ON A HOPELESS PRAYER

But Samuel replied, “Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The Lord has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.” 1 Samuel 28: 16-29

Is there a time when God says, “Do not pray. Instead prepare for disaster?”  Despite warnings from the prophet Samuel, Israel’s leaders had demanded to have a king who would lead them into battle. The sacred shrine at Shiloh had been trouble by bribery, corruption, and sexual predators for two generations. Israel was in trouble with its God and with its neighbors. With confidence in their spiritual leaders badly damaged, and fear of impending invasion growing, the leaders asked Samuel for a king to organize an army for defense.

Samuel was horrified. For the past 400 years God’s protection had been wholly adequate. In times of crisis God had always sent a savior. The story of Gideon and his daring 300 whose moonless midnight surprise attack had dispersed an army of 40,000 was still sung around the campfires, and Gideon was only one story of many similar exploits. Yahweh alone was king. There ought be no other.

When the people insisted, Samuel gave them Saul, a man God chose. At first Saul was a humble and reticent king, but when the expected military challenge materialized on the eastern border, he rose to the occasion. The people rallied to his side, and he quickly defeated the Ammonites threatening the border. The more Saul’s power grew, the more threatened Samuel felt.

The battle between the religious office and the political took a sinister turn. Samuel decided to test Saul’s loyalty. He recalled from scripture a curse Moses had placed upon the nation of Amalek in the name of God hundreds of years before. Drawing upon the authority of this text, Samuel ordered Saul to do battle with Amalek, giving specific instructions to ethnically cleanse the area of Amalekites, and to devote all living things to the sword. Not one animal was to be left alive in the city.

Saul knew his office was dependent upon the people’s approval, and he did everything he could to please them. Killing all the valuable animals was not to their liking. When the army returned home Samuel showed up at the party to berate the king for his disloyalty to God. Every living thing was to be destroyed on the battlefield, and not brought home as booty for celebration, even if that celebration included sacrifice to God. Samuel denounced Saul and declared the end of his kingship.

For the rest of his life, Samuel sought to undermine Saul’s authority, and Saul became progressively more defensive and jealous of any potential rival.  Saul’s apparition of Samuel coming back from death had no message of grace. Whatever degree of blame we might assign to Samuel for Saul’s failures, still Saul must bear responsibility for his own attitude, and there came a time when repentance for him was no longer possible.

As a way to undermine Saul’s authority and prepare for his replacement, Samuel chose a rival to Saul whose name was David. If one looks at David’s  exploits, both military and sexual (his first 6 sons were from 6 different women), David was every bit as sinful as Saul, but David found grace. His heart was open to rebuke, and he had Samuel’s blessing. The curse of Samuel followed Saul all his life and resulted in the hopelessness of the text above. His blessing followed David, and David’s life ended in hope for those who followed him.

The story also shows the importance of listening to reproof. Even though Samuel’s motives were mixed, his message was true. Saul needed to fear God and not the people. This is the difference between David and Saul. Saul played his part in life to a human audience only. David played before the heavenly king, a flawed and stumbling performance, but done out of love of God and hope for God’s approval, and David received grace.