Saul: Into Darkness

The author of 1 Samuel breaks off the narrative about David to tell us something of greater importance. He does this to place David's predicament right beside Saul's dilemma to show us that as difficult as David's situation was, Saul's was far worse. King Saul was abandoned by God. In verse 15, Saul utters what are among the most miserable words in all of Scripture when he tells the ghost of Samuel, "I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams." Saul had reached the point in his life that Samuel had prophesied of years earlier in chapter 15, verse 23, "rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king." Facing the greatest misery of his life, Saul sinks into the deepest darkness of his career as king, as his rebellion (akin to witchcraft) turns to actual witchcraft. In the absence of a word from the Lord, king Saul hypocritically violates God's commandment and turns to Satan for answers. In desperation and facing devastation, men will often turn to anything they think will bring them hope. But the lesson Saul learned is that if one despises God's Word, He will take it away and if one persistently refuses to obey God's word, they will endure His silence.