![\"1.png\"](\"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1-cSfieXJ7Z9xQ.png\")
<\/a> <\/p>Around that time, the Philistines started stirring things up again.<\/p>\n
They gathered a huge army, getting ready to fight Israel.<\/p>\n
The Philistine king, Achish, came to David and said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid, you\u2019d better understand this. You and all your men are going to battle with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
David heard that and started feeling a little uneasy.<\/p>\n
After all, even though he was living in Philistine territory, deep down, he was still an Israelite.<\/p>\n
But David didn\u2019t give him a straight answer. He simply said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, the king will find out what your servant is capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Achish heard that and was pretty pleased.<\/p>\n
He probably thought:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis young man is alright!\u201d<\/p>\n
So he said directly to David:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright then. From now on, I\u2019ll make you my bodyguard for life!\u201d<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s put David\u2019s story aside for a moment.<\/p>\n
Now, back to Israel.<\/p>\n
By this time, Samuel had already died.<\/p>\n
All the people of Israel were deeply saddened. Everyone mourned for Samuel, and finally they buried him in Ramah, his hometown.<\/p>\n
With Samuel gone, Israel had lost a man who truly heard from God.<\/p>\n
And Saul?<\/p>\n
Well, Saul had once ordered all the mediums and people who practiced witchcraft to be removed from Israel.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the problem\u2014<\/p>\n
He said one thing, but that didn\u2019t mean his heart followed it.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Philistine army had already gathered at Shunem.<\/p>\n
Saul gathered the Israelite army and camped at Mount Gilboa.<\/p>\n
Saul looked across at the Philistine army…<\/p>\n
Good grief!<\/p>\n
There were people everywhere.<\/p>\n
That was it.<\/p>\n
Saul completely lost his nerve.<\/p>\n
The Bible says:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
In plain Northeast-talk:<\/p>\n
He was scared stiff.<\/p>\n
So Saul thought:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is serious. I\u2019d better ask God what I\u2019m supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
But here was the problem.<\/p>\n
Saul asked the Lord for guidance, but the Lord didn\u2019t answer him.<\/p>\n
A dream?<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
The Urim?<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
A prophet?<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Saul was completely panicked.<\/p>\n
God wasn\u2019t answering him, and Saul had no idea what to do.<\/p>\n
Then suddenly, he remembered something.<\/p>\n
So he said to his servants:<\/p>\n
\u201cQuick! Find me a woman who can communicate with the dead. I want to go ask her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul was basically grabbing at whatever he could think of because he was desperate.<\/p>\n
His servants told him:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a woman who practices this stuff in Endor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright. Let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n
But Saul knew that people would recognize him immediately.<\/p>\n
So he changed his clothes and disguised himself.<\/p>\n
Then he took two of his men and secretly went to see the woman in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
When he got there, Saul said to her:<\/p>\n
\u201cUse your powers and bring up the dead person I tell you about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman was immediately scared.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you know that Saul has already removed all the mediums and people who practice witchcraft from the land?<\/p>\n
If someone finds out what I\u2019m doing, I could lose my life!\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul quickly promised her:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry. I swear by the living Lord that you won\u2019t be punished for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only then did the woman ask:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, who do you want me to bring up?\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul answered:<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when things got serious.<\/p>\n
The woman began to call up the dead.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, she saw Samuel.<\/p>\n
She screamed:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tricked me!<\/p>\n
You\u2019re Saul!\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul quickly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid!<\/p>\n
What do you see?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman answered:<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a divine being coming up from the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul asked:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAn old man wearing a robe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul knew immediately that it was Samuel.<\/p>\n
So he bowed down with his face to the ground.<\/p>\n
When Samuel appeared, his first words weren\u2019t exactly friendly:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy have you disturbed me?<\/p>\n
Why have you brought me up?\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul started pouring out his troubles:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in serious trouble.<\/p>\n
The Philistines are attacking me.<\/p>\n
God has left me.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t answer me anymore.<\/p>\n
I asked God, but He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
The prophets aren\u2019t saying anything.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t even have dreams anymore.<\/p>\n
So I didn\u2019t know what else to do.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I came to you.<\/p>\n
Tell me\u2014what am I supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel answered him directly:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the point of asking me now?<\/p>\n
The Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The moment Saul heard that, his heart sank.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t listen to the Lord before.<\/p>\n
When God commanded you to attack the Amalekites, you didn\u2019t fully obey His command.<\/p>\n
So God has done exactly what He told you through me before.<\/p>\n
He has taken the kingdom away from you.<\/p>\n
And now He has given it to your neighbor\u2014David.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul probably felt even worse when he heard the name David.<\/p>\n
Because David had been the biggest thorn in Saul\u2019s side for years.<\/p>\n
But Samuel wasn\u2019t finished.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, the Lord will hand you and the people of Israel over to the Philistines.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me.<\/p>\n
And the Lord will hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bible says:<\/p>\n
\u201cImmediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel\u2019s words, and he had no strength left.\u201d<\/p>\n
In plain Northeast-talk:<\/p>\n
His legs went completely weak.<\/p>\n
The woman saw how terrified Saul was and felt sorry for him.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lord, I risked my own life by doing what you told me.<\/p>\n
Now please listen to me.<\/p>\n
Let me give you something to eat.<\/p>\n
You need some strength before you go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saul shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not eating.\u201d<\/p>\n
But his servants and the woman kept urging him.<\/p>\n
Finally, Saul had no choice.<\/p>\n
He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.<\/p>\n
The woman hurried into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
She slaughtered a fattened calf, mixed up some flour, and baked some unleavened bread.<\/p>\n
Then she put the food in front of Saul and his two servants.<\/p>\n
Nobody really felt like eating.<\/p>\n
But eventually, they ate.<\/p>\n
After they finished, they got up.<\/p>\n
And under the cover of darkness, they left.<\/p>\n
And just like that,<\/p>\n
Saul spent that whole night not finding hope, but hearing the final judgment on his life.<\/p>\n
God did not suddenly leave Saul.<\/p>\n
Saul had slowly walked himself into this situation through one act of rebellion after another, one refusal to listen after another.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t wait until life reaches a dead end before remembering God.<\/p>\n
When life is peaceful, listen to God.<\/p>\n
When everything is going well, follow God.<\/p>\n
Because real faith isn\u2019t waiting until trouble comes and then shouting:<\/p>\n
\u201cGod, hurry up and help me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Real faith is being willing to say every day:<\/p>\n
\u201cGod, whatever You say, that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sarah Around that time, the Philistines started stirring things up again. They gathered a huge army, getting ready to fight Israel. The Philistine king, Achish, came to David and said: \u201cDavid, you\u2019d better understand this. You and all your men are going to battle with me.\u201d David heard that and started feeling a little uneasy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-reflection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10100,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10099\/revisions\/10100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithloop.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}