Inquiring of the Lord during Hard Times: The Heart of David vs. the Heart of Saul

And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.” 1 Samuel 28:6-7 KJV

So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 KJV

In the face of an impending battle with the Philistines, Saul becomes afraid and inquires of the Lord. The Lord does not answer Saul by the three ways Saul is use to, so Saul decides to inquire of a medium, which he had previously driven out of the land. Saul wanted the medium to conjure up the spirit of the prophet Samuel for an answer as to what he should do about this impending battle.

Later the bible tells us that Saul was killed because of his transgression, seeking out a familiar spirit and because he did not inquire of the Lord. So, did Saul really inquire of the Lord or not?

The answer is found in defining the use of the word “enquire” in the text. The Hebrew word for inquire/enquire in 1 Samuel 28:6 is “shaal,” which means “to ask,” “to consult” or “to demand.” The Hebrew word for inquire/enquire in 1 Chronicles 10:14 is “darash,” which means “to search for” with diligence, “resort to” or “to frequent (a place).”

The bible tells us often to seek God with all our hearts and we will find him. When you make the secret place a habitation (Psalm 91) or a place you frequent, no matter what is going on, that is the place you will hide yourself until you get an answer. Saul did not frequent the secret place, he was not called “a man after God’s own heart” because he constantly made excuses for not following the instructions of the Lord. When he approached God with prayer, he did it with a heart of demands and not a heart of worship. Consequently, God rejected him and it ultimately lead to his murder by the Philistines.

I am immediately convicted by this because so often we come to God with our demands, hoping he grants us what we want, instead of coming to him in worship waiting on Him to speak, then obeying what he says. God knows what we need before we ask, but he tests our hearts to see if we really want His will. He will always have the answer; we just have to be open to how and if He will share that with us. God speaks in many ways and we cannot get use to him speaking the same way every time. We definitely cannot open the door to the enemy, by seeking out practices that are not even biblically legal.

David faced many challenges in his lifetime, but constantly inquired of the Lord. He was a man of prayer and a man after God’s own heart. David had such a heart for God that he wanted to restore the Ark of the Covenant and build God a temple. In 1 Chronicles 13:3 David says, “And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul.” Under Saul’s reign, there were some key things that were overlooked and forgot about. May we not forget to seek the presence of the Lord in desperate times. May we always hold fast our profession and seek God with all our hearts.

My heart is that those who have turned away from God will come back to Christ, even somebody like Saul, but I am learning it is not my job to force someone to believe what I believe. Luke 16:31 says, “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Though we plead, argue and the world is full of terror, only the grace of God can transform a sinner’s heart. Many are asking where are the prophets, who has the answers or what should we do? The fact of the matter is, even if those from times past had the answer and were raised from the dead; they can say no more than what God is already saying today. The question is, are we listening with a pure heart and are we okay with the answer coming in a new way?