagail’s, it is just as important. God is a good parent who hovers over each of his children because each one is precious to him.
Lord, how can it be that I am worth your attention? You are lord of the galaxies, grand beyond imagining. Yet you call me by name and care about my little problems. As a mother looms large in her infants life, so you fill up mine. You and you only nourish and preserve me. I love you.
I Samuel 25:32-34
“And David said, ‘Blessed be GOD, the God of Israel. He sent you to meet me! And blessed be your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and taking charge of looking out for me. A close call! As GOD lives, the God of Israel who kept me from hurting you, if you had not come as quickly as you did, stopping me in my tracks, by morning there would have been nothing left of Nabal but dead meat.’”
“David replied to Abigail, ‘Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands. For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from hurting you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me , not one of Nabal’s men would still be alive tomorrow morning.’”
David shows his humanity and reacts to an insult with anger and vengeance. He did not take time to ask God about it. Yet God provides a way of escape from sin by sending Abigail to him. Later in this story David takes Abigail as wife and earlier, in verse three, we learn Abigail was smart. So, God blesses David doubly by giving him a wise sounding board in this new wife. God himself stood in the gap between what David thought to do and what he ought to do, just as the Spirit does for us. David repented his intentions because he knew his beloved Lord well enough to recognize his fingerprints on a situation. May we have the wisdom and humility to do the same.
Lord, grace me to know you better. Give me patience in an emotional moment to turn from what I want to do to what I ought to do. Lead me to the kind of communion with you that adapts to the different parts of my day, sometimes speaking and always present, as an old, dear and faithful friend.
I Samuel 25:1
“Samuel died. The whole country came to his funeral. Everyone grieved over his death, and he was buried in his hometown of Ramah.”
“Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at his house in Ramah.”
Israel’s mourning is testimony to Samuel’s well lived life. There aren’t many places where the Bible describes this nation-wide sentiment at a leader’s death. Ceaselessly traveling his circuit to visit Israel, teaching, judging, and preaching, he lived his love for God by loving God’s people. May we do the same.
Lord, the quality of Samuel’s life is compelling. I want to live the same way. Today I feel so weary. Give me strength to continue this race you have given me. I can’t do it alone. I long to please you. Help me!
I Samuel 24:3-4
“He came to some sheep pens along the road. There was a cave there and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were huddled far back in the same cave. David’s men whispered to him, ‘Can you believe it? This is the day GOD was talking about when he said, ‘I’ll put your enemy in your hands. You can do whatever you want with him.’’ Quiet as a cat, David crept up and cut off a piece of Saul’s royal robe.”
“At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave! ‘Now’s your opportunity!’ David’s men whispered to him, ‘Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with him as you wish’’ So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.”
Through the turmoil of the preceding chapters David learned to listen for God in a new way. For months he had hidden, been betrayed by the locals, run and hidden, only to be betrayed again. At Saul’s vulnerability David’s men responded from a human point of view and put God’s stamp on it. When we listen to God, who excels at working upside down and inside out, we are liberated from the prison of our point of view. Because David listened, God had opportunity to call out to Saul’s heart once more and David’s men grew in respect and awe of their leader.
Lord, emotions make it hard to hear you in the heat of the moment. Let me be rooted in you so I respond to everything as you would. Give me your point of view.
I Samuel 23:13
“So David and his men got out of there. There were about six hundred of them. They left Keilah and kept moving, going here, there, wherever—always on the move.”
“So David and his men- about 600 of them now- left Keilah and began roaming the countryside.”
There is a wealth of effort in this verse. Many chores of living require a bit of stationary time: repair, mending, cleaning, food preparation, and many others. Children need to rest their growing bodies, mothers require time to gather medicinals, food must be processed, relationships nurtured, and on and on. Staying alive, for a large band on the run, was neither exciting nor easy. David and his outcasts lived it for years. God used it to hone and harden an army that would carry David to kingship and beyond. God is a good parent who disciplines his children and prepares them to accomplish his purpose, so they may live into the destiny he has prepared for them.
Lord, I love knowing you have a future for me. Not just me but for any of the billions of souls ever born who cling to you. How great you are! Holy Spirit, be my strength and courage that I may not faint in preparation. Give me confidence to run my race well, for your glory
I Samuel 22:20-23
“Only one son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped: Abiathar. He got away and joined up with David. Abiathar reported to David that Saul had murdered the priests of GOD. David said to Abiathar, ‘I knew it—that day I saw Doeg the Edomite there, I knew he’d tell Saul. I’m to blame for the death of everyone in your father’s family. Stay here with me. Don’t be afraid. The one out to kill you is out to kill me, too. Stick with me. I’ll protect you.’”
“Only Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech escaped and fled to David. When he told David that Saul had killed the Priests of the Lord, David explained, ‘I knew it! When I saw Doeg the Edomite there that day, I knew he was sure to tell Saul. Now I have caused the death of all your father’s family.’ Stay here with me, and don’t be afraid. I will protect you with my own life, for the same person wants to kill us both.’”
Like David, all of us have regretted not paying closer attention to our surroundings. David took responsibility for this blood bath though it really belonged to Saul. Our Savior likewise took responsibility for our sins and paid their penalty. David also says he will protect grief-stricken Ahimelech with his life. Our Savior having lived our weaknesses likewise advocates for us with his resurrected life before a holy God. God brought one good thing out of this slaughter; he provided David with a priest.
Lord, thank you for helping me when I get tangled up in bad situations. Give me wisdom and make me able to comfort others also involved when life goes topsy-turvy. I rejoice in you, my God, who is able to keep me safe and straighten the crooked events in my life.
I Samuel 22:18-19
“Then the king told Doeg, ‘You do it—massacre the priests!’ Doeg the Edomite led the attack and slaughtered the priests, the eighty-five men who wore the sacred robes. He then carried the massacre into Nob, the city of priests, killing man and woman, child and baby, ox, donkey, and sheep—the works. ”
“Then the king said to Doeg, ‘You do it.’ Do Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all still wearing their priestly garments. Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the Priests’ families – Men and women, children and babies – and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats. ”
Sometimes things like this happen to us. Fight or flight’ surges within and all we counted on is helpless to protect us. God is all that is left. But where, we ask, is God in this? The spiritual force at work here is God’s opposite, evil. These kinds of authoritarian politics are fertile soil for the Devil, and he calls all his worms out of the woodwork.
Doeg is one such worm. Human history is full of men like Saul and Doeg and all of us make Doeg choices in big or little ways. Repeated choices towards evil eventually end in some kind of carnage that seeks to destroy God’s good. God allows it and we ask why. There is no easy answer, but who are we to demand it of almighty God? If we find ourselves a participant, we must trust God to walk thought it with us. If we observe, we must trust in what God says about himself, that he hates evil and will avenge innocent suffering in his own way and time.
Oh Lord! My heart cries at this reading, for all those caught in such cruelty. I believe you are big enough to track all oppression and avenge every instance throughout human history. Do it God! Avenge innocent suffering. Don’t delay.
I Samuel 22:1-2
“So David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.”
“So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. Then others began comings̶— men who were in trouble or in debt or who were in just discontented— until David was the captain of about 400 men.”
David was a commander without an army when he went into exile. How could he imagine God would provide one? But he did. God works outside the box, behind the scenes. When crises looms, live expectantly, with an adventurous spirit, looking for our mighty God’s surprise provision.
Lord, I love looking backward to see you at work. Let my hindsight be foresight, trusting in you. May you ever be my vision, of Lord of my heart.