March 14 - I Samuel 28-31
The Philistines go on the offensive and prepare to attack the Israelites. This presents a problem for both David and Saul. David is living among the Philistines to hide from Saul, so he assembles his 600 men to go to battle against his own people. What would happen? Would he end up killing his own people? Saul, on the other hand, is scared to death. How could he defeat the Philistines? What should he do? Both men are in a dilemma.
God delivers David out of his problem by having the lords of the Philistines dismiss him and his men as a security risk. They would not trust them in battle not to turn on the Philistines and to fight for their own people. I see this as the mercy of God. Even though David gave into his fears when he went to hide among the Philistines, God delivers him from a terrible situation. I have found God to be more merciful when my sin came from a weakness of my flesh instead of my rebellion against Him. However, when David and his men returned home to Ziklag, they found the city burned and all of the people and possessions taken by a band of Amalekites. The people were so upset they spoke of stoning David. The Bible says that David turned to the Lord at this point, and God gave them back all of their loved ones and possessions. However, this whole incident could have been a trial placed on David because he was not trusting God by living among the Philistines. The trial had the effect of punishing David and drawing him to trust God which he did, so he passed this test with flying colors in the end.
Saul did not fare so well. God would not answer his prayers. He turned to a medium, which was even against his own rules. He had the medium call up Samuel, so he could ask him what to do. Did he actually think Samuel was going to change what he said before he died? Samuel told him that this was the end. He and his sons would die in this battle. God's mercy had run out for Saul because of his open rebellion to God's laws. He did not turn to the Lord alone, but to a medium, which showed the doubt in his heart. His life ended in defeat even though God had given him everything he needed to succeed. What a tragedy!
I would also say that I do not believe Saul's experience with the medium was a normal result of a seance to contact the dead. I believe in a seance, if anything is contacted it is a demon speaking for a dead person to deceive those present. In this case God worked a miracle to actually send Samuel back. That is why the medium was startled herself. She was not use to seeing a person return from the dead like this. I encourage you to stay away from any such practices as the Bible tells us. It only opens a person up to satanic influences.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 1-4.
God delivers David out of his problem by having the lords of the Philistines dismiss him and his men as a security risk. They would not trust them in battle not to turn on the Philistines and to fight for their own people. I see this as the mercy of God. Even though David gave into his fears when he went to hide among the Philistines, God delivers him from a terrible situation. I have found God to be more merciful when my sin came from a weakness of my flesh instead of my rebellion against Him. However, when David and his men returned home to Ziklag, they found the city burned and all of the people and possessions taken by a band of Amalekites. The people were so upset they spoke of stoning David. The Bible says that David turned to the Lord at this point, and God gave them back all of their loved ones and possessions. However, this whole incident could have been a trial placed on David because he was not trusting God by living among the Philistines. The trial had the effect of punishing David and drawing him to trust God which he did, so he passed this test with flying colors in the end.
Saul did not fare so well. God would not answer his prayers. He turned to a medium, which was even against his own rules. He had the medium call up Samuel, so he could ask him what to do. Did he actually think Samuel was going to change what he said before he died? Samuel told him that this was the end. He and his sons would die in this battle. God's mercy had run out for Saul because of his open rebellion to God's laws. He did not turn to the Lord alone, but to a medium, which showed the doubt in his heart. His life ended in defeat even though God had given him everything he needed to succeed. What a tragedy!
I would also say that I do not believe Saul's experience with the medium was a normal result of a seance to contact the dead. I believe in a seance, if anything is contacted it is a demon speaking for a dead person to deceive those present. In this case God worked a miracle to actually send Samuel back. That is why the medium was startled herself. She was not use to seeing a person return from the dead like this. I encourage you to stay away from any such practices as the Bible tells us. It only opens a person up to satanic influences.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 1-4.