Troubles that are left unmended Never can be rightly ended.
Troubles began for Saul when he disobeyed God and tried to do just as he pleased. And they grew bigger when he allowed wrong thoughts to fill his mind and cause him to do wrong deeds. By and by, after many years of trouble, he became an old man. And what a miserable old man he was! Nowhere could he feel contented and happy.
About this time the Philistines were causing him much trouble. They were stealing from his people and they were even stealing cities away from his rule. They were growing bolder all the while; and Saul knew he Was not able to drive them out of the land of Israel. He remembered the times when he used to send David to fight against them. He remembered how God used to bless David and always help him to gain the victory. Now he had no one to send, so he had to go himself.
Saul gathered all the soldiers of Israel together and led them out to the battle-field where Gideon had led three hundred brave men to a great victory many years before. But Saul did not feel courageous, as did Gideon. He was afraid when he saw the hosts of the Philistines gathering in the valley. He wondered what to do. No priest of the Lord could he find in the land to tell him of God’s will; for he had commanded all the priests to be killed, and the only one who escaped had fled to David’s company. Samuel, the faithful old prophet, was dead and buried; and God would not speak to Saul.
There were people living at that time, as there are people today, who believed they could speak with the dead. Such people are wicked, and God had commanded the Israelites to destroy any they might find in their land. Saul had commanded his people to destroy them. But when he could find no one to tell him what to do he thought of Samuel. How he wished that he might speak to the dear old man once; more! Samuel used to talk to God and understand God’s will. “Surely he could help now,” thought Saul. And Saul wondered whether he could find some one who could speak to Samuel even though the prophet was dead.
Not far from Saul’s camp was, a village called Endor, and a woman lived there who talked with spirits. We call such a person a witch. Some of Saul’s servants told him about the witch who lived at Endor, and Saul decided to visit her. He knew she would be afraid of him—so he dressed in the clothes of a poor man that she might not know who he was. Then he took two of his men with him and went to Endor that very night.
The Woman was, frightened when three men stopped near her door in the dark shadows and asked her to speak with the spirit of a man who had died. She said, “Saul, the king of Israel, has commanded that every one be killed who speaks with spirits; are you asking me to do this thing and so place myself in danger of losing my life?” Saul told her not to be afraid to do just as he asked, for she would not be punished.
When the woman tried to call Samuel’s spirit from the dead, she saw something that frightened her terribly. And she knew at once that the old man who was waiting to hear Samuel’s words Was King Saul himself. She cried, “Why have you fooled me?” Saul told her not to be afraid, and asked what she had seen. Then she described the form of an old man wrapped in a mantle; and Saul cried, “It is Samuel.” Saul bowed on his face to the ground, and the form of the old man came near to him. “Why have you called for me?” he asked. And Saul replied, “The Philistines have came to fight against me and I am in much distress, for God has departed from me and answers me no more. I have called for you to tell me what I must do.”
Instead of receiving any help or comfort, Saul heard words that night that frightened him more than ever. The messenger who spoke to him said that on the next day he and his three sons should be killed, and that the Philistines should gain a great victory over his people. When the voice ceased speaking, Saul lay helpless upon the ground with no strength to lift himself. The woman prepared some food, and she urged him to eat of it. Then he rose up and went away with his two companions.
On the next day the battle began, and the Philistines overpowered the men of Israel and killed many of them. Saul’s three sons fell dead on the battle-field—Jonathan and his two brothers. And Saul himself was wounded. When he saw that he must die, Saul feared that the Philistines would come and torture him. So he commanded his armor-bearer to kill him, but the armor-bearer said, “I can not kill the Lord’s anointed.” Then Saul fell upon his own sword, and died.
As the first king of Israel, Saul had ruled for forty years. He had begun well, and God had blessed him; but when he refused to obey the words that God spoke to him through Samuel, the prophet, then he no longer enjoyed the blessings of the Lord. And his life as a king came to an unhappy end.