I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 28-31.

    I struggle with what to make of the story of Saul consulting with a medium in order to speak with Samuel one last time. We learn that Saul had driven all of the mediums and spiritists out of the territory which he controlled (spiritists are those who believe in salvation/enlightenment/betterment through communication with the dead). However, despite having done so, Saul was so desperate for guidance, for a way out of the situation he created for himself, that he sought out a medium in an attempt to consult Samuel’s spirit. Saul found himself in this situation with God no longer giving him any guidance because time and again in his life he chose to follow his own counsel rather than that of God. Samuel’s spirit reminded Saul of one specific occasion when Saul chose to take the course of action he thought best rather than the one which God directed, but as we have seen, this was not an isolated incident. We can learn from Saul’s life that if we choose to do what we think best when that is counter to God’s clear direction, He will eventually stop giving us any direction at all.

    The writer makes a subtle contrast between David and Saul here. When Saul went to the medium, Samuel’s spirit reminded him of his failure to follow God’s direction when he went to war with the Amelekites. When David is sent back from marching among the Philistine armies, he finds that Amelekites have raided his village and taken his family and possessions. David pursues them and defeats them, recovering his family and the families of his men (I wonder if the Amelekite raid against Ziklag, David’s village, was in retaliation for David’s raids against Amelekites).

    However, I want to focus on how God works things out for His ends. David was willing to lead his men into battle against the Israelite army under Saul. Perhaps for no other reason than that he thought he had no choice. If David had joined the Philistines in defeating the Israelite army, it would have been an impediment to him later becoming the king of Israel. So, God arranged for the other Philistine leaders to insist that David not enter the battle.
    Further when David returned to his base of operations, the town of Ziklag, it had been raided and the families of his war band had been taken captive. There are several aspects of this which shaped David’s future from here. First, if he and his men had fought in the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, the families of David’s men would have been long gone, and thus probably their loyalty to David.

Side note: This is related to what I wrote about Saul and following God’s direction. David did not immediately set out after the raiders. Rather, he first called Abiathar the priest to ask God for direction. It was only after God assured him that he should pursue the raiders and that he would capture them that David set out in pursuit.

Second, because David pursued the Amelekites and fought them to recover the people and goods they had taken, it is clear to everyone that he was not at the battle between the Philistines and Israelites where Saul died. The evidence for his absence from that battle was the plunder which he shared with the various people and towns where he had sheltered when he was hiding from Saul. Something he did before he received the news that Saul was dead. Every time I read these passages I am impressed with the contrast between the political styles of Saul and David.