Memory Verse: And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. 1 Samuel 28:6 KJV

We read in I Samuel 28 what God revealed to Saul by Samuel’s spirit; that the prophecy of David’s kingdom was about to be a reality for all Israel – since Saul and his sons would soon die (I Samuel 31:6). Though Saul had received this message before, this time was different. This time, Saul could not commune with God as was the heritage of the King of Israel. Saul sought the Lord; but He would not answer.

And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. I Samuel 28:6 KJV

Now Saul was afraid. Silence from the Lord to Saul might have felt like being stricken suddenly with blindness, though he had enjoyed perfect vision all of his life unto then. Unable to accept this spiritual blindness, Saul sought the help of a necromancer to call upon the spirit of Samuel, who was dead (I Samuel 25:1). Since Saul had banned those with familiar spirits from the kingdom, He had to go to Endor in disguise to find a woman who would perform a séance. Yet all of the camouflage in the world would not have disguised Saul in the eyes of God (I Samuel 28:12).

“15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. I Samuel 28:15 KJV

Have you ever been the neutral friend caught between two unhappy cohorts? One says to you, “Tell her I said…” and the other says, “You tell him I said…” Saul erroneously thought that silence from God could be cured by forming an alliance with the spirit of Samuel, a form of communication – with the dead, which God forbids (Deuteronomy 18).

“16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? 17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: 18 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. 19 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: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” I Samuel 28:16-19 KJV

To whom should Saul have spoken since He should not have resulted to witchcraft? Saul’s situation was extreme. No matter who Saul would have spoken to, he would not have been able to change the fact that God had rent the kingdom from him. You should not be discouraged if you read the story of Saul and think, “I don’t hear God.” If you have that thought, you are on the verge of something great. Saul had no Savior. You can have the Savior, Christ if you want Him (John 3:16; Romans 10:9).

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Psalm 95:7-8 KJV

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 KJV