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Today we see the stark contrast between the believer (David) and Saul, who has fallen away.

Read 1 Samuel 28-31 and Psalm 18

 

There is a clear picture painted here for us.  Saul himself banned all mediums, and now he is in search of one.  That which was forbidden and ungodly is no longer off limits for him.   He is filled with fear, he can no longer hear from the Lord, and none of the normal priestly practices are working anymore.    The collapse of Saul is complete, he no longer hears from God, and based on the reason he gives Samuel for conjuring him up, he doesn’t even realize how lost he has become.   This is the end state of all who place self before serving God.

Of course, we know that, and no one is thinking about that right now anyway.   I’m guessing that we all want to know about conjuring up spirits from the dead and having them talk to us.   Can that really happen?   Is Saul relying on black magic, and does sorcery work?

 

Let’s have a look.  Here’s what we already know: God is real, so is the devil and demonic forces.   The devil tries to copy whatever God does.  We also know that the Hebrews used the Urim and Thummin (dice) to determine what God wanted them to do.   God was the one who told them to make the dice, and how they would know what His answer was.   These were holy dice.  (Don’t tell the Free Methodists).

So then, what’s the difference between the Holy Spirit speaking through dice and an evil spirit speaking through tea leaves or cards?   Nothing.  Of course that can happen.  We have definitive proof that spirits have worked like that in the past.

Here’s a question.   Can God use anything that the devil claims for himself?   (Sure, nothing is beyond God).   So, if a person uses the dark arts (an unauthorized way of summoning spirits) to call on the dead, could they instead receive a message from God?   Absolutely.   God is 100% in charge of the spirit realm…He can respond any time He wants.   

I think that we fail to process correctly what is happening when the tea leaves or the cards are read.   We give too much credit to the human who is summoning.  By our way of thinking, the spirit MUST present itself to whoever is burning the candle and chanting mumbo jumbo.   But that’s not true.   All of our conjuring is quite simply unauthorized and unacceptable prayer.   Have you ever thought of it that way?   Spiritists are simply 
“calling” on the spirit realm…and sure, they are often looking for demonic spirits instead of God.   But what lies on the other side of life is more powerful than what lives on this side, and can choose to respond or ignore our call.

This witch from Endor (wasn’t that in Star Wars?) has no special power.   Every saint of God can do what she did…ask something of God.   In her case, God answers…even if that wasn’t who she dialed.

 

I always thought that Samuel showed up in spirit form…rose up in a mist and presented himself in front of Saul.  But Saul asks the witch “what do you see?”.  I think she was in a trance, and she is the only one who saw Samuel.   And, I think it really was Samuel.  He was in Paradise, awaiting the opening of the gates of heaven.   Saul would soon be there, maybe in paradise…maybe not.   But he would be in purgatory for sure, along with Samuel and the others.   One thing is for certain, it was the Holy Spirit that allowed this woman to see Samuel, and allowed Samuel to pronounce a judgment from beyond the grave.   None of this should surprise us…we all know that life doesn’t end at the grave, we merely lose contact with the temporary physical realm.   Of course we continue to exist, and be aware.   Going from this life into the next will be our greatest adventure, and the fulfillment of our life’s work.

 

A couple of quick notes:   Jonathan was a righteous man by all accounts.  He died in battle because his dad was disobedient.  Had his father been righteous, he might have been king.   I want to remember that my fate is tied up in the obedience of others.   And, my obedience (or disobedience) affects others.   As a father, I never want to live with the realization that my children are paying for my sins…and the only way to avoid that is to rid myself of sin.

#2  Even when David has done nothing wrong, and the enemy has robbed his town…his men wanted to kill him.  This boggles my mind.  Why wouldn’t they instead turn to David and ask for help?  Instead they want to harm the one person who is blessed by God and can get their families back.   David, to his credit, doesn’t react to them but instead takes his brokenness directly to God.

#3 When God grants victory David is generous.  I want to be as generous as David.  He gives to the men who were too exhausted to travel, he gives to the people of the towns in which he and his men had stayed.  I wonder if the people who wanted to stone David were the same ones who didn’t want the men who remained in camp to receive a share?   I’ll bet they didn’t see the wisdom in giving gifts to the towns they had stayed in, either.

#4  I wonder if David sent a little extra to the town where Abigail was from?  Her relatives were likely in that area.   I’ll bet David was a hero to her for sure.  He rescues her twice, once from Nabal, and once from the Amalakites, and he sends gifts to her relatives.    I’d like to meet her in heaven, I’m fairly certain she is something special.

#5  I think this Psalm was written after David became king, based on verse 43.   At this point, David isn’t in power.   It probably refers to this moment, as well as other times when God gave David victory.

#6  God was riding on a huge cherub?  That’s interesting.   I hadn’t seen that before.   David is describing a rain storm with burning hail and an earthquake.  God must have used these things to tip a battle in his favor at one time.    I wonder what he is referring to when he says that the bottom of the sea became visible?   This whole movement reminds me of the Red Sea passage.   I wonder if David is praising God for that deliverance, and linking his deliverance to that one?

#7  Victory, power, insight, strength, wealth, descendents and wisdom are all blessings from God.  They are rewards for remaining innocent, which is only possible when we obey all that we know about God’s commands.   It isn’t about being perfect, it’s more about being 100% committed to what we know of God.

 

Faithfully,

 

PR