1 Samuel 27-28: Witchcraft

I didn't see that coming.  1 Samuel 28 went off the rails a bit, in the sense that the supernatural realm was let in to a degree not really seen much to this point in Scripture.  Saul's been descending into evil little by little as each chapter proceeds, but we see that he is almost now in league with Satan himself.  God long ago left Saul to his own devices (since it was Saul's choice to follow Saul's will and not God's).  When Saul does have fits of paranoia and vexation (as is happening more frequently now that he is no longer close to God), he tries to appeal to God but gets no answer.  So, his fear being at an all-time high because of a growing Philistine threat, he turns instead to the evil one.  He tracks down a witch and demands an answer from anyone (or anything) to his question of what to do next.  This is madness.  Saul has essentially welcomed in pure evil, consulted with that which is out-rightly forbidden by the Law, has turned his back on God in the most egregious manner.  I was not expecting to see witchcraft, necromancy, and the occult so front and center in the middle of Scripture, but there it is.  And what's more startling is that the witch's "art" works (sort of).  There is disagreement over whether or not it is the witch who summons Samuel, and over whether or not it truly is Samuel.  One interpretation is that the witch does indeed summon a spirit but that it is an evil being posing as Samuel.  The problem with that interpretation is that the words of this spirit ring true.  Samuel correctly predicts the fate of Saul and he speaks of Saul with a disapproving tone.  The interpretation that makes more sense is that God used the situation (unholy as it was), to have Samuel's actual spirit appear and deliver an actual prophecy to Saul.  What validates this interpretation is the behavior of the witch, who cries out in fear when Samuel appears.  She who dabbles in dark arts all the time, is greatly troubled by what occurs.  And again, everything Samuel says appears true and accurate and foretells of Saul's troubles and doomed fate and how he has offended God.  Any power of a supernatural and evil origin that a man or woman may possess is always subordinate to God's Power -- that's what 1 Samuel 28 shows.  It's a disturbing chapter because we don't often like to think that people can tap into the evil realm beyond.  But it's comforting at the same time in that it shows there is a greater realm of good that will always overcome any evil in the end.

1 Samuel 26 - To Stay or Go

Yet again, David has spared Saul's life.  In 1 Samuel 26 we see Saul back to his old ways, on the hunt for David, looking to snuff him out.  Even after the incident in the cave, when Saul could have easily been killed by David but wasn't, he seems to have not learned anything (which is why Saul appears to be beyond redemption, having completely lost his soul to evil).  The events of 1 Samuel 26 are similar: David is in a position to easily kill Saul -- he is in his very tent as he sleeps -- but he is moved by the mercy of God to not do harm to an anointed king, instead to let God deal with Saul in His own time.  When Saul sees that David spared his life, he again seems remorseful, but by this point it's hard to know if he's being genuine.  The words exchanged between Saul and David in this chapter are the last they ever shared.  Remarkably, Saul goes so far as to bless David: "Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail" (1 Samuel 26:25).  This is as close to a peaceful transferring of power that we are likely to see between these two. 

One thing in this chapter that had me pausing to reflect was when David proclaims to Saul that he could not continue to live in exile.  David had left to live among the pagans in neighboring nations when Saul first sought to have him killed, but realized he could not live his life there.  David as we know is devoted to God and seeks to live a virtuous life abiding by God's commandments.  These things would be severely difficult to do if one was surrounded by constant sin and antagonism toward God.  David says "...the sons of men, they have cursed in the sight of the Lord, who have cast me out this day, that I should not dwell in the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve strange gods" (1 Samuel 26:19).  Living among the pagans is tantamount to serving their gods, according to David.  In his 83rd Psalm, he says: "I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners" (Psalm 83:11).  To David, it's better to live among God's people even in a lowly state, than to have a position of prominence among the sinful. 

1 Samuel 25 - A Lesson for David

Samuel dies in this chapter but it seems mentioned almost in passing.  The focus has completely shifted to David by this point; even Saul is barely mentioned in this chapter.  What distinguishes 1 Samuel 25 is that we see for the first time a moment of weakness on David's part.  He has been a model of virtue heretofore, especially when compared with Saul's evil behavior.  But in 1 Samuel 25 we see that David is human after all as he gives in to his anger and comes close to having someone unjustly killed.  That someone is Nabal, a sinful man who God plans on dealing with soon.  But what we learn through David is that punishment must ultimately come from God; it is not ours to dole out at our whim.  This lesson comes from the voice of Abigail, Nabal's wife.  Her words are filled with holiness, as if she is God's mouthpiece in this chapter.  David realizes the error of his ways and does not proceed with his evil intentions, thanks again to the good Abigail.  And Nabal is eventually dispatched by God, in due time.  We see David referred to as the king several times in this chapter, which leads to believe that his ascension is near at hand.  He is being regarded more and more by the Israelites as their rightful king.  The time of Saul is all but over.  And the Israelites will soon have a virtuous king who takes the virtuous Abigail to be his queen. 

1 Samuel 23-24: A Lesson in Mercy

"...be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, loving the brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble:  Not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing; but on the contrary, blessing: for unto this are you called, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:8-9)

A thousand years before the arrival of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of his message of radical love, David was already displaying what that love looks like.  As Saint Peter says in the above verses, we are called not to repay evil with evil, but to do good and be merciful always no matter what.  In David's case, a most vivid example of this is playing out in these chapters of the First Book of Samuel.  Saul is filled with evil and is bent on having David killed.  According to mankind's natural (i.e., fallen) inclinations, it would be expected that David would just as soon turn the tables on Saul and kill him if given the opportunity.  That opportunity comes in 1 Samuel 24 when Saul enters a cave unaware that David is within.  If David had wanted to kill Saul, a more perfect moment couldn't have come.  But he doesn't do it.  His virtuous heart, thanks to the grace of God, prevents him from repaying evil with evil.  Instead he simply cuts off a piece of Saul's garment to be a visible sign of mercy, that it might change Saul's heart.  And it almost appears to have worked.  Saul leaves knowing he could have easily been killed, and his anger seems to have been quelled.  David shows himself yet again to be a remarkable precursor to Jesus.  He demonstrates what it means to love one's enemies.  His is the virtuous life.  (Though, as a man David is still flawed and some of those flaws come out eventually).  David is just when it is fit to be just, as when he kills Goliath.  And he is merciful when we are called to be merciful, as when he spares Saul's life.  He is a model for us all, one of the best ones to appear in Scripture, before the coming of our Lord.

1 Samuel 22 - Restraint/Unrestraint

"Thou hast loved malice more than goodness; and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness." (Psalm 51:5)

So David proclaims in the 51st Psalm, speaking of Doeg, Saul's evil henchman, or even of Saul himself, for by 1 Samuel 22 we see that Saul has become a legitimately evil king.  Not only must David hide himself from Saul's wrath, but he must hide his family.  And horrifyingly we see Saul murder hundreds of priests all because one of them helped David flee.  The list of crimes in Psalm 51 could all be directed at Saul, for he truly now has become someone who loves evil more than good.  He has become unhinged and lacking in all restraint; he is angry, vengeful, frustrated, offended.  He has lost his grip on reason and rationality.  He wants nothing but to see the virtuous David destroyed. 

David, on the other hand, is a model of restraint in these chapters.  He knows that he has a divine appointment to be the next king of Israel, yet he has not tried to take the crown by force.  He has removed himself from Saul's radar of wrath until God decides Saul's time is done.  We see in 1 Samuel 22 that David has a growing legion of followers; in theory he could amass an army and march on Saul.  But he doesn't.  He waits, bides his time, and in doing so exhibits both restraint and humility.  David continues to be everything Saul is not.  The latter is a figure of sin and worldly passion, while the former is a saintly model of virtuous living. 

1 Samuel 20-21: David's Antic Disposition

David has fled.  The peaceful coexistence of both him and Saul was bound to come undone at some point.  But what follows seems to be a frenetic escape on David's part with no rhyme or reason to his actions.  He goes into hiding, shows up at the tabernacle, eats of the holy bread, leaves with Goliath's sword, heads to the city of his enemies, then acts crazy in order to escape the very same city.  It's all very bizarre behavior at first glance.  From the very beginning of David's story, there seems to be a sort of exceptional or even aberrant quality to his actions.  He is clearly a figure set apart.  Saul may have been the first king of the Israelites, but David's ascension makes the former's seem pretty mundane.  And it all points towards One to come.  Jesus Christ came to essentially turn the world upside down.  His actions baffled men.  Some thought Him a fool.  Mark 3:21 says, "...when his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold of him: for they said: He is become mad."  David's kingship prefigured the divine kingship of Christ, and we know Christ came to fulfill the law in a way entirely unexpected by men.  When David shows up at Nob, to the tabernacle, he is desperate for food and is given the bread reserved for sacred purposes.  To a legalist, this would seem sacrilegious; just as to the Pharisees, many of Christ's actions seemed dismissive of the law.  But those Pharisees didn't realize that Christ was not rejecting the law, but showing it in its proper light, its fullest sense.  So David as well appears to shed new light on the law.  For David proceeds to usher in a new era for the Israelites; he is come to upend many things and establish an unprecedented kingdom on earth -- a kingdom meant to illuminate the words of Christ.  We may be baffled by David's madness in 1 Samuel 21, but it helps us to detach from legalism and understand that God's ways aren't entirely bound by letters, nor can they be understood entirely by man.  Many of the saints were thought to be fools by men because they adhered to God's mysterious ways to a degree that is unfathomable to most men attached to the world.  And David appears to be one who knows God on a unique level. 

1 Samuel 18-19: The Persecution of David

"Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul." (Psalm 68:2)

There is a tradition that says David composed the 68th Psalm (or 69th according to the Hebrew numbering) during the events described in 1 Samuel 18-19.  It would make sense.  David is daily fearing for his life, as Saul conspires over and over again to have him killed.  "I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me" (Psalm 68:3).  Imagine the horror of going from the serenity of the pasture tending sheep to the backstabbing and intrigue of the royal court.  David was plucked from a simple life, chosen by God to be king of all Israel, but before ascending the throne, he would have endure a life-threatening persecution by none other than the king himself.  He was thrown into quite a storm alright.  "Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters" (Psalm 68:15).  David pleads in this psalm for deliverance.  David knows that Saul is trying to have him killed -- has even attempted to do so himself -- and day and night fears for his life.  He has to hide and run; he is remarkably helped by Saul's own children, Jonathan and his wife Michal.  It is all a heavy trial that David must bear.  "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written" (Psalm 68:29).  So David says of his enemies, and principally among them must be King Saul himself.  And if God so answered David's prayers here, then we must shudder to think on Saul's fate. 

Of course, Psalm 68 has gone on to represent more than just David's trials.  It is a prayer for anyone being attacked and mercilessly persecuted.  A plea for God to aid us in our hour of need, especially when all hope seems lost.  And like so many of David's prayers, there are powerful prefigurings in Psalm 68 of Christ's sufferings.  Jesus, after all, is the supreme example of someone persecuted by jealous enemies.  But before that there was David, an example come alive in Sacred Scripture of someone whose very innocence lights the ire of prideful men who, motivated by evil, would seek to destroy heaven itself if it stood in their way. 

These chapters in the First Book of Samuel also seek to show how insignificant man's will is compared to God's Will.  What we want and desire, ultimately, means nothing.  Saul desires power and control and hates David because he is a threat to those things.  Saul's will is to have David killed, but over and over he fails, because it is God's Will that David be king, and in the end it is God's Will that will have the final say.