 What do you do when you’ve had your quiet time, prayed, and you come away with a sense that you’ve basically gotten nothing from the Lord for the day? This is a question I wanted to tackle because it is my guess that just about every Christian has mornings like this.
First of all, let’s address this from the sin point of view. If we are in known sin from which we have yet to repent - this will be the norm. If we think we’re going to have a wonderful time alone with God when we are in conscious known sin, we are kidding ourselves. The Word of God is very clear on this matter. “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18) Not only will He not hear - but usually when He speaks - it will only be to deal with the area of rebellion until repentance is embraced. Something I feel the necessity of saying is that He does this because He loves us. Scripture says God disciplines those He loves. But when this is ruled out we are still left wondering why it seemed like God did not do anything at all in our time alone with Him. Second, let’s address this from the emotions point of view. We all want emotions - at least when we think that they are going to be good. But life is not a series of incredible emotions that are guaranteed every day. The emotion with which I loved my wife on my wedding day and subsequent honeymoon was a very high point in our marriage. The emotion we had at the birth of each of our six children was a high point in life. The emotions I had when I went up to preach my very first sermon to Calvary Chapel was a high point. But there have been many days as a husband, father, and pastor that were not equally as high. In fact, to wonder why every day isn’t that high, emotionally speaking, is ridiculous. I still love my wife - love my children - and love the congregation I pastor when I have average emotional days - and even when I have bad and horrible days emotionally. That is called living. Too often we paint the Christian life as one high after another - or like some kind of trip to an amusement park with thrill ride after thrill ride. That is a disservice to others on this path. A normal person has a normal range of emotions - up, down, and often - somewhat blah at times. To have a continuous high cheapens who we are to be in Christ. Jesus knew highs and lows and everything in between. To have a somewhat blah-zay time alone with God is not horrifically abnormal. This takes me to the third thing we need to consider. Third there is the matter of faithfulness. Sherie and I do not have daily earth-shattering conversations. Most days we talk - and it is fairly normal, run of the mill, how was your day honey - kind of conversations. Because there is not a rush of emotion every time we speak does not make me doubt either her love for me or my love for her. We are faithful in really emotional times - and in times when the emotions don’t run as high. One of the things we need to remember is that God wants us to be faithful to Him. Therefore, when we have a really average time alone with God, or worse, a series of those average times - do we stop making time to be alone with God? The only way to build faithfulness in a life - is for there to be times when little more than faithfulness is why we keep going. We have things we value - regardless of whether they come with daily warm fuzzies or not. I value God - and value the relationship He has given to me through Jesus Christ. Whether I leave my time alone with Him high as a kite - or feeling very “non-feeling” will have no effect on whether I will continue to seek Him in the future. I seek Him BECAUSE I love Him - and I love Him because He first loved me. He values faithfulness - therefore I, too, will value it - with Him - with my wife - with my children - and with God’s saints. Truly - valuing faithfulness helps often with reaching out to the lost - because very often I get little back in response at first when sharing the gospel. But God calls me to love them and to share His Word with them - which requires (shocker alert) faithfulness. The last (but certainly not exhaustive) matter is that of the silences of God. There are times when all seems to go silent in our spiritual lives. I’ve read many biographies of godly men and women who all testify to these times. Some call them the dark night of the soul while others refer to them as the silences of God. Whatever they are called, they are disturbing when they come. David spoke of one of these when he said these words: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. Psalm 13:1-4 The silence of God disturbed David - it spiritually freaked him out. He wondered where God was. He had a longing to see God’s face. He desired God’s counsel - and the way that God would enlighten his eyes like He previously had in days gone by. He looked at how his being shaken in his confidence in God would cause those who hate God to rejoice. Now, I have to confess that I purposely left out verses 5-6 of this Psalm. David was shaken somewhat by what he thought was God’s absence - or at least disinterest in fellowship with him. In a way I believe that this was by design. The design behind it was for David to see how futile life was without God. The design was for David to recognize that there was no other God for him but Jehovah. That threw him even more dependent and needy upon God. Such words are not written because a person is disinterested in God or had an apathy about his or her spiritual life. These are the words of the true believer who is “desperate for God!” Peter spoke such words in John 6 when he said, “Where else can we go? You alone have the words of life!” Now I’ll share the rest of Psalm 13. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:5-6 David goes from despair to trust - i.e. faith! One can almost hear him lifting these words to the heavens. “I’ve trusted your covenant-love.” Even as he lifts them there - he speaks them also to himself deep within his heart. This first phrase speaks of God’s covenant with Israel - and later His covenant with David. God made promises - and He WILL keep them. David turns from emotion to the Word. He turns from feelings to faith. I have trusted in Your promises. But next David says, “My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation” He turns from God’s promises to God’s prior works. He remembers the salvation of God - how God worked in him and he again shouts to the heavens, “I’ve trusted what You promised - and I will choose to rejoice in what You’ve done.” It is wise in our blah moments to remember the mercies and grace of God given to us in salvation. As we remember His salvation - we need to speak it to our heart - and speak it with our heart as well. Then David finishes with a song. “I will sing to Jehovah, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Please note that exclamation points are not used here. I’m glad they were not - because I believe David is not speaking from excess emotion within himself. He is speaking truth TO himself. Remember what God has both promised and done requires singing. But what if we don’t feel like singing? Sing anyway, because deep down that is probably what David was doing. He sang of how Jehovah had dealt “bountifully” with him. The word for “bountifully” is the Hebrew word “gamal” which means to recompense or to bring to a good completion. But it can also mean, “to wean.” It was this meaning that grabbed me when thinking of my dry, blah moments in my time alone with God. There are times when what God is doing is weaning us from the constant call for an emotional experience. The child who is weaning may feel that he or she is getting a raw deal. There was plenty of food and a nearness - even an intimacy with mom involved. Where has that gone? But the mother is not removing love from the child - she is preparing the child for a thousand different foods to come. We need to grasp that at times our loving Father in heaven is weaning us from the glut of “feelings” so that we can be ready for mature food. We are being moved from milk to meat. Also - when these times come - God is allowing us to do what is truly in our hearts. That can be a painful moment - if all you have in your heart is “religious obligatory practices” and not a deep love of God. In those moments many turn away from God. If this is how it is going to be - I’ll just go somewhere else! That is a statement made by someone who has yet to be ruined by God. They have been ruined by God so that nothing else satisfies except God. His silences - or even our lousy quiet times can remind us of this. I am not here to fulfill a checklist of religious obligatory practices! I am here to meet God! Since nothing but God Himself will satisfy that longing - I MUST HAVE HIM! So - you’ve finished your time alone with God. You “feel” as if nothing has happened. You wonder why? Maybe its unconfessed sin - but that is not God’s only reason from allowing such a thing in your life. He loves you and wants you weaned from “emotionally-dependent Christianity” where life is one awesome experience to the next. He also loves you and wants to build faithfulness into your life. And He may love you enough to be weaning you from such things so that you can move on from milk so that you may begin partaking of the meat of the Word. Whatever it is - let Him drive you, not away from Himself, with such difficulties. Let them drive you further into His arms - further into His promises in His Word - and further into a relationship of trust and faith in His Son.
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 This week I want to refer to something we’ve read in the Disciple’s Journey readings. We are currently in 1 Samuel and we find there a somewhat disturbing situation with Saul and God. The situation involves Saul being confronted about his sin against David. He was seeking to kill David because of his jealousy and fear of David. When confronted about his sin, Saul breaks into tears and confession. He also speaks the truth about David one day being king - as God has already said. As big spiritual moments go - this one seems legit! Yet later Saul turns from these very confessions and finds himself chasing David and trying to kill him within days of his previous confession and supposed repentance. Saul changes his position like a yoyo going up and down on a string. One would think that his tearful confession of sin - even stating he is wrong and has sinned against God and David is the real thing. What is going on here in Saul’s life? And what can we learn from it?
When God truly works in a person’s life it is measured by what happens in the heart. That is a principle we must remember. When David was chosen as king, Samuel was reminded as several of David’s brothers walked by that, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” Jesus made it clear in the Gospel of Matthew that, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Matthew 15:11) And Jesus told us that out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks. When Jesus spoke of murder in the Sermon on the Mount, He defined murder and adultery based on what was happening in the heart - not just what happened outwardly in the actions. Back to Saul . . . Yes, he has tearful confessions to David - but we really don’t see him turning to God. When David sinned later in life with the adultery with Bathsheba and proxy murder of her husband, he confessed his sin to God - even writing Psalm 51 and other Psalms as testimony and instruction for Israel. In spite of all Saul’s tears - there is no real repentance and turn to God. That is where we must turn to the New Testament to be reminded of the nature of true repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 speaks of true repentance. The passage reminds us that there are two kinds of sorrow. There is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance - and - a worldly sorrow that leads to death. Here is that entire passage. For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 Note in the underlined section that there is a sorrow according to God’s will that leads to repentance without regret and to salvation. This is contrasted with the sorrow of the world that produces death. There is repentance to life - and another repentance to death. Saul had the second of these two kinds of repentance. It had plenty of tears - plenty of words - even plenty of emotion. The problem is that is had no true turn to God. So how to we know whether we have the first or second kind of repentance? In the end - it is evidenced by our actions. And we will see in a moment that these actions are not toward the offender or the offended primarily. They are actions toward God. The last verse describes the actions of true repentance. Earnestness - vindication (apologea - a defense - here a defense of God’s ways and a defense seen not only in words but in a change of our actions). There is also fear of God - longing to change - zeal for God and his law to be fulfilled in our actions and attitudes - and a future where we are innocent in regard to sinful actions. All this points to a change in life. It matters very little how many tears are shed - it matters much how much we turn to God and allow Him to change our hearts so a different way of living ensues. Then there is verse 12 - which is very enlightening. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 7:12 Paul states here that he wrote with rebuke - not for the sake of the offender who had sinned - nor did he write for the sake of the offended that had been sinned against in this situation. Ultimately he wrote so that they would see a revived earnestness in their response to the Word given to them by Paul - in God’s eyes. Ultimately Paul knew that repentance is something done “in the sight of God.” It is not done for the consumption of man. When we are truly repentant toward God - we will change. We change primarily because we restore our relationship with Him - and He works within us as we turn from disobedience to obedience. Back to Saul . . . He makes a very good and even somewhat convincing confession to David. The problem is that we see no true confession to God. Remember Saul’s confession to Samuel. He said he had sinned - but the next thing he did was to ask Samuel to come with him so he could be honored in the eyes of the people. David’s repentance didn’t care about honor before the people - he desired restoration to God. That is why we see David turn to God - even in the midst of very difficult circumstances and consequences of his sin. We see him turn to God again and again - humbling himself and seeking God in the middle of the mess his sin had caused. But what we see in Saul is a continuing descent into sin - disobedience in the Amalekite matter - disobedience in his attitudes and actions toward David - disobedience in continuing in his efforts to kill David even after having his life spared twice - and then a turning to a demonic medium when God wouldn’t answer his prayers before his death in a battle against the Philistines. Saul got worse - not better after his tearful confessions. So what do we come away with from these chapters of 1 Samuel? We come away with a warning about merely looking at the outside of things. Even when people cry actual tears along with their confession - that is not enough to merit calling what they do “true repentance.” We come away with a reminder that ultimately the One most offended by sin is God. Therefore the primary issue in true biblical repentance unto life is what is happening in the heart. Are we turning to God wholly or are we just making a good religious show of things? True repentance is all about our response to God. He calls us to repentance - helps to grant us true repentance - and is the One we are returning to in repentance. Without those things happening - and a subsequent work of God that affects the way we live - all our tears, confessions, and promises we will truly change are just chaff to be blow away. The real work - is heart work resulting in life change - to the glory of God.  “I will give thanks to You, O Lord among the heavens,
I will sing praises to You among the nations, For your steadfast love is great, Is great to the heavens, And Your faithfulness, Your faithfulness, to the clouds! Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let Your glory be over all the earth! Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let Your glory be over all the earth!” We would probably refer to this praise song as “an oldie.” The funny thing is until many of us read Psalm 57 this week; we may not have grasped just how much of “an oldie” it is! It is not just a song that was written in 1977 – the Holy Spirit through His servant David gave it to us. What may tend to astound us a little is the music studio in which it was written. ------------------ There he sat in a dark cave, wondering what possibly could be next. What had it been – 4 or 5 years he had been on the run? A fugitive from justice – at least the royal excuse for justice at the present moment. He could hear his own breathing – as well as the breathing of a small band of men who were with him in the place where light would not betray their presence. What would today bring? Another close call with death – another sprint up the side of a mountain with our pursuers barely out of sight? It was a lonely existence and often a frustrating one. But before his thoughts could turn to another thing there was a noise at the entrance of their hideout. Silence – absolute silence had to be observed. Did someone see them come in? Did they not cover their tracks well enough? Even worse – were these their final moments before a flood of battle-hardened warriors would begin what would be literally the fight of his life? No it was only one person – wait – it was one very recognizable person from his attire. The king was entering the cave – and remarkably – he was alone. It was soon evident that he was there to relieve himself. A lone soldier silently came to his side and whispered in his ear. “David – this is it – you can end all this now. God has led your enemy right to you where you can strike him down.” The stealthy voice was hushed as David took only a moment (but it felt like a year) to know what he should do. “This is God’s anointed!” He thought, “How can I stretch out my hand and kill him without guilt? He moved as if a small wisp of wind and cut just the corner of Saul’s garment off of the robe. Soon Saul was finished and began to depart from the cave. David waited a few minutes and then followed him. His men crept behind him to see what would happen. David called out to Saul and apologized. APOLOGIZED! What was he doing, his men thought! He isn’t going to kill him? He’s apologizing – and he’s giving away our position! We’re all dead men now! But soon after they heard Saul weep and apologize to him! What an amazing thing to see and hear. What a strange day it was. That night they sat around the fire and David pulled out his lyre. They loved when he did this – for few if any could write and sing like their captain. What prayer would he weave with his music and words tonight? This was a new one – and from what he said – it about today’s events in the cave. “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by.” Sounds right – sounds like what we’ve been going through – that is for sure! But David continued with more. I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. Our captain is so good at telling the story! We were praying too! It is truly amazing how he turns to God in every situation. It is amazing that he looks to Jehovah to deliver him – and – us! Reproach? Yeah – Jehovah needs to do a little reproaching and rebuking! We are being trampled. The thoughts of what he just sang ran wild in their heads as he went through a little break from singing and the music played by itself. A flourish of music seemed to be leading to some kind of revelation. “God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.” Send love and truth? What we need to be asking for is a few more soldiers – no – a lot more soldiers! Maybe even a batch of angels! “My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows And their tongue a sharp sword.” As I turned and elbowed a buddy next to me – we both had that look in our eyes. Yeah – David – tell it like it is! Lions – yep – they’re like lions – fire breathing lions – with teeth like spears and arrows! Absolutely David – their tongue is like a sword – a very sharp one! We braced ourselves longing for a little more judgment talk! We wondered how God was going to deal with our persecutors? This was going to be good! “Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.’ Looked at my buddy and shrugged. Where did THAT come from? He’s started praising God. We were kind of used to this. It was like one moment he is concerned – maybe even a little mad. Then – boom – it’s like God does something to his heart and his tone changes. You know - It’s like he sees something we don’t. Almost like God was in the midst of all this mess. Kind of like – no matter what God is still in control of it all? Whatever the case – it may be disturbing – but it sure is amazing and enlightening! They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah. YESSIR David! It was like they were hunting us with a net and a pit! Right again! Our souls were bowed down too! And its about time for someone to knock them into their own pit. Then – there is was again – that flourish in the music that meant a conclusion – or maybe some kind of insight. Oh how we loved how he did this! “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. There he goes again – praising and worshipping God. Was hoping for fire and judgment – but he turns to God and wants to awaken the morning. Thanks? Praise? Love? Truth? Boy - how he views things so very differently than us! Oh – and there it is again – that same chorus. Be exalted above the heavens – Let Your glory be above all the earth. Not exactly what I was expecting after that harrowing experience! Then it was done – the song was over. Like all of his songs – this one left us thinking – wondering – considering things. “You know – there is something about these songs,” I thought. Strange – but the more I hear them – the more I trust in God. The more any situation becomes Jehovah’s situation. The more I see God ultimately in control – no matter how bad or how good it gets. Then there is also that steady drum beat of everything being for God’s glory. I looked over at my buddy one last time before I lay down to sleep. “Eh – pretty good song,” I said. “And weird as it may seem – it makes me want to trust God right along with him.” As I turned my head and lay on the ground I thought of the words of the song I just heard – and drifted off into a restful night’s sleep. My last conscious thoughts were – “With a God like that – doesn’t matter what your situation is – a man can sleep peacefully at night.”  Saul’s sin began in such an inconspicuous way. He was faced with waiting on God in a difficult situation. He was supposed to wait on Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice as the Philistines gathered. When he was forced to wait longer - he chose not to do so and “forced himself” to offer up the sacrifice. This was something only the priests of the Lord were supposed to do. The real issue though was Saul having to wait on God when things were dicey and difficult. Please understand that I know that such times are what makes a man or woman of God - and that such trials are very hard to endure. But Saul failed miserably and decided he knew best what to do - and that waiting on God didn’t make sense when something needed to be done NOW (at least in his mind this was the case).
Sin grew in Saul when he was sent to destroy the Amalekites. Here was where Saul decided in his own mind that what God had said was forbidden and needed to be eliminated seemed harsh to him. He could save what looked good to him (regardless of what God said about it) and even use it to serve God - at least what was left over when he was done using it too. His real issue here was seeing things from God’s perspective - especially what God called sin and what He forbids. Saul wanted to define sin and what is forbidden himself. That redefinition was the cause of the kingdom being torn from him just as Samuel’s garment was torn when he tried to persuade Samuel to bless him rather than discipline him. It was during this time that Saul began to watch David’s surrendered life begin to experience God’s favor. He sang to God in a way that made evil spirits run from the room. He faced down a giant who wound up face down and dead because of David’s trust in God. As this grew he looked at David first with suspicion, then with dread, then with a growing jealousy, and eventually with murderous rage. He tried every way he could to kill this godly upstart and keep himself king. He wasn’t going to wait on God to advance David - and surely Saul knew better than God who should be king and who shouldn’t be king. Interesting how our early “little sins” come back later much larger than we first estimated them to be? Saul became quite the spear thrower during that time (he threw a lot of them - he just didn’t hit anything except the wall). He threw them at David in a jealous, murderous rage. He even threw them at his own son - when he threw in his lot with this horrible usurper of kingdoms! In fact, when we see him in 1 Samuel 22 - he is standing on a high place with a physical spear in his hand - and with verbal spears that he is about to lob at David and anyone who would dare support him. “David won’t give you what I’ve given you!” he rages. “And after all I’ve done for you - none of you tells me my son made a covenant with this terrorist who lays in wait and conspires against me!” Saul works the crowd dishing out guilt like a Jewish mama working her son for something she wants. “None of you feels sorry for me,” he continues evidently making up for any lost pity by feeling very sorry for himself. That is when it happened. Saul’s decision to play with sin rather than kill it, grew to full stature as Doeg the Edomite (by the way Edom is another type of the flesh and a way that is opposed to God’s way) told him that Ahimelech had helped David with bread and Goliath’s sword. Saul snapped, calling the priests before him with Ahimelech and interrogating them about how they were complicit in David’s plot to overthrow Saul and his kingdom. Ahimelech for his part though was no patsy - he confronted the king’s sinful madness by reminding him David has not been part of some plot. He has been beneficial to the king, killing Goliath, being Saul’s son-in-law, who was elevated to captain of your personal guard (by YOU!) and who is honored in your hose. He even let Saul know he was still his servant (which by the way so was David) and then said, “ . . . your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair.” What is so very sad is David knew nothing of it either because the only place this plot existed was in Saul’s twisted mind. The next thing Saul did I believe sealed his fate. He pronounced a death sentence upon godly Ahimelech the priest - and extended it to his entire family - women and children included. The blood then flowed like waters rushing down a stream. So virulent was Saul’s jealousy and hatred of David that even oxen, donkeys, and sheep were slaughtered. This is where sin takes us. We think we are in control of what we consider a small thing in our lives. We think it is OK for us to think of a brother or sister in Christ with jealousy and suspicion - even a little resentment - and that it will never grow. But Saul is given to us as an example of where sin takes us. I heard a Baptist preacher one say, “Sin takes you where you don’t want to go - Keeps you longer than you want to stay - And costs you more than you want to pay!” How true that is in Saul’s life as his sin - when he thought he controlled it - began to take over and it controlled him. But that is the true nature of sin. It will only grow and become ever more malignant in your life. That is why we need to be circumspect and alert to any intrusion of sin into our lives, our mindset, or our ways. It is deadly. The wise man or women knows this and avoids it at all costs - and when it is discovered repents of it immediately and completely.  In 1 Samuel 16:14-15 and as well in 1 Samuel 19:9 we read of a strange situation with Saul where an evil spirit from the Lord that came upon Saul. Here are the verses written out below.
Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. 1 Samuel 16:14-15 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. 1 Samuel 19:9-10 Here we read of an evil spirit from God who was sent to terrorize Saul. What do we make of this – an evil spirit from God? NOT THE FIRST TIME What may be astounding to some is that this is not the first time God has done this. He has used evil spirits to deal with sin in the past. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. Judges 9:23-24 God used an evil spirit to cause a rift between two sets of evil people who had done horrible violence in killing all the members of the Gideon’s family. This spirit widened that rift so that both parties were destroyed for their genocide of Gideon’s extended family. In 1 Kings 22:19-23, we read of the prophet Micaiah prophesied of an evil spirit who would be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of wicked king Ahab’s false prophets so that he would be led to go to battle and be killed at Ramoth-Gilead. In each of these situations God was dealing with those who were being very disobedient to Him. CONTEXT OF DISOBEDIENCE The first thing – as always – is to understand this in the context in which it is given. Saul has begun disobeying God regularly – without truly coming to repentance afterward. He was not just disobeying God in a personal matter alone – he was openly defying and disobeying orders God gave him for the actions of the entire nation. CONTEXT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DEPARTING The second thing we should note is that the Spirit of God departed from Saul. Like nature, the spiritual realms abhor a vacuum. What happened in the departure of God’s Spirit was that an evil spirit from God filled that vacuum – though from what we can tell from the passage – it did not possess Saul. The word used for what was happening was that this evil spirit terrorized Saul. The word used here is “baath” which means to startle, terrify, or to fall upon. But why would God allow this? What was He seeking to do? GIVEN OVER One of the ways for us to understand this is to grasp the nature of God’s holiness. In Romans chapter 1 we read of how God responds to sin. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Paul goes on to tell us that the evidence for God is first known through nature – and then through conscience. Therefore mankind is without excuse for not giving God thanks or honoring Him. What men do is to make a god of their own invention instead. God then “gives them over” to various kinds of sin – anything from sexual sin to anger to even disobedience to one’s parents. This is how God responds to sin in the ungodly. But there is more for us to grasp – including how God uses even Satan to deal with us when we sin so that we will return to Him in repentance. TURNED OVER TO SATAN There are several passages in the New Testament that will help us understand what was going on with Saul in these passages in the book of 1st Samuel. I’ve listed them below. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight. keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20 In both of these passages there is sin that is a result of ones who are consistently living in disobedience to God. What Paul says in each case is that he turned these men over to Satan for a purpose. In 1 Corinthians the man was turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. In 1 Timothy the two men were handed over to Satan so that they might be taught not to blaspheme God. This may seem extreme to us – but it is only because we don’t fully grasp the honor and glory that God deserves. Also we should remember that this is done rarely – but it is done also for the good of those to whom it happens. In both cases the goal is that these men would learn not to sin and grieve God. God loves them enough to discipline them – and bring them to repentance. So in light of these passages lets return to 1st Samuel and our passages about Saul. God was disciplining Saul by having the evil spirit terrorize him. The intent was for Saul to repent. The problem is that Saul refused to repent – or in some cases he partially repented – or had what 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 calls “the sorrow of the world” which leads to death rather than true God-focused repentance. Rather than turn to God we will watch Saul descend into madness as he is tortured with the reality that he has been replaced and that David is God’s chosen king for Israel’s future. WHAT ABOUT US? So what can WE learn from all of this? There are a couple of things we should grasp. First, is that God takes disobedience very seriously. To disobey God is to place ourselves immediately in the crosshairs of God’s discipline. We might want to think about that a little before we decide to disobey God in the future. Second, God loves us enough to want us to return to Him. He will use whatever it takes to bring us to repentance and return. Yes, that even includes setting the evil one loose to be an instrument of that discipline. What He is doing when He does this is simple. He is allowing the consequences of our sin to run free in our lives. One thing though that is a comfort to us is that God restrains the evil one from taking the full measure of hatred out upon us. But the longer we disobey – the more stringent will be the discipline. And – since we are speaking of eternal things – truly THIS is the most important issue in our lives. Greater than temporary happiness, greater than mental or physical health, greater than prospering in the here and now – God wants us to repent and turn away from disobedience. Considering what we are seeing in the life of Saul . . . it is my hope that we cringe at His power even while marveling at His love. God is at work drawing us to Himself – and He will not tolerate any rival. May we learn – and turn to Him from disobedience and thank Him for such wise, powerful love toward us.  Just thought I’d write something in light of our reading from 1 Samuel 15 the other day. Here is one of those passages that can really get confusing if we don’t study it in light of the whole counsel of God’s Word. On one day - and within one chapter of the Word - we read these three sections all dealing with God regretting (or in the King James it reads, “repenting”) something. And what we read has to be doubly confusing because in verse 10-11 God says he regrets making Saul king, in verse 29 He says He will not lie or “change His mind,” and then finally in verse 35 God repeats that He regretted making Saul king over Israel. Does God change HIs mind or not? Does this represent a serious problem with God being both immutable - and yet - in these passages - seeming to say that He isn’t immutable - because He made a regrettable choice in making Saul king? Which is it - immutable (never changing) or not immutable (changing His mind)?
The first thing we need to do in finding an answer to this dilemma is to place ourselves in humble dependence on God to reveal Himself through the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture. As we do this we need to address the whole counsel of God’s Word. First let’s see the passages we are addressing in 1 Samuel 15. Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” 1 Samuel 15:10-11 (NASB) As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." 1 Samuel 15:27-29 (NASB) Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. 1 Samuel 15:35 (NASB) The next thing to do is to seek to understand these with the wider lens of their context. Had God said anything earlier that would have made this a possibility? The first place to look for this is in Saul’s appointment as king. This did not come without a problem. The prophet Samuel did not want to see a king appointed for Israel. He rightly discerned that God was displeased with this request. Chapter 12 of 1st Samuel is his address to this displeasure of God. After telling them that this was an ungodly request - God manifest Himself by sending thunder and rain during the wheat harvest. This was completely out of the norm and the people feared the Lord greatly as a result. But Samuel sought to comfort Israel with a call to remain faithful to God by continuing to serve the Lord with all their heart. Then he said these words. "Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away." 1 Samuel 12:24-25 (NASB) Therefore we learn from the start of Saul’s kingdom that his appointment was based on him following God with all his heart and not doing wickedly. If he did this, Saul would be swept away by God’s judgment. The fact is that Saul did disobey a direct command of God twice already. This was the second time he disobeyed God in a direct command. The first involved him making an offering without a priest - something God absolutely warned against doing. It was on that occasion that Samuel made it clear that God was then seeking a man after His own heart to be king. We read that in 1 Samuel 13. Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:13-14 (NASB) So what we learn from a better understanding of the context of 1 Samuel is that God had already warned Israel and Saul once - and rebuked Saul for direct disobedience and said that God was going to seek out for Himself a man after His own heart to be king. It was in this context that the incident in chapter 15 with the Amalekites took place. So based on this alone we know that God had not “changed His mind” or “repented” as a man would who had made a mistake. He had already made it clear that Saul was going to be replaced because he had shown himself unfit to be Israel’s king by his multiplied disobedience. One thing we need to state here as well is that often God moved upon His prophets to speak judgment for disobedience and rebellion. But often these were conditional warnings. There was a caveat that if those who received the warnings would repent and turn from their sin - the disaster and judgment could be avoided. If they refused to repent and continued in their sin - the judgment would surely fall upon them just as God had promised. Saul knew this from Israel’s history - and yet he continued in his pride, disobedience and unwillingness to follow God’s decrees. It is at this point that we need to take a look at the words that were used in 1 Samuel and elsewhere to understand a little better what is going on in this passage. Once we have come to understand the context, it is wise to do word studies as well. The KJV regrettably uses the word repent in 1 Samuel 15 to translate the Hebrew word, “nacham” in 1 Samuel 15:11. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Old Testament, the word “nacham” means: to be sorry or to regret. What is going on in this passage where God uses the word “nacham” every time He speaks is this - He is expressing sorrow and regret for having Saul made king. He did so to teach Israel a lesson. That lesson was to trust Him as king - and not be like the rest of the nations around them. And yet even as He gave them what they wanted, knowing it would lead to disaster for them, He did so that they would learn from their mistakes. But as these mistakes began to multiply and the people suffered because of it - God speaks of how it affects Him to see it - he was filled with sorrow and regret for having Saul as king and the suffering it caused. God is not just in heaven marking off the things that will happen like some unfeeling bureaucrat checking off a list. He hated to see the suffering it caused - and yet - He was also disciplining His people so that they would reject sin and adhere to His ways and leading. The word most often used for a man’s repentance is the Hebrew word “shub” which means to turn back. In verses 10 and 11 God uses this word “shub” to describe Saul’s turning from God. But when God speaks of His regret for making Saul king the word “nacham” is used. The two are distinguished from one another - as they are elsewhere in Scripture. A man disobeys God - and after learning of his rebellion is called to change his mind about his wickedness and repent (shub). But God knows no such shock in departing from the right way. What He experiences here - and elsewhere in Scripture is grief and sorrow over sin. Some might assert that God, being sovereign, knew Saul would sin. Then why would God make him king? Why wouldn’t God just make David king - or just refuse to have any king at all? Why would God allow the suffering and the sin that would follow Saul’s terrible reign as king - when He could have avoided it altogether? To answer this will require a second article - seeing as this one has already run very long. I’ll address this question in the next installment. |
Biblical ArticlesMost of these articles are taken from the Calvary Courier, a weekly newsletter that is sent to the folks who attend Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. Due to the response to these articles, we've decided to print some of them which proved to be very helpful to God's people at the fellowship. 
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