Saul and the Medium: When We Go Our Own Way
“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. 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” 1 Samuel 28:20.
The Philistines had gone to war with Israel. King Saul was afraid and didn’t know what to do. Because he no longer walked with God, He didn’t answer him when he asked for guidance.
To read the chapter for context, click here.
Saul and the Medium
So he went to a medium to communicate with the prophet Samuel who had recently died (1 Samuel 28: 5-7). The first part of our passage above was Samuel’s response.
No doubt the message Saul got from Samuel was not at all the one he wanted to hear. In fact those words likely were what he most dreaded to hear. They were why he was “filled with fear”.
The thing he most feared was coming upon him.
He turned to some other source, besides the Lord to meet his need. And he was sorely disappointed with the results. The message Samuel gave him was not what he wanted to hear.
In the end he probably wished he hadn’t consulted him.
This is the way it is when we try to meet our own needs, and take care of ourselves in our own way.
Saul turned to the medium because he wanted guidance, direction, and ultimately, to alleviate his fear. Instead, he got more of the thing he was trying to avoid. Because he tried to meet his need independently of God.
Saul Got the Opposite of What He was Hoping For
He got the opposite of what he was hoping for. And this is the way it is for us as well when we turn to sin to meet out needs.
The broad path leads to destruction. It the easier, more comfortable, more pleasant path. But it meets with disappointment in the end (Mathew 7: 13, 14).
The narrow path in this situation would have been for Saul to understand that his only hope was the Lord. And that he had to regain favor with Him no matter what the cost.
This would’ve required repentance, death to sin, needs and self.
The Narrow Path of Affliction
The narrow path is the road of affliction, trouble and suffering tribulation, according to Strong’s Concordance. But it’s the only path that leads to life.
When we turn to sin to meet our needs, we will end up with more of what we were trying to escape.
Saul had to have known that there was a way to get back to God. But he didn’t want anything to do with the narrow path of affliction.
Whenever we do things our way rather than Gods, we will always end up with of what we were trying to avoid. Because the only way to overcome our problems to is face them.
God wants us to deal with the root of our problem, which is sin, and be delivered from it.
If we instead try to avoid and alleviate the problem without dealing with the root, we will end up being confronted with it again and again. No matter where we turn for relief.
For a post related to Saul and the Medium, see Sin and Suffering: Is There a Connection?