1 Samuel 28 and 29

I normally don't ask visitors to pray, but Brian Mack, would you pray for us? No!

Don't take that personally. Father, we're glad that we can come together as a family and friends and visitors here. And Father, we just ask that you open up our heart, Father, and be receptive to the word, Father.

I appreciate Mike so much that he takes the time out there in his week and all of us study and what we're going to come in to teach. I appreciate Andy. Pastor Keith and all the others, Father, that work hard as elders around this church, Father, that we may learn here.

I just ask that, Father, you just be with Mike and use his voice, Father, to rebuild yourself for your word.

Amen. All right. Samuel, chapter 28. I will attempt to get through the rest of 28 and 29. So I will read the rest of 28, verses 8 through 25, and then we'll pick up and do 29, Lord willing. Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and he went, he and two other men with him.

And they came to the woman by night, and he said, Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall give you the name of. But the woman said to him, Behold, you know what Saul has done. He has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists within the land.

Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death? And Saul vowed to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you?

And he said, Bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. And the king said to her, Do not be afraid, but what do you see?

And the woman said to Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the earth. And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, He is an old man, and he is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe. And Saul knew then that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and did homage.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered and said, I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either by the prophets or by dreams.

Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do. And Samuel said, Why then do you ask me? Since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary, for the Lord has done according as he has spoken through me.

For the Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand, and he has given it to your neighbor David. And as you did not obey the Lord and did not execute his feared wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this to you this day.

Moreover, the Lord also will give you over and Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines. Therefore, tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed, the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

Then Samuel immediately fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel. Also, there was no strength in him, for he had not eaten any food all day and all night. And a woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and she said to him, Behold, your maid servant has obeyed my Lord, you, and have taken my life into my hand, and I have listened to your words which you have spoken to me.

So now also please listen to the voice of your maid servant, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength before you go on your way. But he refused and said, I will not eat.

However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed, and the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it, and she took flour, kneaded it, baked it, unleavened bread, and she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate, and they arose and went away that night.

Saul's Secret Journey to Endor and the Medium's Warning

So last week Saul sought out a medium. He told his guys to go seek a medium, and what was their immediate response? Yeah, she's right here. Interesting that there was no hesitation, that they immediately knew where to find one.

And that brings us to them going to Endor. Why was he seeking this medium? What's that? God wasn't with him. Yep, and what did he say? He had sought other avenues, had he not? He said he had tried the Urim and the Thurim.

Well, we don't know how long that had happened. That could have happened way back in chapter 14, I think it was, from the last time that we know of, and why wasn't he able to seek the priest? He killed every one of them but Abiathar, who escaped, and from our knowledge, we do not know that Saul knew that Abiathar had escaped.

So, that brings us to Saul disguising himself. Now, I don't want to... Two reasons for him disguising himself. Endor is going to be... Now I'm blind. Okay. They're encamped up here. We'll see. He has got to go to Endor.

It's here. This is where the Philistines are encamped, okay? Saul, this is the Valley of Megiddo. Think about how many battles have been fought in Megiddo. Think about it. This place right here is a huge valley, and it is...

Even Napoleon in the 18th century, he stood up and he said that all the armies of the world could be maneuvered in this plain here. I mean, this is where Josiah would be killed later and all. But anyway, so Gilboa is down here.

So, in order for them to get here, they've got to go this way. This is one of which I did a little dots like a cartoon. They've got to skirt right here. If he's going by night, what does him as the king not have to do?

Think about some things he can't do in order to get to Endor safely going right up against the Philistines. One, he can't have his entourage with him. What else does he have to do? He can't dress like him.

He's got to strip himself of his what? His spear? His crown? His armor? All these things he has to come off in order for how many people go with him? Two, so that him and two other people can get safe to the witch of Endor.

So, two reasons why. He disguised himself, one, so that he could go incognito to get by the Philistines. The other is for what reason? We all understand. Yeah, go ahead. He's doing the very thing he killed people for.

Yeah, so he has to disguise himself not only so that people don't see that he's going to. Obviously, this chick was pretty well known. If they could spit her name out, hey, to witch Endor. And he wants to make sure that when he gets there at night, she doesn't know who he is either.

So, two reasons. One, to get safe passageway as he skirts the Philistine encampment. And the other is so that she doesn't know who he is. So, he gets there with his two men. Says to the woman, conjure up for me.

Some translations may say seance, and that's actually what it is. Conjure up for me, please, and bring up whom I shall name for you. And the woman said, behold, you know what Saul has done. He has cut off all of those necromancers, mediums, and spirits from the land.

Okay, at this point, who's more righteous? Saul or her? She is. She's saying, hey, look here, you're asking me to do exactly what Saul has put out from the land. And she's going to go on, and he's even going to say, hey, you're trying to, is this an attempt to take my life?

So, she says, hey, basically, you're asking me to disobey Saul and disobey the Mosaic legislation because Saul was enforcing the Mosaic legislation. And what did the Mosaic law, what did it require for them to do for those that, not only those who sought them, but those that tried to call up spirits?

What was required of them? What's that? Death. Well, I don't know if it was all burn, but certainly they were to be put to death. But, yeah, they were to be put to death. Even if you go, I think it's in Isaiah 8 or it's Isaiah 9, somewhere around there, he actually says, why do you go seek these mediums and spirits who try to call up the dead to address issues of the living?

So, there was a problem that even carried on even to Isaiah's time that this would continue on. So, it says here, she says, why are you trying to lay a snare for my life to bring about my death? So, I don't know, probably nobody in here, but maybe one person has been part of a sting operation.

And, look, she's coming in there, he's coming in there, she doesn't even know who this guy is. And, he starts asking her to conjure up a spirit. Her immediate thought is what? Saul has put these people out, you're asking me to do something that Saul says not to do.

This is a sting operation. This is a setup. So, she's like, what's the deal? Are you trying to take my life? And, listen to Saul's response. Saul vowed to her by the Lord, saying, as the Lord lives, no punishment will come upon you.

We've heard Saul swear by the Lord's name before. Remember when the Judahites in the land of Ziphth were telling him where David was at? What did he say? Blessed be the Lord God. So, look at his hypocrisy.

Who is he to bless someone by the Lord who has rejected him? Who is he to promise to her that her life in swearing to the Lord that has rejected him as king? You know what he is doing right here? This is taking the Lord's name in vain.

Not as a cuss word, understand. Under the old covenant, Mosaic legislation, using the Lord's name as a cuss word was not even a thought. What was using the Lord's name in vain was using his name as leverage.

You go back to Jeremiah 23, and you can see where he is calling out what the false prophets do. They say, peace, peace, when there is no peace. And, he goes on, and I actually did an outline. There is 17 descriptions of what false prophets, false shepherds, and false teachers use in Jeremiah 23.

And, one of them is, they take the Lord's name and use it for leverage. The Lord has told me, or I swear by the Lord's name that you should do this. If he was just to say, hey, I just promise I am not going to kill you, would that really be affirming?

Hey, but now you have a woman who most likely of Jewish descent, and he swears by whose name? Yahweh, by Yahweh's name, that he is not going to kill her. As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.

And, in verse 11, then the woman said, well, who shall I bring up for you? And, he said to her, bring up Samuel for me. The woman saw Samuel. She cried out with a loud voice and said, why have you deceived me?

She actually saw a spirit come up and was shocked. Now, how should we take this? Should we take this as this was not commonality for her? Thoughts? Objections? Don't care. All right. All right. I'll say this.

When that spirit appeared, she was shocked. This was not common. All right. This was not common to see the prophet. And, the thing about it is, when she knew who it was, she was very shocked. Why? Who was he?

Everybody in there knew who Samuel was. Everybody. So, when Samuel appears, she's shocked. Because she knows that Samuel is dead. There's only one person that would have been calling on Samuel. And, she's fixing to say that.

Saul. Saul. Why have you deceived me? Had he deceived her? Yeah. He deceived who he was. He deceived. Now, she knows this is Saul because she actually says it. For you are Saul. And, then the king said to her, don't be afraid.

Interesting. Don't be afraid. It said the lady cried out with a loud voice. She's probably trembling. Don't be afraid. But, what do you see? And, the woman said, Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.

Now, the word that's used there is actually Elohim. And, it means God. Is that what it says? God. And, Elohim at times can mean little gods depending on its context. It just means like a god-like, angelic being.

So, when she sees this, she's going, this is something like I've never seen before. This is different. And, she said, well, what is his form? And, she said, it's an old man. And, he's coming up and he's wrapped in a robe.

And, Saul knew that it was Samuel. And, he bowed his face to the ground and did homage. From my understanding, this is the first time that Saul and Samuel have an interaction with one another since the time of the non-full destruction of Amalek in chapter 15.

Now, and if you go back and you read that, I made the statement then, it says that he did not see him again until the day of his death. And, some people believe that he didn't see Samuel again until the day of Samuel's death, meaning whether it was his funeral or whatever.

And, I told you my understanding was not that. My understanding of it was that he did not see Samuel again until the day of his death, meaning Saul. And, how did I come to that conclusion? You're fixing to find out.

And, it also says that he didn't see him until the day of his death. It did not mean that they didn't actually have eye contact with one another. Because, we know too, remember when David was on the run?

Where did he go? He left Michael. What's that? He went to Ramah. He went to Ramah. And, who did he specifically go to see? Samuel. Samuel, to tell Samuel, hey man, this dude's still chasing me. So, he gets there.

And, you remember the three groups of men that come and God makes them prophesy? And then, Saul says, I'll take care of this nonsense myself. He shows up. Samuel's there. So, there was eye contact. But, it means summoning.

He did not summons him until the day of his death. Once again, who is he summonsing here? Samuel. That's how I came to that conclusion back in chapter 15. So, it says, here's an old man. He was in a robe.

It's interesting that he's in a robe. What did we learn way, way back in chapter 4? 2 to 4 about Samuel. His mama made him a robe every year. Every year she made him a robe. Made him a robe. Remember, what did robes represent?

There is a distinguishment. Even as we go into 2 Samuel, you're going to even see after Tamar is raped, she had a colorful robe that represented her purity and that she was the daughter's king and her virginity.

Well, once she's raped by Amnon, that robe is removed and she could never wear it again. Think about the king. What kind of robe did he wear? What did Saul have to do to get to Endor? Take it off. So, that robe represented something.

Even take, I mean, look at Joseph. They say a coat of many colors. Actually, a robe of many colors. When the prodigal son's come back, and he comes back in Luke, what's put on him? A ring and a robe to represent who he was, that he was now back into the family.

So, this is not like Jack getting out of the shower with his robe on. I saw an old man coming up with a robe on. That's not what it is. It actually represented something. It represented this was the prophet, Samuel.

He falls on his face, gives him homage. I believe that is not only falling on his face to show reverence, but, oh, wow. Yeah, fear. And we know that because he says he was fearful, terrified. And then verse 15 says,.

And then Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? That's a good question. Why was Samuel disturbed? Why? Saul, he was scared. And what was he scared of? Philistines. He was scared because though they had encamped here, look how much they had already moved into the land.

I mean, that'd be like, I don't know, that'd be like the Mexicans waging war on us and moving almost to Kansas. Before they, you know, and they're waiting to battle. Already in. Yeah, and he is greatly, it says he's greatly distressed for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has departed from me and no longer answers me.

How long, I'm not asking for actual date, but how long has it been since the Lord has spoken to Saul that we know of? However long that was, before that, however long it took them to get from Gibeah, he got the instructions when at Gibeah, you go down and you kill every man, woman, boy, girl, infant, whatever, you slaughter it all.

It's all Corsi. All dedicated as an offering of destruction to the Lord. You kill it all. So however long that was, this is the next time. The Lord didn't speak to him anymore. Actual instructions. The next time is the prophet telling him, because you didn't do it, I have now torn the kingdom from you and have given it to someone.

Man, this is always crazy. Better than you. Better than you. And he says your neighbor, he says your neighbor back in 15, he's fixing to tell him exactly who it is. It's not that Saul doesn't know at this point who it is.

He knows. But he's actually going to hear from the prophet who it's going to be by name. So he says, and neither have I, I don't hear from the Lord anymore. He has departed from me. I don't even hear from the prophets.

Well, that's interesting. You don't hear from the prophets. Well, one, you ran everybody out because you didn't want to hear the word of the Lord. Look, if Saul wanted to hear the word of the Lord, what's the scripture clear of under the old covenant?

Seek the Lord while he can be found. Seek him while he can be found. Look, it's too late for Saul. He can't be found anymore by God. His responsibility time after time again, we could go back to chapter 12 after he did the slaughter.

He did the slaughter against the Ammonites. He saved Jabesh Gilead. He came back. They made him king. What did he do for two years after that? Yep, that's basically it. Nothing. And then they started moving into the land again.

And then who had to go out and fight the first major battle? Jonathan. Jonathan. Jonathan went out. And that plays a role when we get into the next one, why these people didn't want David and his men being part of that.

Yeah, so he had not done what he was supposed to do. Then when he said he was given clear instructions from the beginning when he was appointed king on the road when Samuel says, hey, let your buddy go on down the road.

Buddy go on down the road, and let me give you some clear instruction. He told him, you're going to go this. You're going to see a man carrying three jugs of water. He's going to have five loaves. You're going to take three.

And then when you come here, you're going to get filled with the power of the Spirit. Remember all those things he was told to do. And he says, and when you get to Gilgal, you're going to make a sacrifice to me.

When you get to Gilgal, you wait. I will make a sacrifice to the Lord. You wait seven days. He had the opportunity. And on the seventh morning, what did he do? He did it himself. He did it himself because he couldn't wait till sundown.

He couldn't wait till sundown. He had the opportunity to repent then. And what did he do? He did not. And what did God do? He took the dynasty from him. He said, hey, I would have established your kingdom forever.

But he didn't. So you see the time and time again. Then he makes a foolish vow. He said, nobody eat and drink till my enemies are laid waste. And then the guys are starving. He sets the stage for them.

Once he does say they could eat, do you remember what they did? They slaughtered the meat so fastly and they were so hungry that they ate it while it was still bleeding. Bleeding. Now, they were guilty of doing what they did, but who led them into that?

Saul set the stage for them to do that because he was an unruly king who cared nothing about himself, and he didn't care about his subjects. He had plenty of time to repent then. Then you get to Amalek.

He had from here to where the last slaughter was down here till he got to Carmel to repent. Did he not? Man, imagine he's dragging Agag with him. It should have been a clear reminder every time he looked back there and they had hooks in Agag to go, God told me to kill him.

God told me to kill him. Every time they heard the bleep, the lambs and the sheep and all that stuff, that should have been a clear reminder. God told me to kill every one of them. And what does he do when he gets to Carmel?

He's set up in Carmel a monument to himself. Who was he saying worship? Him. Him. So he's had plenty of opportunity. So the Lord doesn't talk to him anymore. Is that surprising? Will the Spirit of the Lord strive with man forever?

Nope. So here it is. Samuel said, why then do you ask me? Basically, look, if God ain't speaking to you, you think I'm going to? God hasn't given you any more instructions than he did from the last time, and you think I'm going to give you something different?

And it's interesting, he doesn't give him anything different. He says the same thing. He says, the Lord has done according as he has spoken through me, for the Lord had torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor.

And here it is. Now he knows for sure by the prophet it's been given to David. For you did not obey the Lord. You did not execute his fierce wrath against Amalek. So the Lord has done this thing to you this day.

Moreover, the Lord will give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines. Therefore, tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. In other words, tomorrow you're going to die. What time is this?

What's that? At night. So that means this ain't even going to be 24 hours, and he's going to be dead. Him and his three sons. The only one that will remain will be Ishmael. And that leads into a whole other problem in the next book.

Now, if you go back to, I think it's in 1 Chronicles 10, and you want to read that account. It's a parallel account to kind of this. You're going to see that God killed. He says that he untreated of the Lord.

Here, let's just turn over there real quick. I think it's 1 Chronicles 10. I may have overshot my mouth real quick. Oh, it is. We'll read. We'll just start in verse 1 and read through chapter 13. Just kidding.

It says, Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchushua.

These were the sons of Saul. The battle became very heavy against Saul, and the archers overtook him, and he was wounded by the archers. Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and thrust me through, otherwise these uncircumcised men will come and abuse me.

But his armor-bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Then Saul took his own sword, and he fell on it, and his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, and he likewise fell on his sword too. Thus Saul died and his three sons on that day.

When all the men of Israel who were in that valley saw that he had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities. They fled. The Philistines came and lived, and it came about the next day.

Hang on. Let me see. It says that he was, maybe it is in the next chapter. Yeah, it might be in the next one. I'm sorry. It says that God struck him dead because he reached out to a medium. I'll find it for you.

I thought it was in chapter 10. It is. Saul died for his trespasses. Here it is. Saul died for his trespasses, which he committed against the Lord because of the word of the Lord, which he did not keep, and because he asked and he consulted a medium, make of inquiry, and he did not inquire of the Lord.

Okay, so is there a contradiction here? It says he did not inquire of the Lord. Is there a contradiction here? How do we reconcile the two?

Okay. He consulted a medium to bring up Samuel, a representative of the Lord, but he didn't consult the Lord.

I would say that he did consult the Lord in the way that he consulted it on his own. Hey, look, I cried out to God, can you get me out of this predicament that I'm in? He inquired of the Lord to remove him of this bad situation.

He didn't inquire of the Lord for repentance, okay? Now, you might disagree with me on that, and that's fine, okay? That's fine. I don't think for one second that Saul did not go, God, can you get me out of this situation?

Don't doubt that for one minute. But what was his responsibility when he inquired of the Lord? It was always to repent for past transgressions that got him into the position that he was in. So, when he had inquired of the Lord, it wasn't to inquire of the Lord to seek forgiveness or repentance.

It was to get him out of the bad situation that he was in. Why did God strike him down in the battle at Mount Gilboa? Why did God strike him down? All God was doing was enforcing the Mosaic legislation that says, you go and you seek, and you want to hear the sputtering and the muttering words of a medium spirit, you're to be put to death.

Hey, that's what it says, does it not? Why did He put him to death? Because he went and sought out mediums. Now, had he not went and sought out mediums, would things may have not happened this way? I don't know.

Obviously, in God's decree, this is how it was going to work out. And it's interesting as we go into the next chapter, that the very Philistines that God uses to exterminate King Saul are the same ones that deliver David.

The same ones. Same group. Same group. Now, let's get back over to, Saul immediately fell on his face, full length on the ground, prostrate. There was no strength in him. Imagine that. Imagine going, okay, in the morning, you're going to die.

I don't think any of us would feel like eating at that point. The woman came, said to Saul, this is terrible. He said, behold, your maid servant has obeyed you and have taken my life. You're not going to listen to me.

Eat. Basically, she says, eat. He refused to eat. He talks to his servants. The servants urge him, hey, you're going to need some strength. We're going to fix the meat. Moving back around here again, you need to eat.

So he ate. She brought it. I mean, look how fast this had to happen. It says the woman then had a fatted calf. She had to kill it. Understand how fast this has to take place. We're not talking, this isn't go, hey, hang on just a second.

I'm going to put some Bubba Burgers in the microwave real quick. No, this is something that took some time. And she brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate, and they arose and went away that night.

The Philistine Objection to David's Presence

So he basically got his execution time. You're going to die tomorrow, you and your sons. This is your last meal. This is it, man. This is it. Yeah, last meal. All right. And I'm going to go ahead and read chapter 29, verses 1 through 11.

Now the Philistines gathered together all of their armies to Aphek while the Israelites were camping by the spring, which is in Jezreel. Hey, interesting, we've made full circle. Where did it begin when they first gathered against the people of Israel?

Back in chapter, I think it was in chapter 4, when they took the Ark of the Covenant. Where did they end up? Aphek. That's where they gathered at. It seems like we've made full circle in the book. And while Israel was causing the spring, which is in Jezreel, that's that valley that runs through there from Megiddo all the way down to Gilboa.

It says, And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David his men were proceeding in the rear. So here's hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Okay. What kind of soldiers?

Philistine. Who's in the back? David. How many? 600. 600. Okay. Now, they're heading from here. They're heading to fight Gilboa in the Jezreel valley. If the Israelites are here, and here is the Philistines, are they not sandwiched?

Who are they sandwiched in between? The Philistines. David's 600 bloodthirsty, ruthless men. Okay. Who's in the back with him? David. Yeah. And Achish thinks David's his homeboy. Hey, man, he's the god of my head.

All right. So here we go. David and his men were proceeding from the rear, and then the commander of the Philistines says, What are these Hebrews doing here? That's a good question. They had a very good, hey, man, you gave them their land down here.

They don't need to be up here. These are our enemies. Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king, who has been with me all these days, and rather these years? That's a lie. Had David been with him years?

16 months. Yep, 16 months. And I have found no fault in him from the day that he deserted to me until this day. Is that a true statement? From Achish's perspective, although he had deceived Achish, had David done anything for Achish to think that he was going to turn against Achish and kill him?

No, not at all. It says, The Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him. Where did they assign him?

Ziklag. Yep. Let him go back where you have assigned them. And that he may return to his place, and don't let him go back down to us in battle, or the battle he may become an adversary to us. For what could make a man himself acceptable to his Lord, would it be that he give up the heads of these men?

And here it is. Remember, been playing on Hebrew radio for 15 years or longer. What's the song? Man, and that drove them people crazy. Not only did it drive Saul crazy, who else did it drive crazy? Philistines.

Philistines, why? Because David had killed their champion. He had not only right immediately after that the great slaughter that he left when he chased them to get them out of the land. Then, in rapid succession after that, what did he do?

He went into one of them cities and got 204 skins. So, David had been, imagine, look man, David ruthless. How many children were orphans at that point? Or fatherless, we should say. How many? We had no, at least 200.

But what about all those one he killed in the battle? And the skirmishes that ensued after that? What about all the ones that he went in and he fought more, he was better and more wiser than the commanders that Saul had.

And he had slayed thousands and tens of thousands. Imagine, okay, we just say 10 ,000. That means there's 10 ,000 widows and 10 ,000 fatherless children. And if he did this for 15 years, David left a wake of destruction behind him.

Now, these men are right. We don't want David behind us. If they go back, I said back in chapter 14. If you remember when the Philistines were coming in and they got hot on the Hebrews. Anybody remember what happened?

Some of them Hebrews turned on their own people and went on the side of the Philistines. Right? Y 'all remember that? Okay, maybe you don't. That's what happened. All right. Well, then when Jonathan comes in and runs that first big campaign, Jonathan leads it with his armor bearer and they start slaying them.

Y 'all remember what happened with the Hebrews? When they saw that they had a good leader and somebody that was going to help them, they turned and then started killing the Philistines. So they have warrant for this.

Hey, man, these guys got us once before with Jonathan, his son. We got to get these dudes out of here. They're in the middle. They're going to be sandwiched. The best way to get somebody is to compress them in the middle where they can't go anywhere.

It'd be like shooting ducks in a barrel. And then Achish said to David, as the Lord lives, and I want you to understand this, two chapters dealing with Achish and David. Back in 27, never the word of God.

The Lord's words were never spoken. His name was never mentioned with David and Achish. Now we get to 29, and the only time that David's been with Achish that we hear Yahweh's name mentioned, who brings it up?

Achish. Achish. So for 16 months, what does that mean? Now, this is from silence, but it speaks very loudly from silence that David was trusting in who? Himself. Achish said to David, as Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and you're going out and coming in with me, and the army are pleasing in my sight.

And that's true, that David had done anything to give him any reason not to trust him. And at this point, no. For I have found no evil in you from the day of your coming to me, even unto this day. Nevertheless, you're not pleasing in the sight of the lords, meaning the lords of the Philistines.

Now therefore, return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines. And here it is. We've heard David say this time and time again. You ready? What have I done? What have I done?

What have you found in your servant from this day when I came before you, even unto now, that I may, and he says here, I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord, the king, now.

Well, this might be something you all disagree, and I'm fine. I don't think he's talking about Achish. I think he's talking about Saul. The only time you hear David say, the lord my king, he has only been speaking against Saul.

Only. Hey, when he caught him sitting on the toilet, what did he say? Remember after he got done, what did he say? Lord my king, lord my king. After he went into the camp and he was asleep, and he walked around and he got his jug of water and his spear.

What did he call Saul? My lord, my king. Hey, so Achish now, you know, you want me to go and fight against my lord's enemies? The lord, the king? David Crafty. What is David going to do? Look here. What is David going to do if this started happening?