Pastor Edgar Mayer; Living Grace Community Lutheran Church; Message on 1 Samuel 18-21 – Sermon Series: King David 4; Date: 27 July 2008

For more sermons and other writings check out pastor’s homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar

As Witchcraft

Two verses in 1 Samuel 16 set the scene for what is to come. I read them to you – verses 13-14: “ … from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power … Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul … “ These two verses give clear information. Saul – the current king – was under judgement from God and therefore the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. David – his replacement – the future king – was in favour with God and therefore the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power.

This is straight forward. There is no confusion about who is blessed by God and who is not. David – blessed, Saul – not. Yet, how then do we account for the subsequent unfolding of the story? At a later stage it is Saul who is seen prophesying and slain in the Spirit for twenty-four hours but David ends up scratching the door of a city gate with spit dribbling down his beard. Shouldn’t it be the other way round?

We read about Saul – the one under judgement – 1 Samuel 19:23-24: “ . Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’”

Maybe we wouldn’t want to emulate this here at Living Grace because what happened to Saul sounds like wild – out there – worship: prophesying even on the way to church, stripping off in church and then lying there in your undies prophesying until people make your experience into a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

This was radical, intense, extreme. Yet, this was God moving on Saul and many prophets were known – and are known – for strange behaviour. For instance, Isaiah went naked for three years (Isaiah 20) and Jeremiah prophesied while carrying a wooden yoke on his neck (Jeremiah 27:1-28:17). The people of the day had no problem recognizing that Saul acted as one among the prophets. The prophetic experience of Saul was genuine and therefore awesome – amazingly wonderful – because prophetic encounters represent something absolutely worth having. The Bible encourages all of us Christians – 1 Corinthians 12:31: “ . eagerly desire the greater gifts.” 1 Corinthians 14: “ .. desire spiritual gifts especially the gift of prophecy.”

Only – we ask the question again: “Why Saul? Why would God let him enjoy something so great? Wasn’t Saul under judgement?” Yes, he was. Let’s see what happened.

Earlier on David had defeated Goliath and thus removed the threat of the Philistines from Israel. So Saul – the king – had reason to be grateful but his joy over the victory was short-lived. I read from 1 Samuel 18:5-12: “Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army … When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.”

The Philistines were beaten but Saul felt no joy and the reading explains why. More about this later. When I was preparing this message, I stumbled over one feature – one verse – which said: “He [Saul] was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp … “ This is interesting. Once again Saul was prophesying – not in such an intense fashion as later on – but he was prophesying in his house. What was he prophesying about? The truth – about him and David. He knew. And then the truth made him hurl a spear in the direction of David – twice – with murder in his heart – hoping to pin him to the wall.

Why would the truth of God do that to you – make you hurl a spear with deadly intent? Jesus said in the Bible – John 8:32: “ . you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus declared – John 18:37: “ … for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth … “ The truth is precious to us – not destructive – not expected to tempt us with spear in hand – the truth – God’s truth – is precious to us because without the truth we would not be saved from bondage to sin. Jesus diagnosed our condition accurately, saying – John 8:34: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

If you are here in this worship service – maybe for the first time – and you are not yet sure about salvation, then know that as a church our foremost desire is to speak truth to you – saving truth that comes with power to set you free – and we pray that God makes you hear and recognize the truth and the truth is this – 1 Timothy 2:3-7 – I read again from the Bible: “ … God our Saviour . wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people … I am telling the truth, I am not lying … “

You and I – we – have someone that mediates between God – the Father – and us – Jesus Christ. He paid a costly ransom when he offered up his innocent life on a cross – when he died for us – so that the penalty for our own sin would be paid by his sacrifice. This is the truth – the glorious truth of heaven – and it sets us free – from slavery to sin – from addiction, darkness, brokenness, despair. Therefore – you and I – know the truth. Trust the truth. Put your faith in what God has done for you.

However, back to Saul. What happened to him? Why would he prophesy God’s truth and then on account of the truth hurl a spear with deadly intent in the direction of David? Does this make sense to us?

No – not at first – but it will dawn on us that what happened to Saul is not an isolated incident but an ever present danger to all of us. He was on a downward spiral of sin which comes with its own spiritual laws and therefore scary implications even for religious church people.

Saul became jealous of David because the women sang these two lines: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Two lines do not make a song but Saul became angry. These words galled him and then led him to make some severe misguided assumptions, thinking to himself: “They have credited David with tens of thousands but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”

Saul became jealous and his jealousy betrayed the same old root problem of sin which he had always had, that is: he always cared too much about himself – not God and not his will. The first time he got into trouble was over sacrificing a burnt offering in the face of a fearful army because the prophet Samuel turned up late and his soldiers threatened to desert the campaign (1 Samuel 13). At that time there was still a lot of sympathy for Saul because he was a leader under pressure and worried about his job.

However, the next time Saul got into trouble was more serious already. He won a war and instead of obeying God’s instructions of keeping no spoil, he not only kept the best sheep and cattle for feasting but – before doing anything else – he – 1 Samuel 15:12: “ … set up a monument in his own honour … “ Saul always sought his own honour. Maybe he compensated for a time when he was so shy that – according to 1 Samuel 10:22: “ .. he hid [original: has hidden] himself [from his people] among the baggage … “ Maybe there were some inner healing issues but it did not save him from the consequences of always seeking his own honour.

God rejected him and still – instead of humbling himself – instead of agreeing with God’s judgement – his own honour remained such a force – such an idol – that any threat to his own importance aroused fierce jealousy – and misery. On the day of another victory – the slaying of Goliath the giant – he surrendered to angry thoughts: “They have credited David with tens of thousands but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”

The irony was that Saul was right. (Not the people but God was to set leadership change into motion.) Listen to what God then did to him – 1 Samuel 18:10: “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house … Saul had a spear and he hurled it … “ Saul chose to sin at the altar of his own self-importance. He wanted to remain king – the greatest – the one in control – against the will of God – jealous of anything that took away the spotlight from him – and this sin then opened him up to further darkness. God allowed an evil spirit to come upon Saul and use his sin as a foothold for further sins – one more grievous than the one before – more and more demonic – with the consequence that Saul became more and more lost in the madness of his own actions. The downward spiral of his sinful destruction is nothing but frightening because – if we don’t watch it – we could be him.

What is our sin or could be our sin? Where do we not obey God? When do we want to hurl spears at the Davids around us? Do we ever face the strange phenomenon that the truth of God makes us angry? This is not so unlikely. God’s own people often resisted his word. Saul wasn’t an isolated incident.

For instance – Acts 6:6-7 – I read from the Bible another passage: “ … [some members from the synagogue – the church –] began to argue with Stephen but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.” “ … they could not stand up again his wisdom and speech.” These people recognized the truth but then reacted with anger, stirred up the others, produced false witnesses and dragged Stephen before their religious court but – with God in charge – to no avail – this is what they saw – Acts 6:15: “All … looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Then – in court – Stephen’s words again got to them and made them even childish in their anger – murderous but childish, irrational under the conviction of the truth – Acts 7:57-58 – I read: “At this they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him … and began to stone him …” What behaviour for the dignitaries of the highest court in the country! Yelling at the top of their voices – with ears covered – rather than justice because the word of God – from a man named Stephen – rang true but threatened their religion.

Can we take a moment to make this personal – for you and I? When do we want to hurl spears at the Davids around us or yell at the top of our voices? Do we ever face the strange phenomenon of God’s God making us angry? Saul had issues with jealousy – do we? Or is it money or control or adultery? Do we ever get angry looking at another person because that person – like David – is enjoying favour with God? Are we somehow confronted by the truth: “You are not right with God.” “You are spending too much on yourself.” “You are too close to this other woman – or man.” “You are full of pride.” David never said anything to Saul. It was not his place to challenge the king but God did. I pause for a moment to let you pray in silence. Let God make this personal to you. [Saul had an evil spirit operating in him. How angry would we get, if the same was true of us and God used someone to point this out?]

When Saul first brought judgement on himself – before he became jealous of David – the prophet Samuel warned him and said to him – 1 Samuel 15:22-23: “ … rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” Is that true? When we sin – disobey – reject the word of God – look after ourselves first – allow jealousy to get the bettter of us – hold back money from God – and so on – do we think that this is as serious a transgression as witchcraft – worshipping the demonic? At first reading my reaction was: “No. This is too harsh. When Saul sinned against God’s commandment – spared some of the life-stock against God’s instructions – he was not intending to bow down before demons in witchcraft. None of us here intends to get close to the devil when we disobey.” Maybe we are just ignorant.

Saul’s persistent sin made God reject and remove his Spirit from him with the consequence that now an evil spirit gained access to Saul – 1 Samuel 16:14: “ . the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” Then Saul’s sin and the consequences of sin began to escalate – jealousy some time later and then after he gave in to jealousy – 1 Samuel 18:10 – “the next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul” which on the same day made Saul attempt to murder David with his spear – twice.

Yet, Saul was not in shock over his behaviour – did not come to his senses – but – 1 Samuel 18:15: “ … when Saul saw how successful David was, he was afraid of him.” There was demonic fear instead of God’s peace.

Jonathan – his son – thought the whole matter could be cleared up if someone just reasoned with his dad. Surely this was simply a communication problem. He spoke to Saul – 1 Samuel 19:4-5: “ … Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?” This was a good speech and Saul responded well, saying – 1 Samuel 19:6: “ … As surely as the Lord lives [this is an oath], David will not be put to death.” Yet, not even an oath – and no amount of reasoning – could stop the consequences of sin – 1 Samuel 19:9 – “ . an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand … “ and then there was another attempt on David’s life.

Human reasoning made no headway with Saul but what about God in his raw power – and mercy? Here we come back to our opening Bible reading. In pursuit of David this happened to the king – 1 Samuel 19:23-24: “ . Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” God’s grace gift of prophecy rendered the king helpless in his mad pursuit of David – twenty-four hours in his undies lying on the floor of the church. At least now – after this experience – this in-your-face encounter with God – we would expect him to take stock, submit to God and his power, repent but he didn’t. No testimony could sway him – not even his own.

There were further pursuits of David and then further escalating behaviour pointing to the growing demonic blindness and shamelessness in his life. Saul ended up murdering eighty-five innocent priests of God – including their wives and children – and then an even worse climax – the proof that rebellion is indeed as the sin of witchcraft – I read from 1 Samuel 28:5-8: “When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer … Saul then said to his attendants, ‘Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.’ ‘There is one in Endor,’ they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. ‘Consult a spirit for me,’ he said, ‘and bring up for me he one I name.’”

“Find me a medium. Consult a spirit for me.” There we have it: witchcraft born out of sin. The downward spiral was complete. Saul had turned away from God which made God turn away from Saul – more and more – progressively over time – with the consequence that now – in this particular crisis – there was no answer from the Lord forthcoming. Therefore witchcraft – demonic worship – seemed to be the only solution.

Saul was once the anointed king overflowing with the Spirit of God – as we may be right now – but then he underestimated the gravity of his sin – the downward pull of his rebellion – which – as it turned out – was indeed as the sin of witchcraft. We may hear this again for ourselves and take in the warning: Any deliberate disobedience – any persistent and ongoing sin – is as the sin of witchcraft – for all of us.

In other places the Bible expands on this very same dynamic. I read from 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12: “ … the secret power of lawlessness … They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Serious words. If we refuse to love the truth – if we delight in wickedness – in other words: if we deliberately turn away from God – then we will come under a powerful delusion from God – as we have turned away from him, he will have turned away from us – and therefore we come to suffer the secret power of lawlessness – our rebellion – towards condemnation.

The escalating nature of the downward spiral is also a common Biblical theme – 2 Timothy 3:13 – I read: “ … evil men … will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

We do not take this lightly. What strikes me as absolutely scary is that Saul – and maybe I – can become so blind to the obvious – deceived. What about all of the years of study? Can we not rely more on our brains? Can we not always fall back on the sure foundation of learned doctrines and traditions? No. Not according to the Bible. When the truth is not treasured and obeyed, before long it makes us angry – ready to hurl a spear at David. When the truth is not treasured and obeyed, no amount of reasoning can make us think straight. When the truth is not treasured and obeyed, innocent priests die and witchcraft is the result – even for anointed kings. Are we in the truth?

I may close with some encouragement. Saul did come under judgement but – on the other hand – God more than hammered on the door of his heart – with persistent grace. Wouldn’t you agree? God sent him the prophet Samuel who admonished him – 1 Samuel 15:19: “Why did you not obey God? … “ God made Saul himself prophesy the truth – 1 Samuel 18:10: “ … He was prophesying in his house … “ God made his daughter, Michal, fall in love with David (they married) and God made his son, Jonathan, reason with him – 1 Samuel 19:4-5: “ … he has not wronged you … what he has done has benefited you greatly … ” God made the Spirit come upon Saul in raw power – made him him prophesy in his undies to overwhelm him with grace – 1Samuel 19:24: “Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied … He lay that way all that day and night … “ What an unexpected experience! Finally, God left him in charge of the kingship for so long – despite the worsening of his condition – because God is merciful and grants extended times for mercy.

Therefore, the final word for today must be mercy because God does the same for us. In whatever condition we find ourselves – and there is some of Saul in all of us – he pursues us with grace according to the foundation of the good news – 1 Peter 1:3: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead … “ For that reason – right now – be vigilant and beware of any sin of rebellion which is as the sin of witchcraft. You and I – repent in time. Amen.