1 Samuel 27-28
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Junior year of high school, there was a good group of friends I would hang out with regularly. Inside this group of friends were two of my closest friends and a girl who I was currently “talking to” or whatever the kids say these days!
About once every other week, we would gather at her house to watch movies together, all of us. They had a huge bonus room above the garage that was prime for friend group movie nights!
We spent just as much time trying to pick a movie than we did actually watching a movie. Honestly, my best friend and I would usually take the opportunity to fall asleep because we were out numbered by girls, meaning the movies were usually rom coms or musicals!
I remember there was a night I was sitting on the couch with my buddy. The movie was on, and like every other high school relationship, the girl was on the other side of the room. I was trying to play it cool without coming across as desperate, so we usually didn’t talk at these things, but would text as soon as I left! (And this is dating?!)
We were about 15 minutes into the movie when I received a text from an unknown number. I opened the text up and it was a picture of a road called Westover- this road was one of three major roads in Albany. The pic looked as if someone took it in the passenger seat of the car...
I thought nothing of it other than it might have been a wrong number.
5 minutes later, I received another text from that number with a picture on another road called, Gillianville. This road was connected to Westover… I texted back “wrong number” hoping it would stop.
They quickly responded with “No it’s not, Seth.”
I died inside. I elbowed my buddy and showed him the text. With equal amount of confusion, our minds began to race. However, like the men we thought we were, we decided to not tell the ladies and try and crack this issue ourselves...
That is until 5 minutes later, I received another text of a picture of the same road, but further down, right before the neighborhood we were in.
Now I am freaked.
I immediately call for the movie to be paused. After a thorough explanation, you could see the same amount of confusion in the room that I had. As we brainstorm what it could be, I receive another text of the gate code box to the neighborhood gate.
I try calling the number but it doesn’t even ring.
I even think a text followed saying, “Don’t come outside… or else. You asked for this.”
We began shutting all the lights off in the house. We are calling our parents who were absolute zero help in the matter.
The next picture came in… The front of the driveway.
We are peeking out the windows, trying to get a glimpse, freaking ourselves out. I remember all of us holding hands walking throughout the house like a bunch of scaredy cats!
Then… The last picture came in.
It was my license plate on my trucked parked right by the back door.
We began saying our goodbyes. My chest is thumping so loud. We are paralyzed on the second floor.
Desperate. Hopeless....
And then my phone rang. It was the anonymous number...
I answered it like every dumb person on every scary movie.
The response… “I see you.”
It hung up...
And then there was nothing. For hours.
Until we eventually departed, went home, and went to bed- or at least tried to.
Listen, I didn’t know what to do in that moment. I thought we were done for. No one was helping. I felt alone. I felt hopeless.
In this passage today, we will see the consequences of our how respond to our despair by seeking solutions in every other area but in God.
I wonder how many of you feel hopeless right now.
There is a problem in your life that you can’t fix. You have the weight of responsibility on your shoulders and it is crushing you.
Maybe you have made poor choices in your life and it has gotten you to this point where you feel lost and no where to go.
My prayer is that this encourages you today to take a step in faith, trusting that God is here for you...
*Pray.
Context to 1 Samuel 27
Context to 1 Samuel 27
David is exhausted. If you have been in the book with us over the past year, you can see why.
He is being chased by Saul. His life is at risk. He has been promised the throne to be Israel’s next King. However, he feels stuck in this cat and mouse game with the current king, named Saul. He is just trying to stay alive.
1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
He is desperate. He is so desperate, that he gives up. He begins doubting that what God had promised him won’t actually happen. He begins to believe that he will eventually die… Therefore, he decides to flee Israel and head to their enemy, his enemy, the philistines.
2 So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
This would be the equivalent of Austin Dupper, former Auburn football player, taking his jersey off and becoming a water boy at the university of Alabama.
No. No way would this happen!
Not only did David move he and 600 families, but he also began raiding other people groups, bringing back what was stolen, and lying to the king of the philistines saying it was Israel he was raiding, just to stay in the king’s good graces!
David is deep in disobedience, sin, and shame… And even though he no longer had Saul chasing him continually.
However, we know Saul is in no better shape at this point...
Let’s continue in Chapter 28 and see just how Saul is doing...
1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” 2 David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
So David is now gathered in the northern region of Judea, siding with the enemy… The tables have turned very fast.
Achish claiming David as his “body guard for life” is funny… the original language translates as “guard of my head”
Last time David had anything to do with the head of a philistine, it wasn’t in their interest...
After these verses, the script flips to Saul...
Notice how the next verse highlights an important key fact in our story.
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”
Saul is stressed to the max…
Former mentor died
tormented by a demon
about to lose his job
fighting against his enemy
Here’s the deal… We are seeing a reoccurring theme.
When someone asks God for direction, but is blatantly rejecting the direction that God has already given them, God usually won’t give them anything new.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Not just in some ways, or the ways you like better than others...
Sometimes, we wonder why we are stuck in the situation forgetting we are the ones who put ourselves here in the first place!
But remember what Jesus said!
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
When we seek the Lord, we must humbly receive what he offers, trusting it is what is best. This is where we find peace, protection, and provision.
When we trust His way, He will provide every day.
When we trust His way, He will provide every day.
This isn’t just a physical provision, although it can be, but more so a provision of confidence and assurance in being protected and provided for as His children.
Our guaranteed eternal life is what is provided, how we are protected, and what imparts in us His peace.
Saul thought he could provide this for himself… Look at what he gets himself into!
He summons his servants to locate a medium (magician, sorcerer, etc) so he can get some help...
Moses was clear about the interactions with these people in the Law he gave Israel...
31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
First of all, he was supposed to have taken these types of people out a long time ago...
For his servants to know where this person is says a lot about what actually took place....
By the way, partial obedience is complete disobedience.
By the way, partial obedience is complete disobedience.
We do the same thing! We point out the issue and hide our identical one all the time!
Y’all better be glad we don’t have people who yell amen or preach… I have a whole other message for that one.
See Saul’s unrepented sin… See the effects of Saul’s unrepented sin...
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
Sometimes I read these things in complete astonishment. This really happened?
Saul sneaks past David and the philistines by night.
He arrives at the Medium’s location.
Even the medium asks if he knows what he’s getting into… She even references Saul!
Then Saul, swearing by the name of the Lord in the midst of his sinful actions, seeks for the medium to bring Samuel back to life..
You have got to be kidding me...
Samuel and Saul didn’t end very well in Chapter 25.
Samuel told Saul that the Lord had rejected him and that he would at some point lose his throne to another...
So then the medium does her thing and ends up surprising herself when Samuel is brought to life...
It seems as if the medium was the only one to see Samuel because Saul asks “What do you see?”
Can we take a moment… I have to wonder these things… What in the world was Samuel thinking at this moment??
I bet he was utterly confused… until he saw Saul.
Saul recognizes it is actually Samuel by the way the medium described him… an old man with a robe.
If you remember correctly, in Chapter 25, Samuel was wearing a robe that Saul cut a piece off during their last encounter.
Let’s watch their exchange...
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
*Insert funny commentating
Saul, in his hopelessness, is looking for answers… but he’s looking in the wrong place… again...
I want to point our Samuels statement in verse 18.
18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.
What is this thing?
Death.
Because you did not obey… you have chosen a path that leads to your own destruction.
Because of your sin, others will be affected too.
19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
We always think about ourselves...
God is in the business of not just restoring us personally, but our community as well. Read 1 John.
That is why the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor.
You love God and love your neighbor best by following and obeying the directions and commandments of God.
5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
“we” it is collective!
But, at the end of the day, we can’t experience this type of personal or communal restoration filled with guidance, protection, provision, and peace from God...
In fact, there are probably people in this room who are currently sitting in the same situation Saul is now in...
As the band comes up...
Let’s read the end of this passage...
20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. 21 And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. 22 Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” 23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. 24 Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, 25 and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.
How many of you this morning are struggling with a sense of despair and hopelessness...