Context No. 4162 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 28:8-12: in context

8Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. Then he said, “Please consult for me by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomever I shall name to you.” 9The woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” 10Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.” 11Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up to you?” He said, “Bring Samuel up for me.” 12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

This is a scene of a man at the end of himself. Saul, once anointed king, has so cut himself off from God by his disobedience that God no longer answers him. And in his desperation, he does the very thing he had once rightly outlawed: he goes, in disguise and by night, to consult a medium, seeking guidance from the dead because the living God will no longer speak to him.

Two things stand out in this sad scene. Saul's desperation drove him to do what he knew was wrong. He had himself banned such practices; now, cut off from God, he turns to the very darkness he had condemned. When we have cut ourselves off from God, desperation can drive us to seek in forbidden places what we can no longer find in him. And the disguise. Saul went in disguise, but he could not truly hide, not from the medium, who soon recognized him, and not from the consequences. The disguise is a fitting image of what sin does; we try to conceal our true condition, but we cannot finally hide from God or from the results of our choices.

When I feel cut off from God, does my desperation drive me toward forbidden places, and am I tempted, like Saul, to hide behind disguises, or will I turn back to God himself while he may still be found?

Sources

1 Samuel 28:8: "Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing... and they came to the woman by night. Then he said, Please consult for me by the familiar spirit."
1 Samuel 28:6: "When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD didn't answer him, by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets."
1 Samuel 28:12: "The woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!"