Not-So-Quiet-Time: 1 Samuel 28-29

At-Home Bible Guide for the Week of 9/20

Day 1: 1 Samuel 28:1-7
Saul did not follow the Lord, trust the Lord, obey the Lord, or love the Lord. It didn’t matter how many ways he asked God to answer, the Lord did not speak. Saul didn’t seem to grasp what it meant for God to be the Lord. Saul was meant to be God’s servant. But Saul tried to turn the relationship upside down; he wanted God to work for Him. And, of course, God does love to care for and serve his people. But when we distort the nature of our relationship, we can start to act like God answers to us. Take a moment to repent. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; … let the wicked forsake his way… let him return to the Lord… for he will abundantly pardon” (Is 55:6-7).

Day 2: 1 Samuel 28:8-14
When Saul couldn’t hear from God through prayer or prophets, he turned to witchcraft. He had become so deluded that he thought it was wise to break God’s laws in order to hear God’s voice. The issue here is that instead of trying to honor and please God, Saul just wanted to use God to get what He wanted. This can happen to us today too. Ask God to give you a desire to please and obey Him rather than to use Him to get what you want. Ultimately, pleasing Him will please you too.

Day 3: 1 Samuel 28:15-25
The sins of Saul’s past still had consequences in his present. He couldn’t escape the justice of God. And everything God had said about Him was coming true. And it shook him to his core and drove him to the floor. Take this warning from Saul’s life: sin always costs more than we think. Run from sin. Hate sin. Kill sin. Ask God to help you say no to sin and yes to Him.

Day 4: 1 Samuel 29:1-5
Just like Saul’s sinful past stuck with him, David’s righteous past stuck with him. The Philistine leaders could not believe that this mighty Israelite warrior could truly defect and fight a war against his own people. His reputation followed him even to a foreign people. What reputation do you have? Ask God to lead you to live as a person who is known as righteous and godly. 

Day 5: 1 Samuel 29:6-11
God, in his sovereignty, worked it out so that David would not be in a position to oppose his own people. God is truly in control of all things—even the counsel of enemy armies. This was true in the camp of the Philistines and it is true in our modern world today. God is working in your house, your school, your job, your town, and your church to accomplish his purposes and guide his people. 

Catechism Connection: 19-20
Sin promises pleasure, but leads to misery. Adam and Eve thought sin would lead to joy, but “all mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so are made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever” (WSC 19). Did God leave us in misery? No! “Out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, God chose some for everlasting life, and he entered into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of their state of sin and misery and to bring them into a state of salvation by a redeemer” (WSC 20). That’s the Good News.

Monthly Memory: Hebrews 11:1, 6
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen… And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.