1 Samuel 28:3–20 HCSB

3 By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land. 4 The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently. 6 He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets. 7 Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.” 8 Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you.” 9 But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?” 10 Then Saul swore to her by the Lord: “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you because of this.” 11 “Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!” 13 But the king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a spirit form coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered. 14 Then Saul asked her, “What does he look like?” “An old man is coming up,” she replied. “He’s wearing a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage. 15 “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul. “I’m in serious trouble,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He doesn’t answer me anymore, either through the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what I should do.” 16 Samuel answered, “Since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me? 17 The Lord has done exactly what He said through me: The Lord has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. 18 You did not obey the Lord and did not carry out His burning anger against Amalek; therefore the Lord has done this to you today. 19 The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.” 20 Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was terrified by Samuel’s words and was also weak because he hadn’t had any food all day and all night.

WHEN LEADERS STOP HEARING FROM GOD

Main Idea: When leaders repeatedly reject the word God has already spoken, fear drives them toward forbidden substitutes, and their private disobedience eventually becomes public loss.

Introduction

On the night before the Space Shuttle Challenger launched, engineers expressed grave concerns about how the forecasted cold temperature might affect the rubber O-ring seals in the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters. A contractor initially recommended against launching below 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet during the decision-making process, that recommendation was reversed. The Rogers Commission later concluded that communication failures, incomplete information, and conflict between engineering evidence and management judgment contributed to a deeply flawed launch decision. On January 28, 1986, Challenger lifted from Kennedy Space Center. Seventy-three seconds later, the spacecraft broke apart, and all seven crew members died. The catastrophe did not begin when the shuttle disintegrated. It began when warning lost its power to interrupt the decision (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2021; Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, 1986).

There are moments when the greatest danger is not that nobody warned us. The greatest danger is that we heard the warning, weighed the warning, and decided to ignore the warning because it was interfering with what we wanted.

A child can ignore a parent’s warning.

A teenager can dismiss a teacher’s counsel. An adult can disregard a physician’s instruction.

A church can resist an uncomfortable truth.

A leader can silence every voice that challenges the direction he has already chosen.

We keep moving, not because the road has been proven safe, but because turning around would require us to admit that we were wrong.

That is where we meet Saul in 1 Samuel 28. Samuel is dead. The Philistines are gathering. Saul is still wearing the crown, still commanding an army, and occupying the throne. But beneath the royal clothing is a frightened man who has spent years resisting the voice of God. God spoke when Saul offered the sacrifice. God spoke when Saul spared Agag and kept the best possessions of Amalek. God spoke when Samuel told him that obedience was better than sacrifice. God even spoke through David’s repeated refusal to kill him. Saul was not suffering from a shortage of revelation, he was suffering from a history of resistance (1 Sam. 13:8–14; 15:1–29; 24:1–22; 26:1–25).

The truth is, not every season of divine silence is evidence that God has rejected someone. Job could not perceive God’s presence, yet remained under God’s care. The psalmists sometimes cried out because God appeared hidden. Jesus himself entered the darkness of Calvary in perfect obedience. Saul’s silence is interpreted as judgment because this particular text explicitly connects it to his persistent refusal to obey God’s voice (Job 23:8–10; Ps. 13:1–2; Matt. 27:45–46; 1 Sam. 28:18).

The most frightening thing in this chapter is not that a dead prophet speaks. The most frightening thing is that a living king has spent years refusing to listen. Saul did not simply stop hearing from God. Saul stopped hearing God.

This passage shows us what happens when leaders reject correction, search for confirmation, and refuse covenant obedience.

I. THEY STOP RECEIVING GOD’S CORRECTION - 1 Samuel 28:3–6

A. Past Warnings - 1 Samuel 28:3

1 Samuel 28:3 HCSB

3 By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

End of Samuel’s Life - 1 Samuel 28:3a

Verse 3 opens with a funeral announcement: “Now Samuel was dead.” Samuel’s death had already been reported in 1 Samuel 25:1, but the narrator repeats it because Saul is about to discover the cost of rejecting a faithful voice until that voice is no longer available. While Samuel lived, Saul argued with him. While Samuel lived, Saul offered excuses. While Samuel lived, Saul was more concerned about being honored before the elders than being humbled before God. Now that Samuel is dead, Saul desperately wants access to the prophet whose correction he repeatedly refused (King James Version Bible, n.d., 1 Sam. 15:24–31; 25:1; 28:3).

2. Expelled Sorcerers - 1 Samuel 28:3b

The text also says that Saul had expelled mediums and spiritists from the land. On the surface, this appears to be reform. Saul had established a public policy consistent with covenant law. But public policy had not produced private transformation. He removed forbidden practitioners from the land, but he never removed the idol of control from his heart. He wanted a kingdom that looked obedient without becoming a king who was obedient.

That is the danger of external reform without internal repentance. We can change the policy without changing the appetite. We can remove the visible practice while protecting the hidden desire. We can preach standards we do not privately honor. We can correct in others what we continue to excuse in ourselves. Leadership begins collapsing long before the secret becomes public. It begins collapsing when correction becomes unwelcome.

Past victories should have taught Saul that God could be trusted. David faced Goliath by remembering that God had delivered him from the lion and the bear. His previous deliverance became evidence for present confidence. Joshua established memorial stones after Israel crossed the Jordan so that future generations would remember what God had done. Paul remembered that the Lord had stood with him and delivered him, and that memory gave him confidence concerning God’s continuing faithfulness (1 Sam. 17:34–37; Josh. 4:4–7; 2 Tim. 4:16–18).

Saul had victories to remember. God had used him to rescue Jabesh-gilead. God had empowered Israel against its enemies. God had given Saul opportunities to lead with courage. But Saul allowed the memory of victory to feed entitlement instead of trust. Yesterday’s victory does not grant today’s leader permission to disobey. Past usefulness is not immunity from present accountability.

Quotable preaching lines:

God’s silence was not Saul’s first warning. It was the echo of warnings he refused to obey.

Public reform cannot compensate for private rebellion.

Leadership begins collapsing when correction becomes unwelcome.

Cross-reference Scriptures: 1 Samuel 13:13-14, 1 Samuel 15:22-29, Proverbs 12:1, Proverbs 15:31-33, Hebrews 12:5-11

B. Present Worries - 1 Samuel 28:4–6

1 Samuel 28:5 HCSB

5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently.

Saul Panics - 1 Samuel 28:4-5

The Philistines assemble at Shunem, while Saul gathers Israel at Gilboa. Verse 5 says that when Saul saw the Philistine army, “he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.” Saul still has soldiers, servants, armor, and positional authority. What he no longer possesses is the spiritual stability required to interpret the crisis through the word of God. The enemy has not merely occupied the valley. Fear has occupied Saul’s heart (1 Sam. 28:4–5).

There is a difference between seeing danger and surrendering to fear. Wise leaders identify threats. Faithful leaders do not pretend that enemies are imaginary. But when leaders lose their confidence in God, they begin measuring the future by the size of what they can see. The Philistines become larger than the promises of God. The battle becomes more authoritative than the covenant. Circumstances become the interpreter of destiny.

1 Samuel 28:6 HCSB

6 He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.

2. Sovereign Silence

Verse 6 says Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him through dreams, Urim, or prophets. Every authorized avenue named in the passage remains silent. Yet verse 18 explains why. Saul had refused to obey God’s voice concerning Amalek. Saul wanted fresh direction while remaining unreconciled to previous correction. He wanted God to speak about the Philistines while refusing to face what God had already said about Saul (1 Sam. 28:6, 18).

The text does not portray Saul confessing, surrendering, or asking how to return. He simply wants information. He does not ask, “Lord, what must change in me?” He asks, “What can I do to preserve what I am losing?” Saul wants guidance as a strategy, not guidance as submission. But God refuses to be reduced to a consultant. God does not exist to provide information while leaving our sovereignty untouched.

Consider three biblical witnesses. David returned to Ziklag and discovered that the city had been burned and the families taken captive. He was greatly distressed, but he strengthened himself in the Lord and inquired through the appointed priestly means. God answered, and David recovered what had been taken. Jehoshaphat faced a multitude he could not defeat, but he remembered God’s covenant faithfulness, gathered the people, and prayed. Hezekiah received a threatening letter from the Assyrian king and spread it before the Lord because he knew what God had already done for his people (1 Sam. 30:1–8, 18–19; 2 Chron. 20:1–12; 2 Kings 19:14–19, 35–37).

All three experienced present worries. Their distress was real. But they allowed remembered grace to become present confidence. The issue is not whether leaders experience distress. Saul and David were both distressed. The issue is what distress reveals about the authority they trust.

Quotable preaching lines:

When the word no longer governs our vision, the size of the enemy begins governing our future.

You can be desperate for direction and still be resistant to discipleship.

Before asking God for the next instruction, examine what you did with the last one.

Cross-reference Scriptures: Psalm 27:1-3; Psalm 46:1-3; Isaiah 26:3-4; Philippians 4:6-7; 2 Timothy 1:7

II. THEY START REACHING FOR GOD’S CONFIRMATION - 1 Samuel 28:7–14

A. Reaching with the Wrong Methods - 1 Samuel 28:7–10

1 Samuel 28:7–8 HCSB

7 Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.” 8 Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you.”

Seeking Familiar Spirits - 1 Samuel 28:7

When Saul receives no answer, he does not change his posture. He changes his source. He commands his servants to find a woman who practices forbidden consultation with the dead. His servants know where such a woman can be found. The text does not explain how they acquired this knowledge, but it reveals that Saul’s public purge had not eliminated the practice completely. It also shows that people surrounding a leader can learn which forbidden alternatives to keep available when the leader becomes desperate (1 Sam. 28:7).

2. Sneaking in Fear - 1 Samuel 28:8

Saul removes his royal clothing, disguises himself, and travels to Endor at night. He hides his identity, but he cannot hide his condition. Darkness gives him secrecy, but darkness cannot shield him from the word of God. The crown is concealed, but the character beneath the crown is exposed.

Saul asks the woman to practice divination, an act explicitly forbidden by covenant law. When she fears that the request might be a trap, Saul swears by the Lord that she will not be punished. That is one of the most disturbing ironies in the passage. Saul invokes God’s covenant name to guarantee protection for an act prohibited by God’s covenant. He uses spiritual language to authorize what Scripture forbids (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:9–14; 1 Sam. 28:8–10).

We must hear the warning. Every door that opens is not a door from God. Every voice that knows our name is not authorized to direct our future. Every opportunity that solves an immediate problem is not a righteous solution. Wrong methods do not become right because we are frightened. Disobedience does not become permissible because the deadline is approaching.

Moses had seen God bring Egypt to its knees through the plagues. When Israel stood before the Red Sea, Moses did not seek an Egyptian magician. He trusted the God who had already acted. Joshua had watched God open the Jordan, and he followed God’s instructions when approaching Jericho. Ezra had witnessed God begin restoring the exiles, so when the returning community needed protection, he proclaimed a fast and sought God rather than depending upon a method that would contradict his testimony (Exod. 14:10–14; Josh. 3:14–17; 6:1–5; Ezra 8:21–23, 31).

Faith does not mean ignoring available wisdom, research, medicine, counsel, or planning. Faith means that every method remains accountable to the character and commands of God. We are not free to violate God’s word in order to preserve what God has entrusted to us.

Quotable preaching lines:

Fear makes forbidden voices sound reasonable.

Spiritual language becomes dangerous when it is used to baptize what Scripture forbids.

When leaders are committed to control, their circle learns which shortcuts to keep available.

Cross-reference Scriptures: Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Isaiah 8:19-20; Proverbs 3:5-7; James 1:5-8

B. Reaching for the Wrong Message - 1 Samuel 28:11–14

1 Samuel 28:11–12 HCSB

11 “Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

When the woman asks Saul whom she should bring up, Saul answers, “Bring me up Samuel.” Saul wants Samuel’s authority without submitting to Samuel’s message. He wants access to the prophet, but not accountability to the prophetic word. He rejected the living Samuel, and now he searches for the dead Samuel.

The narrator presents the figure as Samuel. The woman sees Samuel, Samuel speaks, and Saul later collapses because of Samuel’s words. The passage does not teach that the woman controlled Samuel or possessed authority over the righteous dead. The safest reading is that God sovereignly permitted an extraordinary appearance that repeated the judgment Saul had already received. The text does not approve Saul’s method. God’s sovereignty over an event must never be confused with God’s endorsement of the method that occasioned it (King James Version Bible, n.d., 1 Sam. 28:11–20).

The woman describes an old man wearing a robe. Saul concludes that it is Samuel and bows. That robe should sound familiar. In 1 Samuel 15, Saul grabbed Samuel’s robe, it tore, and Samuel declared that God had torn the kingdom from Saul. The garment that identifies Samuel at Endor recalls the judgment Saul had been trying to escape. Saul asks for a new message, but God confronts him with the old word (King James Version Bible, n.d., 1 Sam. 15:27–29; 28:14).

This is not merely counsel seeking. This is confirmation shopping. Counsel asks, “What is true?” Confirmation shopping asks, “Who will tell me what I want to hear?” Counsel submits the decision to truth. Confirmation shopping submits truth to the decision. If one advisor says no, the confirmation shopper finds another. If one interpretation exposes sin, the confirmation shopper searches for a more comfortable interpretation. If Scripture confronts the appetite, the confirmation shopper looks for a voice willing to rename disobedience as destiny.

Caleb remembered God’s promise for forty-five years and requested the mountain because he trusted the word already spoken. Asaph faced deep distress in Psalm 77, but steadied himself by remembering God’s mighty acts at the Red Sea. Mary received an overwhelming assignment, yet interpreted her future through God’s historic covenant mercy rather than demanding a different message (Josh. 14:6–14; Ps. 77:7–20; Luke 1:46–55).

Saul had the opposite posture. He did not want the word to govern his future. He wanted another voice to revise the verdict. But truth does not change because the truth-teller changes. Samuel died, but the word God spoke through Samuel remained alive.

Quotable preaching lines:

Saul searched for a new word because he would not submit to the old word.

If you only want counsel that preserves your control, you do not want counsel; you want confirmation.

The messenger may be buried, but the message is still moving toward fulfillment.

Cross-reference Scriptures: 1 John 10:27; Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Hebrews 3:7-8; 1 John 4:1

III. THEY SUFFER BY REFUSING GOD’S COVENANT - 1 Samuel 28:15–20

A. Personal Suffering - 1 Samuel 28:15–18

1 Samuel 28:15–16 KJV 1900

15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. 16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

Samuel asks Saul, “Why hast thou disquieted me?” Saul responds by describing his distress. The Philistines are attacking. God has departed. The prophets and dreams provide no answer. Saul wants Samuel to tell him what to do. Yet listen carefully to Saul’s request. He asks for strategy, not surrender. He asks what he should do, but not how he should return. He wants battlefield guidance without confronting the covenant rebellion beneath the battlefield crisis (1 Sam. 28:15).

Samuel replies, in effect, “Why are you asking me when the Lord has become your adversary?” Samuel cannot be separated from the God who commissioned him. No prophet can be used to bypass God. No preacher can provide a private message that competes with God’s revealed word. No spiritual authority is legitimate when detached from divine lordship.

Samuel then repeats the verdict. The kingdom has been torn from Saul and given to David. The reason is stated plainly: Saul did not obey the voice of the Lord concerning Amalek. Saul wanted information about tomorrow, but God confronted his disobedience from yesterday (1 Sam. 28:16–18).

Saul’s deepest suffering is personal before it becomes political. He has lost peace before losing the battle. He has lost spiritual stability before losing the throne. His inner world has collapsed before his army does. A crown cannot compensate for a conscience no longer governed by God.

Jacob feared meeting Esau, but he prayed by remembering God’s previous direction and covenant promise. David faced overwhelming grief at Ziklag, but strengthened himself in the Lord who had preserved him before. Paul described God as the one who had delivered him, was delivering him, and would continue to be the ground of his hope. Each allowed past grace to become present confidence (Gen. 32:9–12; 1 Sam. 30:6–8; 2 Cor. 1:8–10).

Saul had memories of grace, but he would not allow grace to produce obedience. He desired relief from consequence without repentance from rebellion. But terror is not repentance. Falling to the floor is not the same as returning to God.

Quotable preaching lines:

Saul asked, “What shall I do?” but never asked, “How shall I return?”

Collapse is not confession, and terror is not repentance.

A crown cannot compensate for a conscience no longer governed by God.

Cross-reference Scriptures: Deuteronomy 28:15; 1 Samuel 15:22-23; Proverbs 13:15; Galatians 6:7-8; Hebrews 12:5-11

B. Public Suffering - 1 Samuel 28:19a

1 Samuel 28:19 HCSB

19 The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

Samuel announces that the Lord will deliver Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Saul’s private disobedience is about to become Israel’s public disaster. Soldiers who were not present when Saul spared Agag will suffer in the battle. Families who never sat in Saul’s private counsel will grieve their dead. The nation will pay a price for the spiritual deterioration of its king (King James Version Bible, n.d., 1 Sam. 28:19; 31:1–7).

This does not remove individual responsibility, but it reveals the corporate reach of leadership. The more influence a person possesses, the larger the possible circle of consequence. Leadership sin is never merely personal because leadership decisions shape environments, institutions, families, congregations, and communities.

A leader’s hidden insecurity can become an organization’s unhealthy culture. A leader’s refusal of accountability can become a congregation’s public scandal. A leader’s unrestrained anger can become a household’s atmosphere. A leader’s financial dishonesty can threaten an institution’s mission. A leader’s unwillingness to hear correction can cause faithful people to suffer consequences they did not choose.

Scripture also provides leaders who used remembered grace for the community’s good. Moses interceded for Israel after the golden calf by appealing to God’s deliverance and covenant promises. Samuel raised the Ebenezer stone after Israel’s victory and declared that the Lord had helped them to that point. Jehoshaphat gathered Judah and remembered how God had given the land and preserved his people. These leaders did not use past victories to defend themselves. They used remembered grace to lead the people back toward God (Exod. 32:11–14; 1 Sam. 7:7–12; 2 Chron. 20:5–12).

The question every leader must ask is not merely, “What will this decision do to me?” The covenant question is, “Who else will carry the weight of what I refuse to correct?”

Quotable preaching lines:

A leader’s private disobedience rarely remains private in its consequences.

When the crown refuses correction, the community eventually carries the cost.

Influence enlarges both the opportunity for faithfulness and the radius of failure.

Cross-reference Scriptures: Joshua 7:1-12; 2 Samuel 24:10-17; Jonah 1:10-12; James 3:1; 1 Timothy 5:19-20

C. Posterity Suffering - 1 Samuel 28:19b

1 Samuel 28:19 HCSB

19 The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

Samuel’s announcement becomes even more painful: “Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.” In context, this means that Saul and his sons will join Samuel in death. The statement should not be used to prove that Saul and Samuel possessed the same eternal destiny. The verse announces their coming deaths, which are narrated in 1 Samuel 31. Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua die in the battle, and Saul falls shortly afterward (King James Version Bible, n.d., 1 Sam. 28:19; 31:1–6).

Saul’s sons will suffer within the collapse of their father’s kingdom. Jonathan’s death is especially tragic because Scripture portrays him as David’s covenant friend and as a man capable of recognizing God’s work in David. Yet he remains tied to Saul’s house and is caught in the judgment descending upon Saul’s reign (1 Sam. 18:1–4; 20:12–17; 23:16–18; 31:2).

This does not mean children automatically bear personal guilt for every parental sin. Ezekiel explicitly teaches individual moral accountability. It does mean that one generation’s choices can create conditions the next generation must endure. Children may inherit an atmosphere they did not create, a debt they did not incur, a conflict they did not start, or a damaged institution they did not lead. Posterity does not always inherit our guilt, but posterity frequently encounters our consequences (Ezek. 18:19–20).

Faithful leaders therefore think beyond their own tenure. Abraham trusted that the God who miraculously gave him Isaac could fulfill his promise even beyond death. Joseph died believing that God would visit Israel and bring the people out of Egypt, so he gave instructions concerning his bones. David charged Solomon to act with courage and obey God, reminding him that the Lord who had been faithful through David’s conflicts would remain faithful during Solomon’s assignment (Heb. 11:17–19, 22; Gen. 50:24–25; 1 Chron. 28:9–10, 20).

Faithful leadership asks, “What spiritual inheritance am I building for people whose names may never appear beside mine?” Saul grasped the crown as though it belonged to him. David learned to wait because the crown belonged to God. Jesus surrendered himself completely because his kingdom would bless generations yet unborn.

Quotable preaching lines:

Posterity may not inherit our guilt, but it frequently encounters our consequences.

The crown is never merely about who wears it; it is also about who must live beneath it.

Faithful leaders build futures they may never personally enter.

Cross-reference Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Proverbs 20:7; Psalm 78:5-8; 2 Timothy 1:5

SERMON CLOSE

Saul falls full length upon the ground. The king is still wearing the title, but he has no strength. The crown is still connected to his name, but it has already been removed from his future. He has an army, but no assurance. He has servants, but no spiritual stability. He has reached the prophet, but he still has not returned to God.

And somebody ought to hear me today. You can fall on the floor without falling on the mercy of God. You can cry without confessing. You can tremble without turning. You can be sorry about the consequences and still refuse to surrender the cause.

Saul’s tragedy is that he kept asking for another word when the last word was still waiting for obedience.

But I am glad that Saul is not the last king in the Bible!

Saul was a disobedient king, but another King was coming.

Saul grasped for a crown, but Jesus laid his glory aside.

Saul entered the darkness because of rebellion, but Jesus entered the darkness in perfect obedience.

Saul searched for a word from the grave, but Jesus is the Word who entered the grave and came out alive.

Saul sought an unauthorized mediator, but there is one Mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus.

Saul’s fall anticipated his death, but Jesus’ death announced our deliverance.

They stretched him wide. They hung him high. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. He became a curse so that covenant breakers could be brought back to the covenant God (King James Version Bible, n.d., Isa. 53:4–6; Gal. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:5).

He died until the sun refused to shine.

He died until the veil in the temple was torn.

He died until the earth began to tremble.

He died until a Roman centurion confessed that this was the Son of God.

They laid him in Joseph’s new tomb. Friday night, he was there. Saturday morning, he was there. Saturday night, he was there.

But early Sunday morning, the obedient King got up with all power in his hands!

Because he lives, the silence does not have to be final.

Because he lives, the rebel can still return.

Because he lives, the guilty can be forgiven.

Because he lives, the fallen can be restored.

Because he lives, leaders can surrender the crown, bow before the King, and begin listening again.

The question is not whether God has spoken. God has spoken through his Word. God has spoken through his Son. God has spoken through the cross. God has spoken through the empty tomb.

The question is, will you hear him?

Will you hear him before fear selects another voice?

Will you hear him before secrecy chooses another method?

Will you hear him before private rebellion becomes public suffering?

Will you hear him before the next generation inherits what you refused to correct?

Musicians, softly, give us that old hymn:

“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.”

Guide me because I cannot lead myself.

Guide me because influence is too heavy to carry without you.

Guide me when the enemy gathers at Shunem.

Guide me when my heart trembles at Gilboa.

Guide me when I do not understand the silence.

Guide me back to the last word you spoke.

Guide my mind.

Guide my mouth.

Guide my motives.

Guide my family.

Guide my ministry.

Guide my stewardship.

Guide my leadership.

And if I start walking toward Endor, turn me around.

If I start shopping for confirmation, turn me around.

If I start punishing truth-tellers, turn me around.

If I start protecting my crown more than obeying my King, turn me around.

For I would rather lose my position with God’s presence than keep my position after God has removed his hand.

Lord, give us ears to hear.

Give us hearts to obey.

Give us humility to receive correction.

Give us courage to reject counterfeit confirmation.

Give us faithfulness to preserve the covenant for the generations coming behind us.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

And let every leader say:

Speak, Lord.

Not because I want confirmation.

Not because I want information.

Not because I want you to protect what I refuse to surrender.

Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening.

Speak, Lord, and whatever you say, by your grace, I will obey.