When God Goes Silent
Introduction: Two Kings in Crisis
The story of Israel's monarchy is a tale of two kings, two hearts, and two destinies. In this chapter, we find both of them at a point of crisis, backed into corners of their own making. On the one hand, we have Saul, the rejected king, the man from whom the Spirit of God has departed. He is about to face the culmination of God's judgment, and he is coming apart at the seams. On the other hand, we have David, the anointed king, God's chosen man. But he is not in some glorious, triumphant position. He is in exile, living a compromised life among the Philistines, the sworn enemies of God's people. He has been running from his calling, and his entanglement has now led him to the brink of treason.
This chapter is one of the darkest in all the Old Testament. It shows us the end result of a life lived in rebellion against the clear command of God. When a man refuses to listen to God when He speaks, he should not be surprised when God goes silent. And when God goes silent, men in their desperation will seek out other voices, voices from the dark, voices that smell of the grave. Saul is a man hollowed out by his own sin, and now, facing the greatest military threat of his life, his spiritual emptiness becomes a terrifying panic. He is a king who has lost his connection to the King of kings, and the result is a frantic, pathetic, and ultimately blasphemous search for a word, any word, from anywhere but God.
We see here that political power is no substitute for spiritual authority. Saul still has his army, his throne, and his title, but he has no word from the Lord. David is a fugitive with a ragtag band of men, but he has the anointing. This story forces us to confront the consequences of disobedience and the terrifying reality of divine abandonment. It is a warning against trifling with God, and a stark reminder that if we will not have God on His terms, we will not have Him at all.
The Text
Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men." And David said to Achish, "Very well, you shall know what your servant can do." So Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."
(1 Samuel 28:1-2 LSB)
The Vise Tightens (v. 1-2)
The chapter opens with the storm clouds of war gathering. This is the external pressure that will reveal the internal state of both Saul and David.
"Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, 'Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.'" (1 Samuel 28:1 LSB)
The Philistines are mustering their forces for a decisive battle. This is not a border skirmish; it is a full-scale invasion. This is the very enemy that Saul was anointed to defeat, the threat that was supposed to be handled by Israel's new king. But Saul's reign has been a failure, and the Philistines are stronger than ever. This military threat is God's instrument. God is sovereign over the armies of the Philistines just as He is sovereign over the armies of Israel. He is using this pagan nation to bring His long-promised judgment upon the house of Saul.
In the middle of this, David's compromised position comes home to roost. He has been living in Ziklag, a town given to him by the Philistine king Achish. He has been pretending to be a mercenary, raiding Israel's enemies while telling Achish he was raiding Israelite towns. His deception has been successful, perhaps too successful. Achish now trusts him completely and calls in the chit. "You will go out with me in the camp, you and your men." The moment of truth has arrived. Will David, the anointed king of Israel, march into battle alongside the uncircumcised Philistines to fight against his own people, the people of God?
David's reply is a masterful piece of political maneuvering, but it is also a sign of his spiritual drift.
"And David said to Achish, 'Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.' So Achish said to David, 'Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.'" (1 Samuel 28:2 LSB)
Notice the ambiguity. "You shall know what your servant can do." Achish hears this as, "You will see what a mighty warrior I am for the Philistine cause." But David likely means something else entirely. He is kicking the can down the road, trusting that God will get him out of this impossible situation. But we must not miss the compromise. He calls himself Achish's "servant." He is playing a dangerous game, and it has led him to the brink of fighting against the Lord's army.
Achish is completely taken in. He is so impressed by David's apparent loyalty that he promotes him on the spot. "I will make you my bodyguard for life." This is the height of irony. The man anointed to be Israel's king is now offered the position of personal bodyguard to a pagan king. This is what happens when we seek refuge in the world's solutions instead of trusting in God's promises, even when that trust means continued hardship. David's flight to Gath was a failure of faith, and now he is reaping the consequences. God will deliver him, as we see in the next chapter, but not without first showing him the folly of his path.
A King Without a Word (The Broader Context)
While David is in his Philistine predicament, Saul is in a far worse one. The narrator pivots to show us the spiritual state of Israel's sitting king. We are reminded that Samuel, the prophetic voice of God, is dead. And we are told that Saul, in a moment of previous obedience, "had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land" (1 Sam. 28:3). Saul knew the law of God in Deuteronomy 18, which forbids all forms of divination and necromancy. He had once enforced it. This makes his next action all the more heinous.
When Saul sees the massive Philistine army, "he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled" (1 Sam. 28:5). This is not the righteous fear of the Lord; it is the terror of a man who knows he is alone. So he does what he should have done. He inquired of the Lord. But the heavens were brass. "The Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets" (1 Sam. 28:6). All the legitimate channels of divine communication were closed to him. Why? Because he had rejected the word of the Lord when it came through Samuel. He honored God with his lips, but his heart was far from Him. God's silence is a terrifying form of judgment. When you refuse to listen, God may simply stop talking.
This is the context for Saul's great sin. In his desperation, the man who had outlawed mediums now says to his servants, "Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her" (1 Sam. 28:7). This is the final act of a man who wants a word from the supernatural realm, but does not want the God who rules that realm. He wants guidance without submission, comfort without repentance. He travels by night, in disguise, a pathetic picture of a king in full rebellion. He even swears an oath to the witch of En-dor in the name of the Lord, promising her that no punishment will come to her for this abomination. This is blasphemy compounded by hypocrisy.
The Divine Hijacking
Saul asks the woman to bring up Samuel. What happens next is not a typical seance. The woman is not in control of this. When she sees Samuel, she cries out with a loud voice. This was not what she was expecting. Her normal bag of tricks, her familiar spirits, were pushed aside. God, in His sovereignty, hijacks this forbidden ritual to deliver His final sentence on Saul in person.
This was the real Samuel, sent by God as a messenger of doom. And what does Samuel say? He offers no new information. He simply repeats the judgment that Saul had heard years before. "The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord" (1 Sam. 28:17-18). Saul went to all this trouble, broke God's law, and disguised himself, all to hear the exact same message he had been running from. You cannot escape the judgment of God by changing the messenger.
The final blow is the prophecy of his imminent death. "Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me" (1 Sam. 28:19). To be "with me" simply means to be in Sheol, the realm of the dead. It is a declaration that his life, his reign, and his dynasty are over. The sentence is passed, and the execution is set for the next day.
Saul's reaction is complete collapse. He falls his full length on the earth, utterly terrified. There is no repentance, only fear. He is a hollow man, a shell. The man who stood head and shoulders above all Israel is now a heap on the dirt floor of a witch's hovel. This is the end of the line for those who reject the word of the Lord.
Conclusion: Seeking the Right Voice
This chapter presents us with a stark contrast. Saul, the disobedient king, is terrified and abandoned by God. His frantic search for a supernatural word leads him into deeper sin and confirms his doom. David, the chosen king, is in a compromised and foolish position, but God has not abandoned him. God will sovereignly rescue him from his own folly.
The lesson for us is plain. If we desire a word from God, we must go to the means He has appointed. We have His written Word, the Scriptures. We have prayer. We have the fellowship of the saints. We are not to dabble in the occult, in horoscopes, in tarot cards, or any other modern equivalent of the woman of En-dor. To do so is to follow in the footsteps of Saul. It is to seek guidance from forbidden sources because we are not content with what God has plainly said.
Saul's fundamental problem was a refusal to submit to God's authority. He wanted to be king on his own terms. When God gave him a clear command regarding the Amalekites, he rationalized and disobeyed. From that point on, his life was a downward spiral. His story is a warning to us all. Do not trifle with the commands of God. Do not think you can have a relationship with God on your own terms.
Ultimately, Saul's story makes us long for a better king. Saul sought a word from the dead and it brought him only judgment. We have a King who is the Word Himself, who went into death and defeated it, and who rose again to give us life. We do not need to seek for voices in the dark, because the Light of the World has come. Jesus Christ is the true King, the final prophet, the great high priest. Unlike Saul, He obeyed the Father perfectly. Unlike David, He never compromised. He is the King we need, and if we are His, His Spirit is with us, and we will never face the terrifying silence that Saul endured.