1 Samuel 28:3-6 – The devastating effect of desperation

David, we learn in the opening two verses of 1 Samuel 28, was thrust into a tricky situation. King Achish had asked him and his men to fight alongside him against Israel. He was indeed in a quandary. How could the future king designate be seen fighting against his own people? But wisely, he gave Achish a non-committal answer that the latter interpreted as consent. For the time being, he managed to extricate himself from a difficult situation.

Meanwhile Saul was also encountering a difficult situation and was frantic. He was in the depth of despair. In 1 Samuel 28:3-6 we see three reasons why he was driven into desperation. The first was Samuel’s death. Although we are told of Samuel's death in 1 Samuel 25:1, the impact of his death for Saul was only being felt at this point. The thought of Samuel’s last word that the Lord had also rejected him as king must have haunted his mind. And there was no way to seek clarification since the prophet was now dead. This was more than he could bear. Why then did the author mention Samuel’s death now? Obviously, it was in connection with something impactful that Samuel had said to Saul when he was still alive. So impactful was Samuel’s words to him that had caused him to remove all the mediums and spiritists from the land. The significance of this action of Saul would be revealed later on in this chapter.

The second reason that had brought about Saul’s desperation was the impending attack of the Philistines. In verse 4, the enemy forces were said to be gathered and encamped in  Shunem, while Saul and his army were encamped at Gilboa. Verse 5 then tells us that “When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.” Fear had always been a negative emotion that would bring about a debilitating effect. No wonder the assuring first two words of the Lord Jesus in His disciples’ desperate situations had always been “fear not.” These are also the same words He is saying to us in our days. What is our present fear? God is still saying to us the same two words “fear not.”

Verse 6 gives us the third reason why Saul was feeling so hopeless and desperate. It was because the Lord was silent. We are told that he sought the LORD but received no answer either by dream, Urim or the prophet. In other words, he desperately sought the LORD and all he encountered was blank. No answer from the LORD was forthcoming.

The lesson that stares us directly is about the consequence of disobedience. Had he listened to the Lord who was guiding him through Samuel, he would not be in all these troubles. But sadly, he did not listen, hence all these predicaments. For us, the call is to obey the Lord and seek Him while He may be found. We will not live in regret if we do so. Trust and obey!