1 Samuel 28:3-25 is one of the more difficult passages from the Old Testament, but it is clear that the chapter records how Saul, desperately needing advice about an impending war, consulted a medium who made contact with the recently dead Samuel. The fact that Saul did this shows how far he had slipped from grace. Having rejected God and His Word, Saul had nothing left to cling to. He refused to listen to God, so God stopped speaking to him, illustrating the biblical principle that we reap what we sow, which, in this case again, was to his further demise.

1 Samuel 27:1-28:2 tells us how David under extreme duress, when considering what to do next, made some ‘pressure cooker’ decisions that were all backward steps. Fleeing across the border to the land of the Philistines, he was granted refuge, but ended up in hotter water – enlisted as the King’s personal bodyguard and engaged to fight his own people Israel. David not only forgot some things he should have remembered, but he also failed to keep a strong grip on God and lost sight of the need to persevere.

In 1 Samuel 26:1-25, David and his men had a second opportunity to kill King Saul and end David’s life on the run, but it was David who showed kindness to Saul and spared his life. By that act and by his speech that followed, it seems that David had begun to grow in his understanding of God’s providence, his own sin and his own unimportance. Also, by these actions, David mirrored Jesus who entered the enemy’s camp and won a great victory over sin and death.

1 Samuel 25:1-44 tells the story of Nabal the ungrateful who wanted to repay good with evil, David the vengeful who wanted to repay evil with evil and Abigail the peaceful who overcame evil with good. In fact in a wonderful way, by her offering and her actions, Abigail points us to the Lord Jesus Christ who placed himself under God’s wrath that those who believe may be spared it.