13

The years had passed. Samuel, the faithful servant of the Lord, had lived his entire life with one focus: to always honor the Lord. Nothing was ever allowed to compete with this priority in any area of either his heart or his mind.

He held true to this course, right to the very end. As we think of this great man of God, we are reminded of another great man of God: the Apostle Paul. He wrote to Timothy some words which applied equally to himself and to Samuel:

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith!"

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing" (2 Timothy 4: 6 - 8).

Those are words which depict so appropriately the glory of the climax of a life which was lived in humble and complete commitment to the honor of the Lord.

As we come to this twenty eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, what a stark contrast we see in the developments which marked the passing of the years in Saul's life!

Each new development exposed with such stark clarity how far Saul had so willfully deviated from the life of service to which the Lord had called him. It was a life which started out full of great promise and potential.

Yet, by the time we come to the events of this chapter, Saul's life was about to come to a sudden and violent close. He was so soon to face the incredibly bitter harvest of the life which he had chosen to live.

"Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city."

"And Samuel died!" (1 Samuel 25: 1). This was a very simple statement which carried a very great impact.

"Samuel died" - as he had lived! The man whose entire life had expressed the most dynamic motivation: Ensure that in everything The Lord is honored. Nothing had ever been permitted to compete with this priority.

Even in his death the focus is not really on the man. The focus is on the Lord whom he honored. His passing so dramatically reminded everyone concerned of the glory and grace of the Lord.

We must avoid accepting the superficial assessment that the later years of Samuel's life were neither as great nor as effective as his earlier years. After all, some may argue, the fact that the people demanded to be given a king is evidence that he had lost his influence with them.

Such a verdict is so blind. Even in rejection, possibly more so in this rejection than at other times, the radiant light of the genuineness of his life and commitment far surpassed every other event of the time, both in importance and impact on the nation.

By so faithfully honoring the Lord in this very difficult period, Samuel revealed even more of the amazing grace and glory of the Lord to the very people who insisted that they wanted to be like the other nations around them.

"Samuel died!" And, in his death, he had no personal regrets! He had fought the good fight, and won! He had honored the Lord in unvarying commitment and consecration.

He "finished the course!" His eyes on the Lord! Seeking only to please Him. Wanting only His approval.

He "kept the faith!" At times; alone! Yet, always utterly loyal to the glory of the Lord.

What a challenge this great man of God is: to us! What an inspiration!

The glory of the goal is always worth the greatest cost which may be required. Because, the glory is: to see the Lord! To anticipate that moment with personal confidence, because we have sought to please Him for His glory.

"And all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him."

"Lamented!" There had been a time, so much earlier, when "all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord" (7: 2). When Samuel was the one who so faithfully revealed the way of restoration to fellowship with the Lord.

In the years which followed, Samuel's leadership and influence had steered the nation into accepting and applying the principles by which he himself lived. The Lord greatly blessed them. They enjoyed peace and prosperity.

It is true, the time did come, when they insisted that Samuel give them a king, so that they could be like the nations. They had rejected Samuel's Leadership, even as they rejected the Lord.

But even then, they began to learn the folly of these self-serving demands. Samuel had so faithfully told them what it would mean for them to have a king. They were discovering how right he had been!

But, now he was gone! No one ever questioned the commitment of Samuel to the Lord. They knew that his life and conduct were above reproach in every way. They knew that they had in Samuel the most decisive demonstration of what it means to live life to honor the Lord.

But, Samuel died! The people realized, probably as never before, how much they needed him. But, he was gone! No longer with them to pray for them! Or, to correct and chastise them! Or, even warn them!

Who was there now who would grieve over them? Weep over their foolish failures? Give of himself in the most sacrificial ways in his attempts to hold them true to the Lord? Who?

"Samuel died!" His death did not diminish his greatness. In fact, to the Israelites, his death must have added considerable illumination to his greatness. They should have seen him as they had not seen him before.

Consider this: At times rejected. His life and service discounted. Yet all the while: remaining true to the Lord!

The close of the life reveals the true stature of the life. The extensiveness of the service of the life. So that those who remain realize: One who truly loved and honored the Lord is now gone from us, and our loss is great, and real. The grief is deep.

Think! It may mean for you, that to be true to the Lord day by day will result in others turning away from you. They choose to walk the path of compromise which you will not walk!

There may be many lonely days. Times when we are compelled to ask: Why?

Yet, far better that, if, when the humble faithful servant of the Lord is gone, those very people realize their great loss. It is so real because the one who genuinely honored the Lord is no longer present to enrich their lives in ways they will sadly miss!

"And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled."

The Philistines had not been a problem to Israel during the period when Samuel was the recognized leader. But as soon as the Israelites demanded to be given a king, the situation changed dramatically.

Throughout the entire reign of Saul it was the Philistines who repeatedly caused him the greatest difficulties. This renewed attack only accentuated the negative impact which they had.

This fact is brought out so obviously by the words, "He was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled !" This craven fear was so demoralizing. Leaving him stripped of both strength and courage. Of confidence and resolve.

Early in his reign as king, Saul had been quite different. Strong. Confident. Marked by a dynamic resolve to effectively lead his people. But, no longer!

"And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets!"

Saul was desperate! He knew how much he so urgently needed both the guidance and the enabling which only the Lord could give to him. Yet, he had reached the point where he had not only been stripped of strength and confidence. But, at this point, his urgent, anguished prayers went unanswered!

Samuel had never experienced this problem. Yet it was a constant reality for Saul. The reason is so obvious. It went back to that moment when, as Saul had returned from the attack on the Amalekites, Samuel had told him:

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king!" (1 Samuel 15: 23).

"Rejected!" "The LORD hath also rejected thee!" Those words were to haunt Saul for the rest of his life.

When he was driven to pray so desperately, because of the threatened attack of the Philistines, the answer to his prayers had already been given: "The Lord hath rejected thee!"

The unchanging principle was applied: "Them that honor Me I will honor; and them that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed."

Did Saul despise the Lord? He did, when he decided to over-reach his authority and deliberately ignored the Word of the Lord.

Saul was not, is not, the only one to have this bitter, tragic experience. There are so very many who have willfully decided to walk this same road. Frantic Reasoning

"Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her."

This man had once been specifically anointed for his special responsibility in the service of the Lord. The Holy Spirit of the Lord had come on him to equip him to be able to walk with the Lord. Enabling him to honor the Lord in all areas of his life and service.

But now, he had become spiritually destitute and morally bankrupt! This was the result of choosing to act as though he was the master of his own destiny. Only to find that his life was empty, and his future so dark and threatening!

In his stark and desperate folly, he turned to seek help from the spiritual forces of darkness and evil! By his own choice he had no where else to turn. No one else to whom he could turn.

Personally distressed and disturbed. His thinking so completely chaotic. His life nothing but a useless wreck of "what might have been!"

This was certainly not the way the Lord had wanted things to develop. But, then, Saul had already rejected the Lord, His will, and His Word.

Again, let us not imagine that Saul is the only one who has made foolish decisions which resulted in such tragic consequences. There are so many who have willfully chosen to walk this road, only to so greatly regret the consequences when it is far too late to turn back.

There will yet be many others who will choose to follow that example. At such tragic cost.

Saul urgently wanted answers. Guidance. So he disguised himself and went by night to the witch of Endor!

He requested, "I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee."

He knew better! But, being rejected by the Lord he chose to plunge deeper into the spiritual darkness in a desperate attempt to find some peace.

In doing so, he assured this woman that he would ensure that no action would be taken against her, thus further dishonoring the Word of the Lord!

He was inextricably enmeshed in a morass of his own making! Sinking deeper and deeper into the vile confusion which was the direct result of his own stubborn disobedience.

Remember the Word of the Lord spoken by Samuel, "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft?" He had reached the point where he even embraced the actual witchcraft!

What an incredibly high price to pay! For what? So that he could have his own way! And, to get his own way, choosing again to dishonor the Lord and His Word.

This woman believed that she could proceed with her usual manipulation in dealing with this situation. She implied that she could bring up anyone requested, whoever her client wanted.

In the usual circumstances this entire process involved deliberate deception and manipulation. This woman was a willing pawn who freely and actively participated in deception for monetary gain.

It did not matter who the client was. Her evil alliances with the spirit world would result in the client becoming convinced that they had been able to actually talk with the person whom they requested to meet.

This entire process was based on a dangerous lie. The end result was always nothing more than an elaborate lie. Those who sought this service made themselves the deluded pawns of the evil powers of spiritual darkness.

The Lord has so graciously given so many strong warnings against any kind of participation in these practices. He has done so, specifically to protect people from the degrading delusions and devices of the enemy: Satan.

God would not speak to him. Saul's desperate hope was, that by making contact with the man of God, He would be able to get some kind of answer or direction.

The only way he could hope to talk to Samuel was to resort to the use of this medium: the witch of Endor! Saul knew that everything about this approach and request was totally wrong. He knew that in pressing to speak to Samuel in this way he was defiantly dishonoring the Lord even more!

He knew that inevitably it would bring on him even greater condemnation and judgement from the Lord!

He was already deep, so very deep, in this abysmal hole. The hole which he had so willfully dug for himself. If only he could get out. Or go back! If only he could reverse the many foolish mistakes which he had made, bringing him to this utterly desperate condition. But, he could not. It was all: too late!

How we need to warn people today! Plead with them to listen to the Lord. Honor the Lord. To honor Him by obeying His Word for His glory.

As Saul discovered: for us to go our own way will inevitably demand an impossibly high price!

In all of her experiences as a medium, the witch of Endor had never had an experience like the one she faced on that day.

"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul!"

She never expected this! She had taken it for granted that things would happen as they always had before. That the evil spirits to whom she willingly submitted herself would be in complete control of the situation. Deceiving, yet satisfying the gullible fool who sought their aid!

That is the way it had always been in the past. But, not this time!

The last person she anticipated seeing was: Samuel! It did not matter that he was the one Saul had asked for. He was not supposed to appear!

She had lost control! Better: the evil spirits who normally controlled and used her had lost control! She was reduced to a state of abject panic!

God had intervened and overruled! He had done so because he had one final message for the apostate king, Saul. The Lord had intervened to permit Samuel to deliver that message.

No wonder the witch of Endor realized that she had no way to control these developments, nor that she was possessed with such great fear and apprehension!

Like so many, both Saul and the witch had forgotten one vital fact: God is always in control!

How we today need to constantly keep this fact in mind. HE IS: GOD! Absolute Sovereign! Almighty! Whenever He intervenes, no one - not even all of the demons in hell - can hinder Him!

It is interesting to notice that there was neither fear nor apprehension in Saul's response.

"And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle."

She had expected to see her usual allies: evil spirits! She saw: "gods!" "An old man in a mantle!" She had every reason to be greatly afraid!

Saul was so utterly desperate that he had lost the ability to be afraid! Even when he was confronted with the most compelling evidence that God was moving in power to confront him. The Lord was moving in an unprecedented way.

So desperate! So blind! So devoid of understanding! If only, somehow, he could get an answer.

Was he the only one who ever sank so low? No! So many have chosen to follow the same road and reach the same end. The warning is so strong, so clear. But many still refuse to listen.

"And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself."

Saul recognized that Samuel, the one who had so faithfully honored the Lord, was coming back to meet with him. The king had achieved the goal of his twisted disturbed mind.

He greeted Samuel with an act of respect. How utterly incongruous that scene was!

In the home of a medium, a witch, who willingly trafficked with evil spirits. Participating in practices which Saul knew the Lord had completely forbidden. Bowing, in respect, before the man who personified the practice of honoring the Lord!

But, it was still: too late! Far too late! If only Saul's attitude to Samuel had been marked by true respect and reverence when Samuel met him returning from the battle with the Amalekites! It was not!

Then, he had been so very full of his own self-importance. He had dared to lie to the man of God: "I have performed the commandment of the Lord!"(15: 13).

Too late! And not only for Saul! But, also for vast numbers who want to play their foolish games. Acting as though they can get away with foolishness!

Samuel challenged Saul: "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?"

"And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do."

At last, Saul recognized and acknowledged the truth. The course of events had inevitably left him with no choice but to face the most unpleasant facts. God had left him! God was no longer listening or responding to his cried for help!

Yet, remember, the Lord had to say to Saul: "You have rejected Me! Therefore, I have rejected you!"

It was Saul who left the Lord. Which meant that the Lord had no choice but to leave Saul to his own devices.

Saul refused to either hear or honor the Word of the Lord. The inevitable result: there was no way the Lord could, or would, speak to this man who would not listen!

Saul was so full of self-pity! Why had God deserted him? Why had God refused to speak to him?

Saul was reaping the whirl-wind, because he had so willfully sown the wind!

He recognized the facts. Yet it does not appear that he accepted the responsibility, or the consequences. He still felt that Samuel would speak to him. That the result would bring all he needed at the time.

"Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?"

Could there be any words which would be more devastating? How Saul must inevitably regret, in time and in eternity, the course of action which he had deliberately chosen to follow in his desperate attempt to receive guidance.

Samuel's presence and words were a rebuke to Saul. Reminding him that Samuel's entire life had been lived to honor the Lord. If the Lord would no longer speak to him, what made him imagine that Samuel would have anything good to say to him?

"The Lord is departed from thee!" Saul had just admitted this fact. Samuel confirmed it! Stating that nothing could reverse that decision!

Saul admitted: The Lord no longer answered his prayer. The reason is simple: Saul's attitude and actions resulted in the Lord becoming his enemy! Saul had so deliberately and defiantly rejected Him and His Word!

Every word of Samuel's response honored the Lord. In time, and in eternity, Samuel was unwavering in his commitment to honor the Lord.

What a verdict! Saul had willfully brought it all on himself! What a warning this is: today!

"The Lord hath done to him, as He spoke to me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David."

This is absolutely true to the Word of the Lord which was spoken by Samuel to Saul at the time the king returned from the Amalekites. When Saul had so foolishly boasted, "I have performed the commandment of the Lord!"

"And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou" (1 Samuel 15: 28).

The Word of the Lord must be received in the attitude which highly honors both the Lord and His Word. It is this attitude which we see in Samuel.

"God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" (Numbers 23: 19).

"The Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword" (Hebrews 4: 12).

Every promise has the Lord's absolute guarantee! Every Word of warning carries that same guarantee!

Saul was reaping the terribly bitter harvest which he had brought on himself as the direct result of his abject failures to honor the Word of the Lord.

"Those who honor Me I will honor; they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed!"

We must believe His Word. Live by it. Motivated by His love to always honor Him.

Saul's attitude was identical to a great many people who lived, both, before him and after him. He obviously believed that all he needed to do was put on a good show! Pretending to honor the Lord! Obeying the Lord just enough to be "convincing." If he did these things, surely the Lord would be satisfied.

This distorted way of thinking is so clearly demonstrated in his claim, "Blessed by thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord!"(15: 13)

He made it sound so good! So "spiritual!" He felt that it should have convinced anyone.

But, it did not convince Samuel! The Lord had already told him the truth: "Saul hath not performed My commandments!"(15: 11)

It certainly did not convince the Lord! It is utter folly to imagine that the Lord will be satisfied with an outward show which is nothing more than pretense.

The Lord is: GOD! He does have every right to demand that His Word be honored in every particular. Even as He knows whether it is or not. For anyone to resort to pretense is to dishonor the Lord in the most outrageous way.

"Therefore whosoever heareth these saying of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man" (Matthew 7: 24).

The wise person is the one who hears the Word of the Lord and does it! Obeys it! He does not merely pretend to do it. Nor does he claim that he had done it when he knows that he has not done it.

The wise person obeys the Word of the Lord! Because he loves the Lord. He is committed to honor the Lord.

"If ye love Me, keep My commandments!"(John 14: 15). There is no alternative to this. Yet, there are so many who profess to love and serve the Lord, yet they want to pretend that His Word does not apply to them.

Saul dishonored the Lord. The Lord dishonored him! Saul acted as though the Word of the Lord did not have ultimate authority over him. The Lord stripped him of all authority, power, and respect!

Listen: "And everyone that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man!" (Matthew 7: 26).

The inevitable end result: Disaster! The Lord Jesus said so! He meant every word of His warning!

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh in also you that believe!" (1 Thessalonians 2: 13).

The Word of God is alive! Powerful! Sharp! Those who honor God by believing His Word, receiving it as His Word, discover that the Word works in them: so very powerfully and effectively!

The Word works for them in power! Through them! This same living, powerful, sharp Word works against all those who dishonor the Lord by dishonoring His Word. The consequences: total disaster!

"Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines."

Saul had so arrogantly sinned against the Lord. It was his sin. He personally had willfully dishonored the Lord. He personally had deliberately despised the Word of the Lord.

Disaster was inevitable! Yet, did he ever imagine how terribly extensive the cost and the consequences of his sin would be?

Not only Saul himself, but the nation of Israel was stripped of the support and the sufficiency of the Lord. Inevitably made to share his disastrous defeat at the hands of the Philistines!

Saul: facing imminent death! But, not alone. His own sons were caught up in this awesome judgement! One man's sin was the cause of this great tragedy, this humiliating defeat. So many others caught in the inextricable web he had woven!

Too many people may want to jump in and protest: he wasn't hurting anyone but himself. That is a foolish lie!

As the foolish lie which is still so common: I am not hurting anyone but myself! The cost and the consequences of sin can never be restricted in this manner. Inevitably, far too many "innocent" bystanders are so severely hurt by one man's sin!

Do we today really believe that? Death! Saul and his sons would die! Cut down in the battle. Saul brought this on his own sons by his foolish attitude to sin. They would be slaughtered in the carnage of Israel's shameful defeat!

Far too often parents ignore the cost which their sin demands of their own families. This fact is true with many who profess to be Christians and serve the Lord!

The Lord has made these vital issues unmistakably clear. Do we really believe Him?

"Then Saul fell straightway all along the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him."

"The words of Samuel" conveyed: The Word of the Lord! This man who had always lived to honor the Lord continued to faithfully honor the Lord by speaking the Word of the Lord in authenticity and power!

This message was not what Saul had hoped to hear. He may have desired that Samuel would, at least, make some small effort to offer a sop to Saul. After all, Saul was facing such a terrible predicament!

Samuel was only interested in: pleasing the Lord! He would do nothing else. He could do nothing else. Not even for Saul. Nor for anyone else.

Saul was forced to face eternal reality. This stark tragedy which confronted him in such an ominous manner was all of his own making: He had dishonored the Lord! Eternal reality is so dramatically evident as we examine these developments. Evaluation! Judgement! Condemnation! Defeat! Disaster! Death! Eternal accountability!

In the light of this eternal reality: surely we are compelled to face this very urgent question:

Samuel did! And the Lord continuously honored him in the most exciting and wonderful ways!

Saul did not! So that his life became increasingly more desperate and tragic as he reaped the inevitable harvest which came from the course he had chosen for himself.

You! And I! We each must make our own personal choice. No one else can make it for you. No one else can make it for me!

Choose to live to always honor the Lord in everything! You will never regret making that choice. Samuel had no regrets! Neither in time, nor in eternity!