Today's Scripture Reading (April 29, 2022): 1 Samuel 28
Maybe the most uncomfortable truth of life is that
there is a time when we reach a point where it is too late to change our
situation. And it doesn't matter what that situation might be. It is not that
God has given up on us or that we can no longer repent, but there is a point
where sin has so corrupted our lives that we now have to suffer through the consequences. We keep telling ourselves that
tomorrow we will put our spiritual life in order, or may tomorrow we will begin
to work on our financial health or our physical well-being. Still, there is a time when we run out of tomorrows. There is a moment when we realize that all of what could have been has been erased from our future. It is now our sin and
our lack of discipline that has defined our future. And that is often a terrifying place to find ourselves.
Saul finds himself in a hard spot. And he doesn't know what to do next. So, Saul inquires of God but only receives silence as an
answer to his questions. Desperate for guidance, he breaks his own rules and
goes to a medium, hoping to get her to raise Samuel. Ironically, Saul wouldn't listen to Samuel when he was alive, but now that he is dead, he is the one voice that Saul feels that he needs to hear.
But Samuel's message is not one that Saul wants to hear. It is
too late. There was
time for Saul to repent every time before, and now he had run out of time. Samuel tells him
that this is the end. Tomorrow Saul and his sons would join Samuel, not in some
kind of peaceful heaven, but simply in the realm of the dead. Saul has one last
chance to repent of his sins and get himself right with God, but that won't change the outcome. Not this time. Tomorrow, his reign will come to an abrupt end. And, maybe even more frighteningly, Saul would not be alone when his demise arrives. Samuel clearly says that Saul's sons will die with him. British Methodist
theologian, Adam Clarke, sums up the thought with these words.
Can any
person read this, properly considering the situation of this unfortunate
monarch, the triumph of the enemies of God, and the speedy ruin in which the
godlike Jonathan is about to be involved, without feeling the keenest anguish
of heart? (Adam Clarke)
Maybe that is the true tragedy of the end of Saul's life. Not that Saul got what he seemed to deserve,
but that he took Jonathan with him. Yet, Samuel is clear that this is what has
to happen.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 29
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