1 Samuel 28-31

1 Samuel 28 – Saul Consults Medium

In the last study David had chosen to escape Saul by making an alliance with King Achish.  He knew he had to join the Philistine army, but he didn’t want to fight the Israelites.  He was forgetting God and going his own way by making his own decisions.  He would learn a new lesson about humility. 

Samuel who was a great prophet of the Lord had died.  He had spoke God’s commands to Saul.  The Spirit of the Lord was with Saul when Saul first became king so he probably removed the spiritists and mediums at that time.  In Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27 and Deuteronomy 18:11 God says the Israelites must not consult mediums.  They had to kill anyone who did this.

The Philistines set up camp at Shunem and were ready to fight the Israelites.    Saul became desperate as to what to do so he inquired of the Lord.  God departed from Saul and didn’t answer.  God warns us that those who fail to follow His Word will lose the privilege of hearing or understanding it.  God looks at the motives of the heart.  Saul's heart was hardened.  Saul was afraid and went to a medium to hear from Samuel as to what to do.  Mediums are people who try to contact dead people.  Samuel spoke to Saul telling him the Lord has turned away from him and has done what was predicted.  He said the Lord has torn Saul’s kingdom away and has given it to neighbors – to David.  He said the Lord will turn Israel and Saul and his sons over to the Philistines.  Saul and his sons will die tomorrow.

We can’t explain this and don’t know how the medium called for Samuel, but the Bible says that we must not find out about such things, because they are evil.

When has your fear caused you to turn to someone other than God?

What were the results?

Principle:  God wants us to look to Him for guidance and trust in Him alone.

1 Samuel 29-30 – David Consults God

Achish and the Philistines didn’t worship the Lord of the Israelites, but Achish used the name of the Lord probably trying to convince David that he really trusted him.  He really wanted David to continue to serve him in the future.  He even said David was a good as an angel from God.  David was still wrapped up in his lies and deceptions.  He was playing a deadly game by deceiving Achish and dishonoring God.  He was ready to fight with Achish, but the army commanders thought since David was a Hebrew he couldn’t be trusted.  They wanted David sent back to Ziklag.  So Achish sent David and his army back.  I am sure David was relieved he wouldn’t have to fight his own people.  David got himself into trouble because he didn’t trust and rely on God.  But God was kind and saved him from a difficult situation.

When they reached home, they found the Amalekites had burned it, plundered it and their families were taken captive.  The men were very sad and cried and then became angry with David.  They blamed him and wanted to kill him.  David was very sad because he lost his 2 wives, but he didn’t blame the Lord.  Instead he trusted the Lord which made him stronger.

David lost the protection of Achish.  He lost his family and his men wanted to stone him.  David had lost everything, but he had not lost God.  This time he didn’t make his own decisions, he went to the priest for help.  David turned to God for strength.  God restored him because God is merciful and gave him undeserved grace.  He remembered God’s love and promises and how God delivered him in the past.

David and his men pursued the Amalekites leaving some of his army behind because they were too weak to continue.  David met an abandoned Egyptian who guided them to the Amalekites.  David and his men found the Amalekites and attacked them and rescued all their families and all the plunder they had taken.  David returned to the men left behind.  Some of his men were trouble makers and didn’t want to share the spoils because the others had not participated in the rescue.  David disagreed saying the Lord had protected them and had handed over the forces that came against them.  They would share everything with everyone.  He made a statue and ordinance for Israel that all will share alike.  David sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah and to the other places he had been.

David was a generous and wise leader.  He cared for all his men even those left behind and showed no favoritism.  His generous gifts showed that he was a good leader. 

Where do you go for guidance?

Principle:  God guides his children to return to Him.

1 Samuel 31 – Saul Dies

The Philistines fought against Israel and many died.  Saul and his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua also died.  Saul was not a good leader and led his army ran away from the Philistines.  Saul was injured and was afraid of what they would do to him so he asked his armor-bearer to kill him.  He said he would not.  So Saul killed himself.  Then his armor-bearer killed himself.

The Israelite army had no leader so the men had run away leaving the towns empty.  The Philistines went and lived in all of their empty towns.  The Philistines took the weapons and armor from the dead soldiers.  They cut off Saul’s head and put his armor in the temple of their idols.  This can be compared to David cutting of Goliath head and putting his sword in the holy place with the priest of the Lord.  David gave honor to the Lord.  Now Saul was dead and the Philistines gave honor to their gods.

The Israelites of Jabesh Gilead were loyal to Saul so they rescued his body and the bodies of his sons and burned them.  They buried the bones under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh and fasted for 7 days.

Saul died just as God said he would and as God predicted.  He died in the way he lived his life.  He died not like a man of courage.  A big lesson here is God’s word is absolutely reliable and will do as He has promises.  He will deal with sin and rebellion in judgment.  He wants us to trust and live in obedience.  God gave Saul time to repent, but he did not.  God gives everyone time to repent.  If you have never trusted in Jesus for salvation, God is now giving you opportunity to repent.

Have you repented?

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

Principle:  God’s Word is absolutely reliable and He will do as He has promises.

Is suicide wrong?  (Bob Deffinbaugh’s study on 1 Samuel 31).

Saul requested assisted suicide, which is wrong.  It’s wrong because he was attempting to minimize the pain and means of divine judgment.  He wanted to die in a way different from what God had predicted.  He was trying to kill the Lord’s anointed.  It would be wrong for his armor-bearer to take a king’s life.  It is wrong for Christians to commit suicide, assisted or not.  If we are ever in such a place that pain is intense or death is near, we should look forward to being at home with the Lord.  We should not end the life which God gives.  Only God has the authority to take life away.

There is a contrast to Saul and Jesus Christ.  Saul’s sin and his desire to die was selfish and self-serving.  The Lord’s death was very different.  He prayed in the garden that the cup of death be removed.  He died in obedience not disobedience.  He didn’t die to save Himself from pain; He died to endure the full pain that we deserve as punishment for our sins.  His death was not a tragic part of His life like a suicide.  His death was not self-serving, but sacrificial.  It was a death He suffered for our sins and for our salvation.

Originally 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel was 1 book.  So the book doesn’t end here.  In 2 Samuel we will continue with the account of David’s rule as king.  See you here next time.

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1 Samuel 25-27

1 Samuel 25:1 – Death of Samuel

Samuel died and all Israel mourned.  Samuel was a prophet of God who designated and anointed Saul as Israel’s first king.  He was the prophet who told Saul his kingship would be taken away.  He was the prophet who anointed David as Saul’s replacement.  It was Samuel who David could flee to when pursued by Saul.  David was very close to Samuel and must have suffered a great loss at Samuel’s death.

1 Samuel 25:2-44 – Mercy Through Abigail

David took his men to Maon to serve as guards for the sheep owners, which was the custom.  Nabal was one of the owners who was very wealthy and had lots of goats and sheep.  The proper time for payment was when the sheep were sheared.  It was shearing time so David sent men to Nabal with a polite request for his share of the payment.  Nabal refused to pay and used cruel and nasty words.  He said he didn’t know David or his family so why should he pay. 

David’s men were offended.  They returned to David and told him what Nabal had said.  David had endured Saul’s threats, but Nabal’s mean words caught him off guard.  After all David was used to getting his way and the people honoring him.  Nabal words made David angry and David was ready to attack and kill Nabal and his entire household.  But Nabal’s wife, Abigail realized she must act quickly and smooth things over with David.  Without telling Nabal she ordered her servants to take supplies to David and his men.  She would ride behind.  She got there just in time and urged David not to carry out his attack.  She accepted the blame for Nabal and offered herself as a sacrificed if David would spare Nabal and all the innocent lives.

She urged David to accept the gift and prayed that God would act against all David’s enemies.  It was God who should punish Nabal.  Abigail convinced David saving Nabal and his servants.  She was a wise woman.  She was humble, brave, courageous and ready to take Nabal’s punishment.  God was using her to save David from doing this evil thing. 

Nabal was greedy, mean, prideful, arrogant, self-centered, cruel and ungrateful that David and his men had guarded and protected his property.  He didn’t want to pay for David for his protection.  He was a cheater and was pleased about it.  He was a proud and foolish man.  His name means Fool.

What impresses me about David is that he never hesitates to confess.  He had no wrong deeds to confess, but he confessed that his plans were wrong.  Many confess their sins, but refuse to change their attitudes.  David confessed and changed his attitudes immediately.  He expressed thanks to Abigail and to God.

God dealt with Nabal.  His heart became like a stone since he was unwilling to change his attitudes.  Soon Nabal died.  He died because of God’s judgment.  Nabal was rich and successful.  He had stored for himself material things of this world, but lost it all.   

Principle:  Conviction of sin is God’s mercy.

David extended God’s grace to Abigail by asking her to marry him which would honor her and protect her from any hardships.  David already had 2 wives, Michal and Ahinoam.  God doesn’t condone polygamy.  God established from the beginning that marriage was between 1 man and 1 woman.  David’s marriages would cause problems in the future to his family and to the nation, but God is merciful to sinners.

David loved God but was still not a perfect person.  God used Abigail to keep David safe and hold him back from doing wrong.  If you are a child of God by trusting Jesus, He will show you where you are doing wrong by using other people like Abigail or through His Word.  His mercy is great. 

God doesn’t keep us from every sin, but apart from God’s intervention in our daily affairs there would be a whole lot more sin in our lives than there is.   David was willing to listen to Abigail.  He may have been acting foolishly, but he recognized her wisdom. 

When has God used someone to tell you of a sinful attitude or action?

Did you listen and recognized their wisdom?

Are you an Abigail to others?

1 Samuel 26 – Mercy to Saul

This chapter is similar to chapter 24 where David found Saul asleep which gave him the opportunity to kill him and then David would be free from Saul for good.  It is a kind of replay.  When God wants to teach us a lesson and we fail to learn that lesson, He will continue to bring experiences our way which confront us with the same basic test.  God wanted David to retake the test so he could receive a higher score.

Now in this chapter Saul’s men reminded him about his anger towards David.  They told him where David was and urged him to kill David.  Saul went with his men and camped close to where David was.  When David saw that Saul had followed him there, he and Abishai went into Saul’s camp at night while Saul and his men were asleep.  Abishai told David that God had delivered Saul into his hands and to kill him.  Again David refused to kill Saul not because he was afraid of Saul.  He was more concerned with doing what God wanted and doing it God’s way.  By David’s obedience to God, be had grown into a man of integrity.  He had just seen how God had dealt with Nabal and David knew God would punish Saul, too.  David considered Saul as a holy man and a servant of God.  He had not been loyal to God, but he was still Israel’s king.  David was loyal it Israel and to Saul.

David wanted to reason with Saul so he went a distance from the camp and called out to Saul and demanded answers, but he already knew the answers.  Saul was wicked from the sin in his heart.  Saul confessed he had sinned and didn’t chase David again.  David didn’t acknowledge Saul’s confession, but he spoke of God’s justice – “The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness.” – 1 Samuel 26:23.  David trusted God, but he didn’t trust Saul.  True repentance goes beyond words.  It’s shown by our actions.

Saul admitted he had sinned, but quickly went back to hating David.  He may have realized it was wrong to try to kill David, but he failed to tell God he was wrong to be jealous of David.  He still had sin in his heart so his heart became hard.

In this chapter we learn that God defends His own.  God defends the innocent and will bring about justice.  We should be confident of God’s protection and care.

Have you truly repented from your heart or have you just said the words?

What keeps you from true confession and repentance?

Principle: God defends His own.

1 Samuel 27 – Mercy in David’s Move

David didn’t trust Saul and thought that someday Saul would find him.  He knew he couldn’t continue to hide from Saul in Judah.  He became desperate and decided if he and his men along with their families would move to Philistine country Saul would stop searching for him and he would be safe.  So he asked Achish son of Maoch king of Gath if they could live there.  Achish accepted David and his men probably because they are both enemies of Saul and because David brought 600 fighting men with him.  David lived there for 1 year and 4 months.  While David lived among the Philistines, he went out and attacked Israel’s enemies killing men and women.  He took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothes.  David lied to Achish by telling him he was fighting only Israel, which was Achish’s enemy.

David was not acting like a man of God.  He had become a liar, a robber and a murderer.  God waited patiently for David to realize what he was doing and to come back the Him.

When have you taken matters into your own hands and made a desperate choice without consulting God?

Do you listen to your fears rather than to God?

This was not the first time David lied.  He loved God, but still sinned.  This story teaches us to be careful and not fall into against sin and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  When you sin, quickly confess it and repent.  Ask for God’s help to return to obeying Him.  If you are a child of God, you know you are in His family because of Jesus’ work on the cross.  You may be a child of God, but if you keep going in the wrong direction, God gives consequences.  However, He will never take away His love or your salvation.

Principle:  Temptation fools us into thinking sin is okay.

Next time we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  See you here.

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1 Samuel 21 -24

1 Samuel 21-22 – David Escapes Saul

David went Nob to Ahimelech the priest Ahimelech because he needed supplies.  The priest was nervous about David being there because he had probably heard about Saul and David not getting alone.  Ahimelech questioned David.  David was too afraid of Saul to give honest answers.  He lied and told him Saul had charged him with a secret matter and he was to tell no one.  He told the priest that he was alone and asked him for provision and a sword.  David lied because he was not yet able to trust God completely.  The priest showed mercy and gave David provisions and the sword of Goliath.  Doeg, one of Saul’s servants was there and witness this interaction. 

The sword was the sword of Goliath, the Philistine David killed.   It was kept there in the temple as a reminder and evidence that God had rescued Israel through David.  David handed the sword over to the priests.  They considered it a sacred object.

Do you find yourself forgetting about God faithfulness in your past?

How are you reminded of what God has done for you?

Then David fled from Saul and went Gath, which was a Philistine city.  Achish, king of Gath was not a friend of David and David became afraid.  He should have trusted the Lord, but he did not and devised a plan of his own.  He made the king think he was crazy.  The king didn’t kill him because in those days they thought it was wrong to kill crazy people.  Instead the king sent David away.

David reflected back when he wrote Psalm 34.  We learn from this Psalm that God is the solution to our fears.  We are to fear God not man.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  We learn that the Lord rescues His servants and that He loves us and forgives us when we mess up.  We are righteous, but we grow into it on our walk with Him.

David took refuge in a cave of Adullam.  This cave was David’s physical refuge, but God was David’s spiritual refuge.  There were about 400 men with him.  From there David went to Moab.  Remember his mother, Ruth was from Moab.  He asked the king of Moab to keep his family safe.  David hid in the caves and then found a safe place in the forest.  He waited for God’s instructions.

Saul continued to pursue David and took his officials to the tree of Gibeah.  He throws a pity party feeling sorry for himself.  He was blinded by his pride and hatred of David and trusted no one.   He rants about how everyone was against him.  He said even his own son, Jonathan made a covenant with David. 

Doeg told Saul all that was said when David met with the priest, Ahimelech.  Saul then accuses the priest Ahimelech of conspiring against him.  The priest explains that he knew nothing.  Saul finds out the truth about the priest, but told his men to kill him anyway.  They refused to kill a priest so Saul commanded Doeg to do it.  Doeg killed the priest and 85 others and others in the town including women, children, cattle, donkeys and sheep.  Abiathar the son of Ahimelech escaped and joined David. 

Pride and self-pity can mess with your mine.  We can twist what we hear to suit our needs.  Don’t go there.  God is in control.  Put your faith in Him.  He has a perfect plan even though we may not see it at the time.

By David’s lying to Ahimelech he caused his death and the death of his family.  We see that lies can be dangerous.  David couldn’t do anything about the priests’ murders, but he felt guilty and confess to the Lord.

When have you told God your fears and knew He would help you?

What is your response when misunderstood, gossiped about or unappreciated?

Principle:  God is faithful to those who depend on Him.

1 Samuel 23 – God Guides David

When David heard that the Philistines were fighting the people of Keilah, he asked God if he should go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.  The Lord told him to go and David and his men saved Keilah.  David consulted God first before moving ahead.  He already had trouble with Saul and didn’t need to add to his troubles.  Saving Keilah would be dangerous.  It would expose David to Saul.  But David obeyed the Lord and God blessed him for it.

Saul learned that David was at Keilah and continued to pursue him.  Saul was obsessed with killing David.  When David learned Saul was after him again, he called on the Lord for help.  This prayer is found in Psalm 54.

God provided for David through Jonathan.  Jonathan was unselfish.  He had the right to be king after Saul’s death, but he gave that right to David.  God had appointed David to be the next king.  Jonathan only desire was to be his friend and adviser.  He encouraged David and promised to be loyal to him and to support his rule as king.  They declared themselves to be responsible to God.  The two had genuine love and friendship for each other.  Their circumstances would change, but their friendship would last forever.

David recalls in Psalm 54 that God is his helper.  He sustains him.  He is faithful and delivers him.

Principle:  God always strengthens those who depend on Him.

1 Samuel 24 – David Spares Saul

Saul just happened to go into the cave where David and his men were.  But we know God’s hand was it that.  Saul didn’t know David was there.  David’s men urged him to kill Saul, but David refused.  So while Saul was sleeping David slipped close to him and cut off part of his robe.  David could have killed Saul as his men wanted David to do, but David spared Saul because he knew God’s promise that he would inherit the throne of Israel one day.  He knew if he killed Saul, he would be disobedient to God.  God had put Saul into authority as king and it was God’s job to deal with Saul not David’s.  God would do it His way.  

We need to learn from David.  He resisted the temptation to kill Saul.  He was not bitter or angry toward Saul.  David was always faithful, obedient and trusted God even in all his troubles.  David knew how to wait on the Lord.

The robe was a symbol of Saul’s royal authority and cutting the robe is like cutting away Saul’s authority.  David felt badly that he had done anything against God’s appointed authority.  David then revealed himself to Saul because he wanted to reconcile with him.  David bowed before Saul.  Saul could have killed David right there, but David trusted God would keep him safe because he was obedient.  He showed mercy to Saul and doesn’t blame him directly.

Saul saw David’s obedience and to the Lord and the kindness he gave to Saul.  This softened Saul’s heart, although he never really asked David for forgiveness.  He asked David to promise not to mistreat or kill his descendants.  It was customary when a new king came to power that all the potential rulers in the family of the previous king would be killed.  David kept his promise.

In Psalms 57 and 142 we see that David praised God and asked that God be his refuge.  He asked God to rebuke his enemies.  David praised God even in his troubles.  He had confidence in the Lord.  We need to praise God in our troubles and always look to Him as our refuge and our hope.  We need to have confidence in the Lord and His plans for our lives.

Do you depend on God when you experience hard times in your life?

Principle:  God guides those who depend on Him.

Next time we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  See you here.

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