I. THE ILLUSTRATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. While David wrought himself into a most critical position, and an apparently fatal embroilment with the Philistines, the Lord wrought wonderfully through the very errors of his servant, so as to preserve him in safety, and open his way to a higher destiny. It was well appointed that he should be out of the land of Israel at this time, so that he should neither hasten nor hinder the discomfiture of Saul, and that the Philistines should give him shelter, and yet not involve him in the crime of desolating and enslaving his native land. How to escape from the dilemma in which he was caught baffled even David's ready mind; but the Lord always knows how to deliver. He does so through means and agencies that are natural; in this case through the very natural jealousy of the Philistine lords, and their proper military prudence, objecting to have the person of the king intrusted to the keeping of a band of Israelites, and that band commanded by a skilful and daring captain in the rear of their army, where their defection would be most dangerous. "The lords favour thee not," said Achish. And, like our kings in old times, who durst not disregard the voice of the barons, Achish intimated to David that it was best for him to retire from the army. David was quite acute enough to see the advantage which the Philistine chiefs were unwittingly conferring upon him. They, as his enemies, helped him out of the dilemma in which he had been placed by Achish, his friend. Such things are not infrequent in the providence of God. Often a man's enemies open to him the way out of great difficulty. Disfavour is shown, or a sharp word spoken, and it turns out a great advantage. The wrath of opponents or rivals may act as so much dynamite to explode a rock of obstruction which friendly hands cannot remove, and so to clear the path of deliverance. II. THE ILLUSTRATION OF HUMAN LIFE. See how a man may fall through want of moral firmness into a false position utterly unworthy of his character. It was, as respects David's integrity, unfortunate that he found such favour with the Philistine king. It is always a misfortune to be successful in the beginning of wrong doing, for it soothes the conscience and leads one on to compromise himself more deeply. And one false step leads to another. David's unbelief led him into a course of deceit and dissimulation from which he saw no way of escape, and every day drew him further into a position which was false and unworthy. It is a story full of admonition and warning. One may easily let himself into a trap from which he cannot let himself out. One may take a false step, which involves another and another, till there is a course of deflection. An object is gained, but in the success the conscience is soiled; and then the penalty is that one is compelled to act out the part he has assumed, to go on in the way on which he only meant to venture for a time and for a purpose. He thought to do a questionable thing and then return to his integrity; but lo! he is in a maze, and cannot find the way out. The gain which he sought turns out to be a loss; the favour which he craftily won proves to be a burden and a danger; and there is no remedy. It is very unsafe to possess great powers of deception. David had them, and they nearly ruined him. But the experience through which he passed taught him to abhor deceit, and to desire, what God desires, truth in the inward parts. For proof of this see Psalm 15:1, 2; Psalm 34:12, 13; Psalm 51:6. Mark, too, how he appeals to the God of truth, and, ashamed of his own unveracity in certain passages of his early life, puts all his dependence in his later years on the veracity and faithfulness of God, who has made with him an "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure" (see 2 Samuel 23:5; Psalm 25:10; Psalm 31:5). The security of our salvation rests not on our tenacity of faith, but on the truth of God our Saviour. He cannot lie. The Son of David, our Prince of life, is faithful and true; and he who is our God in Christ Jesus will never fail those who rely on his word. "Yet he abideth faithful;. he cannot deny himself." - F.
Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. This narrative is unlike any other in the Bible, and therefore, as might have been expected, has received various explanations. Three of them may be briefly noticed:(1) That Samuel himself appeared to the mistress of necromancy in Endor, and predicted to Saul his death on the morrow;(2) That an evil spirit, or demon, personating Samuel, appeared to the woman and predicted to Saul his death.(3) That the woman, being a ventriloquist, described such an apparition as the king would suppose to be that of Samuel, and then made her words seem to come from the place where the apparition was imagined to be.1. In favour of the first interpretation may be urged the prima facie meaning of the narrative. For the sacred writer says that "the woman saw Samuel" (ver. 12); that when she described the apparition seen by her "Saul knew it was Samuel" (ver. 14); that the prophet reproached Saul for "disquieting and bringing him up" (ver. 15); and that the prophet foretold the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul and his sons on the morrow (ver. 19), both of which came to pass. These are strong reasons, and if they are set aside, it should be in view of others that are stronger. What, then, are some of the arguments against this explanation of the narrative? God had forbidden the practice of necromancy in Israel, and had commanded those who practised the same to be stoned (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10, 11). Again, Saul himself was acquainted with this law of Jehovah, and had attempted to execute it (ver. 3-9). Still further, God had rejected the king, and had refused to answer him by any of the usual and appointed ways of making known his will (ver. 6). And, besides, there is no indication in this narrative that Saul was now, at last, penitent, so that a message from God might be expected to control or benefit him. Certainly the refusal of God to answer Saul by dreams, by the Urim, or by the prophets, the wilful disobedience of the king in the act of consulting the women, and the close connection of Samuel's appearance (if real) with the agency of this evil woman, are moral objections to this view of the passage. Moreover, it will scarcely be denied that the words, "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?" do not seem perfectly natural as the language of a true prophet coming back from the Unseen with a Divine message, while they do seem entirely natural as words spoken in behalf of a pretended apparition by the enchantress herself. Again, if the woman was really and greatly amazed by the apparition of Samuel, as she well might be if it was real, it is somewhat singular that she was so prudent and self-collected afterwards. 2. In favour of the second explanation, that an evil spirit, personating Samuel, appeared to the woman, and predicted to Saul his defeat and death on the morrow, we can say but little of a positive character. It is, however, free from some of the objections which lie against the first. For on this hypothesis God does not connect a revelation of the future through his own prophet with an act of desperate disobedience on the part of Saul, or with a practice so solemnly prohibited as necromancy. For all the parties concerned are given up to evil. "That the devil, by the Divine permission, should be able to personate Samuel is not strange, since he can transform himself into an angel of light! Nor is it strange that he should be permitted do it upon this occasion, that Saul might be driven to despair, by enquiring of the devil, since he would not, in a right manner, inquire of the Lord, by which he might have had comfort. Had this been the true Samuel, he could not have foretold the event, unless God had revealed it to him; and, though it were an evil spirit, God might by him foretell it; as we read of an evil spirit that foresaw Ahab's fall at Ramoth-Gilead, and was instrumental in it." 3. In favour of the third explanation several things may be alleged. 1. The king was in a state of mind which would render deception on the part of the sorceress easy. He believed in necromancy, and in the testimony of his servants that this woman was a mistress of necromancy, he was also afraid and exceedingly anxious to obtain some clue to the future from the invisible world, especially by means of Samuel, whom he knew to be a prophet. 2. The woman of Endor was most likely to have known of the extraordinary stature of Saul, of the degeneracy of his character and fortunes, of the perilous condition of his army, and of the dress of Samuel in his old age. 3. With this knowledge she would have been tolerably sure to detect the person of Saul in spite of his disguise, and would have laid her plan of action accordingly. 4. It would have been easy for her as a ventriloquist to make the prostrate king suppose that her changed voice came from an unseen form at a slight remove from the place where she stood. 5. For Saul himself, it will be observed, did not see the alleged apparition of Samuel; he but inferred it from the woman's description of what she professed to see rising out of the earth. 6. The woman's animosity towards Saul, because of his "putting away the necromancers and wizards out of the land" may have led her to wish his death, and the circumstances in which he was now placed by the Philistines may have emboldened her to say what she did. But in declaring Saul's doom she was personating Samuel, and must therefore speak as he might have been expected to speak, reminding Saul of his past disobedience to God, of God's displeasure with him on that account, of God's giving the throne to David, and of the certain death which awaited Saul and his sons on the morrow. 7. The fulfilment of her words may have been partly due to the despair which they produced in the mind of Saul. At any rate, the fact of their fulfilment is not conclusive, in the circumstances, of their being a proper revelation beforehand of the purpose of God. (A. Hovey, D. D.) 1. The history forcibly teaches the solemn truth, that a man's day of grace is by no means invariably co-extensive with his life on earth. It is evident that at least for a time before Saul perished he was left to eat of the fruit of his own way, and to be filled with his own devices. The Spirit departed from him, and at the same time the Spirit of evil entered in and took full possession of him. After this there were no further means to be tried for his conversion. The king had outlived his time of opportunity, and God was departed from him. Saul's day of grace had then terminated; and, whilst you notice this, observe also the steps which led to this consummation: they were a progressive series of resistances offered to God's Spirit — repeated acts of provocation, the repetition of refusals to hearken and to obey. There are numbers who are emboldened in a course of irreligion from the impression that it will be easy at some future time to turn and repent, and undergo the indispensable change, without which they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. On this account it becomes more necessary to repeat the warning, that the season for turning to the Lord may pass away, never to return, even before the stroke of death ushers the soul to its everlasting portion. 2. Again, the history before us is instructive as pointing out what act it was on the part of Saul which challenged his final and immediate punishment. From the narrative it appears it was the sin of witchcraft. But the peculiarity lies in this, that it was a sin which Saul had professedly abandoned, and against which he had proclaimed open war. Can we err in concluding from hence that sin is then more especially hateful to God when practised by one who knows its nature and has once deliberately purposed to forsake it? To fall back to the indulgence of a sin which you have once resolved to renounce is a sure way to provoke the heavy displeasure of God. 3. The narrative is full of instruction as to the folly of expecting conversion by miracle when it is not effected by ordinary means. The reappearance of Samuel availed nothing for Saul's conversion. The reanimated Prophet could not guide the man who had abandoned the guidance of God's own Spirit. Be not deceived to suppose that if unconverted by what God is doing for you now, you would be converted by any supernatural agency. Your conversion is possible now. It is the province of the Holy Ghost to effect it. Use the means you have. God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask. (R. Bickersteth, D. D.) 2. The next point I would touch on is the question, What is the significance of this so widespread a belief in necromancy and magic? It is now held, I believe, that these arts represent the first attempts of men to have converse with the unseen world, the first blind gropings of the soul after God, the first rude efforts of man's spirit towards a religion. Just as the science of chemistry with its wonderful discoveries of the secret and subtle forces of Nature had its beginning in the dreams and visions and impossible ambitions of the alchemists; or just as astronomy, which reveals the sublime order of the heavenly bodies, had its origin in the baseless imaginings of astrology, so religion in human history began in the practice of these magic arts. What God demands in those who come to Him is not the power of magic, but mercy, truth, righteousness in the heart. I. SAUL'S SPIRITUAL CONDITION. First of all, it throws light on the spiritual condition of Saul. He sought the aid of this necromancer because he despaired of any message from God. It is in times of religious decay that superstition most flourishes. When men lose faith in a living God who loves righteousness they resort to magic and sorcery, and put their faith in outward ceremonies and rites. Spiritualism is a reversion to the first and lowest forms of religious inquiry. Science tells us that when a plant or animal reverts to its original type, it suffers degeneration. And the spiritualist is one who is ignoring all the world's progress through ages of religious education, and is going back to the first, rude, low methods in which men sought communication with the Unseen. II. A WILFUL IMPOSTURE. The words in which the woman is described point to the means by which she might have carried out the imposture. Rendered literally, the words, "a woman who had a familiar spirit," read, "a woman a mistress of the Ob." And the word "Ob" denotes ventriloquism. No doubt the power of ventriloquism was believed to be supernatural, the gift of evil spirits. Then, for another thing, what the supposed ghost of the departed prophet revealed was in great part already well known to Saul, and may have been known to the woman. It needed no spirit from the grave to tell them. And as for the prediction of Saul's death on the morrow, there are those who contend that the word rendered "tomorrow" is of indefinite meaning denoting some time in the future. The prediction that Saul and his sons would some day be with Samuel in the world of shadows was a safe prediction, like many of the ancient oracles. But the chief objection is simply to the idea that any arts possessed by the necromancer should have had power to call forth the dead. It is sometimes assumed that. on this occasion God wrought a miracle through the woman in order to inform Saul of his fate. But this explanation is beset with insuperable difficulties. For according to it God would be doing just what He had refused to do. He would be "answering" Saul and satisfying his desire for a Divine communication. Again, it seems incredible that God should lend sanction to the pretensions of a necromancer when the practice of every such art was condemned under severest penalties by the Divine law. When we read the narrative in the light of these considerations, there is little difficulty in supposing that the whole thing was a wilful imposture practised on a wretched and despairing man. Keep clear thy faith in the Living God, the Righteous One and the Loving, and witchcraft and all other superstitions will be powerless over thee. But lose hold of God and you may drift into any dark and debasing belief. (J. Legge, M. A.) Solemn are the instructions to be gained from this incident.1. We may have taken strong ground against some particular form of evil, we may have condemned it in others, and we may, thus far, have acted outwardly in consistency with God's commands; but we may live to do the very thing which we have condemned, to break the very commands to which we have given an external homage. There may be motives for putting away one particular form of sin, the operation of which may yet co-exist with a spirit unwilling to yield to the fear of God, and unaffected by his love. It was not because Saul's heart was prepared to render allegiance to God that he put away witchcraft; but because he would affect an outward regard for religion, or because he wished to avenge his mental disquietude on those whom he deemed its cause, or because he was in daily fear of some further mischief from them. The operation of these motives, and their result, still left him a rebel, prepared at any time, when the will of God crossed his own purpose, to resist the commands of the Almighty. And wherever the spirit of opposition to the Divine will is permitted, there is no security against its indulgence in any particular form; and if circumstances arise to make it convenient, it may develop itself in the identical manifestation which, in a previous stage of our history, we have been most ardent and loud in condemning. Let us be assured that no outward reformations are to be depended on, which do not issue from that radical change of which the Holy Spirit is the author, and in which the whole heart is yielded up to God. 2. We notice how certainly a man loses his own dignity in proportion as he recedes from the principle of obedience to God, and yields to the guidance of his own heart. What term so aptly describes the condition of the king of Israel in the witch's abode at Endor, as that of degradation — deep, thorough degradation. Be it ours to take warning. No station in life, however exalted — no position, however respectable — no claims on the regard of society, however strong — can stand against the degrading influence of indulged sin. 3. We are taught that mercies abused and privileges slighted may be desired when they have been withdrawn, and when, in God's providential arrangements, they are no longer within our reach. While Samuel lived, his counsel was treated with contempt; but when he could no longer be consulted, then the very man who grieved him most was most anxious to have him back at any cost. Let the sad spectacle awaken inquiry, How are you employing present mercies? (J. A. Miller.) I. I LEARN FIRST FROM THIS SUBJECT THAT SPIRITUALISM IS A VERY OLD RELIGION. What does God think of all these delusions? He thinks so severely of them that he never speaks of them but with livid thunders of indignation. He says: "I will be a swift witness against the sorcerer." He says: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." And lest you might make some important distinction between Spiritualism and witchcraft, God says, in so many words: "There shall not be among you a consulter of familiar spirits, or wizard, or necromancer; for they that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord."II. STILL FURTHER: WE LEARN FROM THIS TEXT NOW IT IS THAT PEOPLE COME TO FALL INTO SPIRITUALISM. Saul had enough trouble to kill ten men. He did not know where to go for relief. After awhile he resolved to go and see the witch of Endor. It was his trouble that drove him there. And I have to tell you now that, spiritualism finds its victims in the troubled, the bankrupt, the sick, the bereft. III. I LEARN STILL FARTHER FROM THIS SUBJECT, THAT SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY ARE AFFAIRS OF THE DARKNESS. Why did not Saul go in the day? He was ashamed to go. Besides that he knew that this spiritual medium, like all her successors, performed her exploits in the night. IV. STILL FURTHER, THAT SPIRITUALISM IS DOOM AND DEATH TO ITS DISCIPLES. King Saul thought that he would get help from the "medium;" but the first thing that he sees makes him swoon away, and no sooner is he resuscitated than he is told he must die. Spiritualism is doom and death to everyone that yields to. It ruins the body. Spiritualism smites first of all, and mightily, against the nervous system, and so makes life miserable. V. I INDICT SPIRITUALISM ALSO, BECAUSE IT IS A SOCIAL AND MARITAL CURSE. The worst deeds of licentiousness and the worst orgies of obscenity have been enacted under its patronage. VI. I FURTHER INDICT SPIRITUALISM FOR THE FACT THAT IT IS THE CAUSE OF MUCH INSANITY. VII. I BRING AGAINST THIS DELUSION A MORE FEARFUL INDICTMENT: IT RUINS THE SOUL IMMORTAL. The whole system, as I conceive it, is founded on the insufficiency of the Word of God as a revelation. God says the Bible is enough for you to know about the future world. God has told you all you ought to know, and how dare you be prying into that which is none of your business? You cannot keep the Bible in one hand and spiritualism in the other. One or the other will slip out of your grasp, depend upon it. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.) The worlds are nearer together than we think! What is there in reason, in the fitness of things, or in Scripture itself, to forbid the idea that we are surrounded by spiritual existences? What is thy universe, O man? Thou makest thine own creation. The pathetic incident shows: —I. THE RAPIDITY WITH WHICH A MAN MAY FALL FROM THE HIGHEST EMINENCE. "Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day." There is but a step between thee and death! II. THE AWFUL POSSIBILITY OF BEING CUT OFF FROM SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION WITH THE DIVINE AND INVISIBLE. "God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams." III. THE CERTAINTY THAT ONE DAY THE IMPENITENT WILL WANT THEIR OLD TEACHERS. "Bring me up Samuel." "I have called thee that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do." The solemn lesson of the whole is — Seek ye the Lord while He may be found! (J. Parker, D. D.) To meddle with the walls of separation that God has built is a wrong and sinful thing. We have no business but in our own world. This dabbling in spiritualism and communication with the departed is nothing more than folly. It is unlawful, and has all the consequences of a broken law. There was an old Scotch body, who was sitting by the deathbed of her only son. Trying to comfort the grieving mother, the dying boy said: "Mother, if so be it's permitted, I'll come from the dead to see thee." "Na, us, lad," she exclaimed; "keep to your sin side." It was a wise injunction. Keep to your own side.(J. Robertson.) People Achish, David, Israelites, Jezreel, SaulPlaces Aphek, HebronTopics David, Depart, Early, Got, Jezreel, Jizreel, Morning, Philistines, Return, Riseth, Rose, TurnOutline 1. David marching with the Philistines3. is disallowed by their princes 6. Achish dismisses him, with commendations of his fidelity Dictionary of Bible Themes 1 Samuel 29:1-11Library What Doest Thou Here?'Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here!'--1 SAMUEL xxix. 3. 'The word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?'--1 KINGS xix. 9. I have put these two verses together, not only because of their identity in form, though that is striking, but because they bear upon one and the same subject, as will appear, if, in a word or two, I set each of them in its setting. David was almost at the lowest point of his fortunes when he fled into … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The End of Self-Will One Fold and one Shepherd Samuel Links 1 Samuel 29:11 NIV1 Samuel 29:11 NLT 1 Samuel 29:11 ESV 1 Samuel 29:11 NASB 1 Samuel 29:11 KJV 1 Samuel 29:11 Bible Apps 1 Samuel 29:11 Parallel 1 Samuel 29:11 Biblia Paralela 1 Samuel 29:11 Chinese Bible 1 Samuel 29:11 French Bible 1 Samuel 29:11 German Bible 1 Samuel 29:11 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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